Halliburton (HAL) reported mixed second-quarter results before the bell Wednesday as weaker-than-expected results in its completion and drilling segment were a drag. Total revenue rose 14% year over year to $5.8 billion, however, came up a bit short versus analyst expectations of $5.86 billion, according to Refinitiv. Earnings per share (EPS) of 77 cents (excluding a non-operating loss on transactions in Argentina), exceeded the adjusted Refinitiv estimate of 75 cents. Bottom line Revenue at the oilfield services giant missed the mark, but strong execution in both operating divisions allowed profit margins and earnings to exceed expectations. Cash flow performance — which was well above expectations in the quarter — is arguably the most important watch item for those investing in the energy complex, given the industry’s pivot to focus on shareholder returns over production growth at all costs. On the call, management reiterated that growing free cash flow is a top priority, and they expect over 50% of it to be “returned to shareholders this year.” That’s consistent with the new framework outlined back in January. The more cash Halliburton can generate, the more we as investors stand to get back in the form of buybacks and dividends, which is why were are much more pleased with the free cash flow result than we are disappointed with the revenue performance. Speaking of cash returns, the company repurchased $248 million worth of shares during the quarter while returning another $144 million to shareholders via dividends. Looking ahead, management did shave its customer spending growth outlook in North America, but they said they continue to see a strong appetite for oil, citing “demand growth of 2 million barrels per day in the first half of the year compared to the same period last year.” The team also guided for full-year free cash flow generation to be above what analysts were looking for — a material positive for the stock in the back half of the year. This, in our view, outweighs the more conservative North American spending guidance. However, Halliburton shares dropped 3% on Wednesday after a strong run over the past month that we trimmed into on Friday for a small gain. HAL YTD mountain Halliburton YTD performance Management expects exploration and production spending to grow this year and into the future, noting discussions with customers that have plans that extend “into the next decade.” While maintaining our 2 rating , we’re nudging up our price target to $42 per share from $40), reflecting about 18 times 2024 free cash flow per share estimates or about 11.5 times 2024 earnings estimates. Both multiples are about in line with what we have seen over the past three years out of HAL and, in our view, are justified by the resiliency in energy commodity prices and the need for additional production to meet global demand behind multiyear upcycle management is forecasting. Guidance Management maintains a positive outlook on the global market, but they did slightly reduce their outlook for customer spending growth in North America to “around 10%” from their prior expectation for growth in the teens on a percentage basis. The expectation incorporates a view that the second half will be weaker than the first but profit margins are expected to “remain strong for the balance of the year.” Internationally, the team expects customer spending to grow in the high teens with “quality services and equipment to remain tight and pricing to continue to improve.” They added, “Halliburton’s strategy is to deliver profitable international growth.” From an operating segment perspective, the team said they’re “looking through any quarterly fluctuations and seasonality,” and fully expect drilling and evaluation margins to “continue to expand over time” Haliburton expects full-year cash flow growth of 30% to 40% over last year’s level. With 2022 free cash flow coming in at $1.43 million, this forecast amounts to about $1.93 million at the midpoint, above Wall Street’s $1.84 million expectation. On a segment-by-segment basis, management expects completion and production revenue to be flat sequentially, in line with expectations, and for drilling and evaluation revenue to increase “low single digits” sequentially, also about in line with expectations. Companywide Q2 results Here are a few highlights: Second quarter operating margin of 17.44% came in above estimates and 329 basis points above year-ago numbers. Management attributed the strong operating margin performance (a subset of the overall margin line-item) primarily to “strong international activity across both divisions, along with improved pricing” In completion and production, Q2 sales rose more than 19% year-over-year to $3.48 billion. Though, that was below estimates (as seen in the product segment column of the earnings table). Management attributed strong operating margin performance in the segment (which allowed operating income for the segment to exceed expectations despite the sales miss) “to increased activity from multiple product lines in international markets and higher artificial lift activity in North America.” In drilling and evaluation, quarterly sales rose more than 7% to $2.32 billion and beat estimates. The team called out “higher drilling activity and increased fluid services in key regions, including the Middle East and Latin America, partially offset by seasonal roll off of software sales across multiple regions.” Our other two energy stocks, Coterra Energy (CTRA) and Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD), report their quarterly results next month. (Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust is long HAL, CTRA, PXD. See here for a full list of the stocks.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust’s portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.
