SLB Announces First-Quarter 2026 Results

Published: 2026-04-27 05:16:03 ET SLB

Published on 04/27/2026 at 05:16 am EDT

HOUSTON-SLB (NYSE: SLB) today announced results for the first-quarter 2026.

First Quarter Shaped by Geopolitical Developments

'It was a challenging start to the year as widespread disruptions in the Middle East impacted our business,' said SLB Chief Executive Officer Olivier Le Peuch.

'The impact was most pronounced in Well Construction and Reservoir Performance, as SLB demobilized operations in a number of countries in response to customer actions to safeguard personnel and facilities.

'Beyond the Middle East, revenue increased year on year in all other markets driven mainly by the impact of our strategic moves regarding ChampionX, Digital, and Data Center Solutions,' Le Peuch said.

ChampionX Delivers Accretive Growth on Strong Production and Recovery Activity

'Overall, first-quarter year-on-year revenue increased 3%. This was primarily driven by the addition of ChampionX, which continues to deliver revenue growth and progressive margin expansion. Notably, Production Systems revenue increased 23% year on year, led by production chemicals and artificial lift.

'Production and recovery represent the most immediate path to incremental barrels, and as customers continue to prioritize energy security and national resource development, investment in this space is set to grow. The addition of ChampionX has strengthened our position in this market, particularly in North America, where we will support the next chapter in U.S. unconventional through the use of tailored reservoir chemistry to enhance recovery,' Le Peuch said.

Digital and Data Center Solutions Enhance Growth Mix

'Digital revenue increased 9% year on year, supported by continued momentum in Digital Operations. Digital annualized recurring revenue (ARR) once again exceeded $1 billion at the end of the first quarter and represented a 15% increase year on year. Our customers are seeing the impact of AI and digital in terms of performance and efficiency, and this will result in further adoption of these solutions. Meanwhile, Data Center Solutions experienced a remarkable 45% uplift, highlighting the effectiveness of SLB's modular and scalable off-site manufacturing capabilities.

'There is a growing opportunity for SLB at the intersection of Digital and Data Center Solutions as we build on our existing relationships with hyperscalers and digital partners. Our progress was underscored by the recently announced expansion of our technology collaboration with NVIDIA to design and deploy critical AI infrastructure as well as develop an 'AI Factory for Energy' - a reference environment powered by domain-specific generative AI models and industrial-scale agentic AI - for large-scale deployments in the energy industry,' Le Peuch said.

Evolving Market Dynamics

'We entered 2026 anticipating that global liquid supply and demand would gradually rebalance throughout the year and into 2027. However, the conflict in the Middle East has accelerated this rebalancing while exposing critical vulnerabilities in the global energy supply chain.

'We expect postconflict liquid commodity prices to remain above preconflict levels. This reflects the near-term supply disruptions caused by infrastructure impairments, production impacts, and geopolitical risk premium.

'In response, many countries are likely to prioritize supply diversification, invest in exploration and domestic resource development, and replenish strategic reserves once the conflict subsides. Alongside our work supporting customers as they restore production capacity in the Middle East, we anticipate these trends to drive increased investment in short-cycle projects in North America and Latin America as well as long-cycle developments, particularly in deepwater offshore markets.

'Absent a prolonged conflict leading to an economic slowdown and demand destruction, these supply responses reinforce our conviction of a broad-based recovery in upstream markets in 2027 and 2028.

'Although near-term uncertainties remain, we are committed to returning more than $4 billion to shareholders in 2026,' Le Peuch concluded.

Other Events

During the quarter, SLB repurchased 9.2 million shares of its common stock for a total purchase price of $451 million.

On March 12, 2026, SLB OneSubsea joint venture entered into an agreement to acquire the subsea business of Envirex Group AS. The transaction is expected to accelerate the deployment of new technology solutions, in particular umbilical-less subsea intervention, while expanding the range of innovative services available to customers worldwide at a time when demand for efficient, next-generation subsea solutions continues to grow. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2026, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.

On April 23, 2026, SLB entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the geoscience and petroleum engineering software business portfolio of S&P Global Energy, a leading provider of subsurface software widely used by U.S. onshore and unconventional operators. The proposed acquisition represents a targeted expansion of SLB's digital subsurface and planning portfolio, extending its presence in workflow-centric customer segments that are strategically important to long-term digital growth, while remaining aligned with SLB's disciplined approach to portfolio development. Following the transaction, SLB intends to progressively integrate S&P Global Energy's technology stack with its digital platforms, taking a deliberate approach that preserves existing customer workflows while complementing them with agentic AI capabilities. This approach is designed to enhance scalability, performance, and interoperability, while maintaining the practical, workflow-centric solutions that underpin S&P Global Energy's strong customer adoption. The transaction is anticipated to close in the second half of 2026 or early 2027, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.

In parallel, the parties entered an agreement to collaborate on building new AI models in which SLB will use its Lumi platform and Tela agentic AI framework to unlock value from S&P Global Energy's upstream data. The combination of S&P's upstream data and SLB's domain expertise will help develop advanced domain foundation models, bringing significant value for the industry.

On April 23, 2026, SLB's Board of Directors approved a quarterly cash dividend of $0.295 per share of outstanding common stock, payable on July 9, 2026, to stockholders of record on June 3, 2026.

First-Quarter Revenue by Geographical Area

First-quarter revenue of $8.72 billion increased 3% year on year with growth across North America both on land and offshore, Latin America, Europe & Africa, and Asia, while the Middle East declined due to disruptions related to the conflict. These results reflect activity from the acquired ChampionX businesses, which contributed $838 million of revenue, consisting of $579 million in North America and $231 million in the international markets.

Excluding the impact of this acquisition, first-quarter 2026 revenue decreased 7% year on year. International first-quarter 2026 revenue decreased 7% and North America first-quarter 2026 revenue decreased 8% year on year.

