Patterson-UTI Energy Inc

President Trump announced Monday that Exxon Mobil is among oil companies planning to do business in Venezuela, touting a deal that would grant the U.S. access to about 20% of Venezuela's crude reserves and more than double U.S. oil reserves. Trump said Exxon, Chevron, and other big oil companies are bidding, and that the U.S. is taking out millions of barrels of oil from Venezuela for Gulf Coast refineries. Exxon has not commented on the claim, and its CEO Darren Woods previously called Venezuela uninvestable, though the company said in March it would send a technical team to study opportunities. The agreement, announced Friday, gives the U.S. a direct financial stake in a private company led by Alejandro Betancourt, which would receive century-long rights to 65 billion barrels of reserves. Betancourt's company, already the second-largest private producer in Venezuela behind Chevron, plans to deploy over 50 drilling rigs and has acquired 23 new rigs from U.S. contractors Helmerich & Payne, Precision Drilling, and Patterson-UTI Energy.

Energy stocks jumped in afternoon trading after Iran ruled out extending a 60-day memorandum of understanding with the United States. The June 17 memorandum was meant to reopen the Strait of Hormuz while the two sides negotiated a nuclear deal within 60 days, CNBC reported. President Trump told Fox News he has no time schedule and is not in a hurry, while a senior Iranian official told Reuters that Tehran would shift from defense to offense if diplomacy fails. Oilfield services company ProPetro jumped 4.4%, Patterson-UTI jumped 5.3%, and U.S. shale E&P company HighPeak Energy jumped 4.3%. Patterson-UTI is up 86.9% since the beginning of the year and trading close to its 52-week high of $12.85 from May 2026.

Patterson-UTI reported second-quarter revenue of $1.23 billion, beating analyst estimates of $1.16 billion and flat year on year, while its adjusted earnings per share of $0 significantly exceeded the consensus estimate of a $0.04 loss. Adjusted EBITDA reached $231.9 million, above the $218.8 million forecast, and the operating margin improved to negative 0.6 percent from negative 2.4 percent a year earlier. CEO Andy Hendricks attributed the performance to accelerated rig deployments, longer contract durations, and higher pricing for high-specification equipment, with demand driven by private exploration and production companies and expectations of increased activity from public operators. The company is upgrading its fleet with natural gas-powered completion units and high-capacity rigs, and it plans to exit contract drilling in Colombia to focus on higher-return opportunities. Management expects tight supply of premium equipment and further pricing momentum to support margins into 2027, with international growth seen in the Middle East and Argentina.

Analysts have raised the modeled fair value for Patterson-UTI Energy from about $8.84 to roughly $13.21, with recent price targets clustering in the low to mid teens. Several firms, including Stifel, RBC Capital, Susquehanna, BofA and Goldman Sachs, have set price targets in a $13 to $15 range, reflecting higher Q2 EBITDA guidance and updated drilling and completions assumptions. Citi trimmed its target to $10.50, flagging that land drillers are at a crossroads, while Piper Sandler lifted its target to $13 but kept a Neutral stance. Revenue growth assumptions have shifted from a decline of about 0.60% to growth of roughly 3.19%, and profit margin expectations have moved from about 3.01% to roughly 4.92%.

StockStory highlights Patterson-UTI and Vitesse Energy as resilient long-term energy stocks while flagging Centrus Energy as risky. Patterson-UTI, with a $4.36 billion market cap, posted 12.5% annual revenue growth over the past decade and expanded its EBITDA margin by 3.4 percentage points in five years, trading at 4.8x forward EV-to-EBITDA. Vitesse Energy, valued at $701.2 million, boasts an 80% gross margin and 24.4% free cash flow margin, trading at 31.5x forward P/E. Centrus Energy, despite operating the only U.S. HALEU facility, has subscale revenue of $452.3 million, a low 32.5% gross margin, and a 38.7 percentage point drop in EBITDA margin, with shares at 37.9x forward P/E.

Stifel analyst Stephen Gengaro lifted the price target on Patterson-UTI Energy from $14 to $15 while maintaining a Buy rating. The new target implies an upside of over 45% from the current share price. The firm raised its 2026-2027 estimates after Patterson-UTI increased its second-quarter adjusted EBITDA guidance to $220 million from $206 million, citing higher hydraulic fracturing pricing and solid drilling and completions performance. The company expects to exit the quarter with about 95 active rigs and to surpass 100 active rigs in the United States by the end of 2026.