Signage is displayed outside a Halliburton Co. location in Port Fourchon, Louisiana, U.S.
Luke Sharett | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Halliburton (HAL) reported mixed second-quarter results before the bell Wednesday as weaker-than-expected results in its completion and drilling segment were a drag.
New car buyers like to talk about the latest tech and resale value, but most people don’t buy new cars. The used car market is 3x bigger than new, and if you’re content to let the last guy take that big depreciation hit by scoring a great deal on a reliable, low-mile used car you could save thousands on your next EV.
But looking into the data shows trends that are much closer to the kind of think you’d expect to see before COVID, with high-end luxury models like S-Class Mercedes that trade on being new and shiny taking massive depreciation hits and more mainstream offerings from brands like Toyota and Honda that trade on economy and reliability holding strong.
That usual luxury brand hit seems like it’s being compounded over at Tesla, where Elon Musk’s highly publicized political leanings have polarized support for the brand, and alienated a huge portion of the market. Demand for new and used Tesla vehicles has plummeted, and iSeeCars reports that the Tesla Model S suffered the biggest percentage price drop of all makes and models over the last twelve months, showing the pioneering electric sedan’s average price in June 2025 at $46,700, nearly 16%, or $8,800 lower than it was 12 just months earlier.
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This isn’t a post about Tesla, though (not intentionally, at least). Instead, it’s about those EVs that have lost the most value since they were first sold new five-ish years ago. So, if you’re looking for a great deal on a pre-loved EV, you could do a lot worse than the list, below, presented in order from biggest “loss” of value.
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The Fiat Topolino Vilebrequin is a new beach town cruiser that captures the elegance, glamour, and relaxed vibe of the French Riviera. More significantly, the updated EV also heralds Stellantis’ plans to double EV production at its Kenitra Assembly Plant in Morocco.
Closer to a Mercury Villager Nautica or Ford F-150 Harley-Davidson than a new model on its own, the new Topolino Vilebrequin features colors and fabrics inspired by the French surfwear brand, and is based on the Dolcevita version of Stellantis’ electric microcar. With its open sides, a soft rollback roof, and turtle-tastic fabric prints, it’s ready to whisk you off on a carefree summer adventure in France or Italy – which are, coincidentally, the only two markets the “collector’s edition” Vilebrequin Topolino is currently available in.
“This encounter between the Fiat Topolino and our iconic sea turtle gave rise to a high-quality, lower-impact, and perfectly whimsical design,” says Roland Herlory, CEO of Vilebrequin. “(It is) the definitive summer toy, and the perfect witness to sun-soaked memories still to come.”
Like the standard Topolino, the new Vilebrequin model remains electronically limited to a top speed of 45 kph (just under 30 mph), and is equipped with a 5.5 kWh battery pack that ensures up to 75 km (about 45 miles) of electric range. Prices start at €13,490 ($15,810), and if you don’t want one you’re dead inside.
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Fiat Topolino Vilebrequin
The Vilebrequin Topolino is just the latest version of Stellantis’ electric microcar platform that underpins the Citroën Ami, Opel Rocks-e, and Fiat Topolino. Annual production of the little EVs has grown from 20,000 units and is reportedly on track for 70,000 in 2025.
Now, Mopar Insiders is reporting that number is about to get even bigger. Stellantis’ Chief Operating Officer (COO) for the Middle East & Africa (MEA) region, Samir Cherfan, announced plans to more than double the production capacity at the company’s Kenitra Assembly Plant in Morocco, from some 230,000 vehicles per year to more than 530,000.
The factory was opened in 2019, and the planned €1.2 billion ($1.4B) expansion is expected to add around 3,100 new jobs to the factory’s employee roster.
If you’re considering going solar, it’s always a good idea to get quotes from a few installers. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. It has hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use, and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.
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Electric bikes are a menace. They go almost as fast as a car (if the car is parking), they’re whisper quiet (which makes them impossible to hear over the podcast playing in your headphones), and worst of all, they’re increasingly ridden by teenagers.
By now, we’ve all seen the headlines. Cities are cracking down. Lawmakers are holding emergency hearings. Parents are demanding bans. “Something must be done,” they cry at local city council meetings before driving back home in 5,000 lb SUVs.
And it’s true – some e-bike riders don’t follow the rules. Some ride too fast. Some are inexperienced. These are real problems that deserve real solutions. But if you think electric bikes are the biggest threat on our roads, just wait until you hear about the slightly more common, slightly more deadly vehicle we’ve been quietly tolerating for the last hundred years.
