Halliburton (NYSE: HAL) lifts margins and revenue stays flat in Q3

What happened

Halliburton Company (NYSE: HAL) reported third-quarter 2026 revenue of $5.7 billion. Adjusted diluted EPS was $0.60. Net income attributable to company was $417 million, or $0.50 per diluted share. Adjusted net income was $501 million, or $0.60 per diluted share. Cash flow from operations was $368 million and free cash flow was $156 million.

Halliburton repurchased about $250 million of stock and spent $42 million on SAP S4 migration. Adjusted EBITDA was $1.0 billion, up from $948 million in the second quarter. Completion and Production revenue was $3.1 billion. Drilling and Evaluation revenue was $2.6 billion. International revenue was $3.5 billion, up 3% sequentially. North America revenue was $2.2 billion, down 5% sequentially.

Key numbers

Metric	Latest	Change	Source
Revenue	$5.7 billion	from $5.6 billion, +1.8%	Halliburton third-quarter 2026 results press release
Operating margin	10.9%	from 6.4%, +4.5 percentage points	Halliburton third-quarter 2026 results press release
Adjusted operating margin	12.8%	from 13.4%, -0.6 percentage points	Halliburton third-quarter 2026 results press release
Cash flow from operations	$368 million		Halliburton third-quarter 2026 results press release
Free cash flow	$156 million		Halliburton third-quarter 2026 results press release
Share repurchases	approximately $250 million		Halliburton third-quarter 2026 results press release

Read more: Halliburton (HAL) stock analysis and investment case

Why it matters

The quarter shows Halliburton can hold revenue steady while lifting margins. That is the main test for the investment case. Adjusted operating margin rose to 12.8% from 12.0% in the second quarter, a gain of 0.8 percentage points.

Adjusted operating income increased to $731 million from $683 million. Reported operating income was $624 million. Drilling and Evaluation operating income rose to $391 million from $338 million. Completion and Production operating income slipped to $457 million from $474 million. Middle East Asia revenue rose 8% sequentially to $1.4 billion. Latin America and Europe Africa were flat.

The risk is that North America revenue fell 5% sequentially and Halliburton booked a $107 million pre-tax charge tied to impairments and other charges, including severance costs and inventory write-downs. Jeff Miller said Halliburton expects mid-single digit revenue growth and about 15% operating margins in 2027. That implies about a 200 basis point improvement from the quarter's adjusted operating margin.

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What's next

Halliburton said it will host a conference call on Tuesday, October 20, 2026, at 8:00 a.m. CT, or 9:00 a.m. ET. That call is the next test of whether the margin progress and 2027 outlook hold after a flat-revenue quarter.

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