Middle East & Asia

Revenue in the Middle East & Asia of $2.69 billion decreased 13% year on year, driven by lower revenue across the Middle East reflecting the combined effect of lower activity and disruptions related to the conflict. These disruptions occurred in Qatar due to the declaration of force majeure and in Iraq and offshore operations across the region due to production shut-in constraints and security conditions.

Sequentially, revenue declined 17% due to seasonally lower activity following strong year-end product and digital sales as well as disruptions from the conflict.

North America

Revenue in North America of $2.17 billion decreased 4% year on year, driven primarily by the absence of $118 million of APS revenue in Canada following the Palliser project divestiture in the second quarter of 2025, partially offset by robust revenue growth in Data Center Solutions. Offshore revenue in the Gulf of America was steady as higher drilling activity was offset by lower digital exploration sales.

Sequentially, revenue declined 2% due to lower drilling activity on land and lower digital exploration sales following strong year-end digital sales in the fourth quarter of 2025. These declines were partially offset by higher revenue from Data Center Solutions.

About SLB

SLB (NYSE: SLB) is a global technology company that has driven energy innovation for 100 years. With a global presence in more than 100 countries and employees representing almost twice as many nationalities, we work each day on innovating oil and gas, delivering digital at scale, decarbonizing industries, and developing and scaling new energy systems that accelerate the energy transition. Find out more at slb.com.

Conference Call Information

SLB will hold a conference call to discuss the earnings press release and business outlook on Friday, April 24, 2026. The call is scheduled to begin at 11:00 a.m. U.S. Eastern time. To access the call, which is open to the public, please contact the conference call operator at +1 (833) 470-1428 within North America, or +1 (404) 975-4839 outside of North America, approximately 10 minutes prior to the call's scheduled start time, and provide the access code 742955. At the conclusion of the conference call, an audio replay will be available until May 1, 2026, by dialling +1 (866) 813-9403 within North America, or +1 (929) 458-6194 outside of North America, and providing the access code 360731. The conference call will be webcasted simultaneously at https://events.q4inc.com/attendee/972985185 on a listen-only basis. A replay of the webcast will also be available at the same website until May 1, 2026.

Forward-Looking Statements

This first-quarter 2026 earnings press release, as well as other statements we make, contain 'forward-looking statements' within the meaning of the federal securities laws, which include any statements that are not historical facts. Such statements often contain words such as 'expect,' 'may,' 'can,' 'believe,' 'predict,' 'plan,' 'potential,' 'projected,' 'projections,' 'precursor,' 'forecast,' 'outlook,' 'expectations,' 'estimate,' 'intend,' 'anticipate,' 'ambition,' 'goal,' 'target,' 'scheduled,' 'think,' 'should,' 'could,' 'would,' 'will,' 'see,' 'likely,' and other similar words. Forward-looking statements address matters that are, to varying degrees, uncertain, such as statements about our financial and performance targets and other forecasts or expectations regarding, or dependent on, our business outlook; growth for SLB as a whole and for each of its Divisions (and for specified business lines, geographic areas, or technologies within each Division); the benefits of the ChampionX acquisition, including the ability of SLB to integrate the ChampionX business successfully and to achieve anticipated synergies and value creation from the acquisition; oil and natural gas demand and production growth; oil and natural gas prices; forecasts or expectations regarding energy transition and global climate change; improvements in operating procedures and technology; capital expenditures by SLB and the oil and gas industry; our business strategies, including digital and 'fit for basin,' as well as the strategies of our customers; our capital allocation plans, including dividend plans and share repurchase programs; our APS projects, joint ventures, and other alliances; the impact of the ongoing or escalating conflicts on global energy supply; access to raw materials; future global economic and geopolitical conditions; future liquidity, including free cash flow and future results of operations, such as margin levels. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, changing global economic and geopolitical conditions; changes in exploration and production spending by our customers, and changes in the level of oil and natural gas exploration and development; the results of operations and financial condition of our customers and suppliers; the inability to achieve our financial and performance targets and other forecasts and expectations; the inability to achieve our net-zero carbon emissions goals or interim emissions reduction goals; general economic, geopolitical, and business conditions in key regions of the world; foreign currency risk; inflation; changes in monetary policy by governments; tariffs; pricing pressure; weather and seasonal factors; unfavorable effects of health pandemics; availability and cost of raw materials; operational modifications, delays, or cancellations; challenges in our supply chain; production declines; the extent of future charges; the inability to recognize efficiencies and other intended benefits from our business strategies and initiatives, such as digital or new energy, as well as our cost reduction strategies; changes in government regulations and regulatory requirements, including those related to offshore oil and gas exploration, radioactive sources, explosives, chemicals, and climate-related initiatives; the inability of technology to meet new challenges in exploration; the competitiveness of alternative energy sources or product substitutes and other risks and uncertainties detailed in this press release and our most recent Forms 10-K, 10-Q, and 8-K filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission (the 'SEC').

If one or more of these or other risks or uncertainties materialize (or the consequences of any such development changes), or should our underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results or outcomes may vary materially from those reflected in our forward-looking statements. Forward-looking and other statements in this press release regarding our environmental, social, and other sustainability plans and goals are not an indication that these statements are necessarily material to investors or required to be disclosed in our filings with the SEC. In addition, historical, current, and forward-looking environmental, social, and sustainability-related statements may be based on standards for measuring progress that are still developing, internal controls and processes that continue to evolve, and assumptions that are subject to change in the future. Statements in this press release are made as of the date of this release, and SLB disclaims any intention or obligation to update publicly or revise such statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

Contact:

James R. McDonald

Tel: +1 (713) 375-3535

Email: [email protected]