They’re called cars. And unlike e-bikes, they actually kill people. A lot of people. Over 40,000 people die in car crashes in the US every year. Thousands more are permanently injured. Entire neighborhoods are carved up by high-speed traffic. Kids can’t walk to school safely. But don’t worry – someone saw a teenager run a stop sign on an e-bike, so the real crisis must be those darn batteries on two wheels.
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It’s amazing how worked up people get over a few dozen e-bike crashes when many of us step over a sidewalk memorial for a car crash victim on the way to the grocery store. We’ve been so thoroughly conditioned to accept car violence as part of modern life that the idea of regulating them sounds unthinkable. But regulating e-bikes? Now that’s urgent.
To be clear, this isn’t about ignoring the risks that come with new technology. E-bikes are faster than regular bikes. They’re heavier, too. And they require education and enforcement like any other mode of transport capable of injuring someone, be it the rider or a pedestrian bystander. But the scale of the problem is what matters – and the scale here is completely lopsided. Let’s take New York City, for example. It’s got more e-bike usage than anywhere else in the US, and there are still only an average of two pedestrians per year killed by an e-bike accident. That number for cars? Around 100 per year in NYC. It’s not complicated math – cars are 50x more lethal in the city.
And yet, the person on the e-bike is the one getting the stink eye.
We’ve become so numb to the everyday destruction caused by automobiles that it barely registers anymore. Drunk driving? Distracted driving? Speeding through neighborhoods? It’s just background noise. But the moment someone on an e-bike blows through a stop sign at 16 mph, it’s front-page news and a city council emergency.
Here’s an idea: If we want safer streets, how about we start by addressing the machines that weigh two and a half tons and can hit 100 mph, not the ones that top out at 20 or 28 and are powered by a one-horsepower motor the size of an orange.
But we don’t. Because cars are familiar. Cars are “normal.” Cars are how we built our entire country. And so we turn our attention to the easy target – the new kid on the block. The same old playbook: panic, overreact, and legislate the hell out of it.
Sure, an e-bike might startle you on a sidewalk. But a car can climb that sidewalk and end your life. Which one do we really need to be afraid of?
This isn’t a strawman argument, either. Cars are literally used as mass casualty weapons. It happens all the time. It happened last night in Los Angeles when a disgruntled car driver deliberately plowed into a crowd outside a nightclub, injuring over 30 people. And that wasn’t the only car attack yesterday. Another car rammed into pedestrians on a sidewalk in NYC yesterday morning, leaving multiple pedestrians dead. These aren’t exceptions. This is the normal daily news in the US. It’s depressing, but it bears repeating. This is normal. These are everyday occurrences. Twice a day, yesterday.
While we’re busy debating throttle limits and helmet rules for e-bikes, maybe we should also talk about how tens of millions of drivers still routinely speed, blow stop signs, or scroll Instagram at 45 mph in a school zone. Or how car crashes are the number one killer of teenagers in America. Or we can continue to focus on the kid who forgot to put his foot down at a red light while riding an e-bike to school.
This isn’t satire anymore – it’s just sad. It’s a collective willingness to avoid a real, genuine threat to Americans while simultaneously scapegoating what is, by comparison, a non-threat.
The truth is, electric bikes aren’t the menace. They’re a solution. They’re one of the few glimmers of hope in a transportation system drowning in pollution, congestion, and daily tragedy. They make mobility cheaper, cleaner, and more accessible. And yet we treat them like an invasive species because they disrupt the dominance of the automobile.
It’s time to stop pretending we’re protecting the public from some great e-bike emergency. The real emergency is that we’ve accepted cars killing people as a fair trade for getting to Target five minutes faster.
So yes, let’s make e-biking safer. Let’s educate riders, build better bike infrastructure, and enforce traffic rules fairly. Those are all important things. We absolutely SHOULD invest in training programs to educate teens on safe riding. We absolutely SHOULD cite and fine dangerous riders who could threaten the lives of pedestrians. But let’s stop pretending that e-bikes are the problem when they’re clearly a symptom of a much bigger one.
If you’re really worried about the dangers on our streets, don’t look for the kid on the e-bike. Look for the driver behind them, sipping a latte and going 20 over the speed limit.
Now that’s the menace.
Image note: The first and last images in this article were both AI-generated, and represent everyday car/bike interactions
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