Oil industry services giant Schlumberger is putting up some dazzling numbers. Earnings jumped 85% last quarter on 30% higher revenue. It was just the latest in a string of big earnings and revenue gains. However, Schlumberger stock has mostly moved sideways since November. This mismatch between its fundamentals and its stock action could create a buying opportunity. On Tuesday, the Relative Strength Rating for Schlumberger stock improved from 63 to 76, showing it's moving in the right direction.
Oil Industry Services Leader On Right Track
The raised 76 RS Rating means that Schlumberger stock is outrunning 76% of all stocks in terms of price performance. It's a good but not yet great number. The best stocks tend to have an RS Rating over 80 as they begin their largest runs. See if the oil industry major can continue to show renewed price strength and hit that benchmark.
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Schlumberger is building a consolidation pattern with a 59.55 buy point. Look for a breakout, ideally in volume at least 40% above average. Shares of the Houston-based oil industry technology, services and project management company were up about 2% Tuesday afternoon.
Fundamentals Keep Improving
The oil industry services leader saw both earnings and sales growth rise last quarter. Earnings-per-share increased from 73% to 85%, or 63 cents per share. The prior three stanzas its EPS rose 67%, 75% and then 73%. Revenue growth has kept pace. In its latest quarter, Schlumberger's revenue growth rose from 27% to 30%, or $7.74 billion.
Schlumberger holds the No. 5 rank among its peers in the Oil & Gas-Field Services industry group. Oil industry shipping vessels provider Tidewater and proppants and logistics provider Atlas Energy Solutions are also among the group's highest-rated stocks.
When looking for the best stocks to buy and watch, one factor to watch closely is relative price strength.
The exclusive Relative Strength Rating from Investor's Business Daily identifies market leadership with a 1 (worst) to 99 (best) score. The score shows how a stock's price movement over the trailing 52 weeks compares to all the other stocks in our database.
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