Nabors Industries Ltd. (NBR) – North America’s largest onshore oil and natural gas driller – yesterday reported marginally weaker-than-expected third quarter results on the back of lower rig demand, as producers continued to scale back operations in the midst of falling commodity prices. Earnings per share, excluding non-cash items, came in at 15 cents, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a penny.   Revenue & Profitability   Compared to the third quarter of 2008, Nabors’ adjusted earnings per share declined 77.6% (from 67 cents to 15 cents) due to persistent weakness in its North American gas-centric businesses combined with less robust international results. Revenues were down 44.2% to $804 million as sales declined in all of the company’s segments.   Nabors’ main operating segment is ‘Contract Drilling’, which accounts for bulk of the company’s revenues and operating earnings. Its operations are spread across 6 sub-segments: U.S. Lower 48 ...

Brigham Exploration Company (BEXP) announced results for one of its wells in the Bakken Shale today, prompting a 7% gain in its share price and securing a spot on the Zacks #1 Rank Top Performers List.

< ?DART(15);?> In addition to this company-specific news, BEXP is also getting a hand from an improving outlook for oil stocks as oil prices have finally broken out of its trading range.

Brigham Exploration is an independent exploration, development and production company that utilizes advanced exploration, drilling and completion technologies to systematically explore for, develop and produce domestic onshore oil and natural gas reserves.

It's 1 of 3 companies from the Oil-U.S. Exploration & Production industry on today's Zacks #1 Rank List, which includes 215 stocks in total. The other 2 names are Linn Energy, LLC (LINE) and Plains Exploration & Production Company (PXP).

Earnings estimates

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Yesterday, Nabors Industries Ltd. (NBR) – North America's largest onshore oil and natural gas driller – reported second-quarter results. Recurring earnings per diluted share, excluding non-cash items, came in at $0.32, marginally better than our estimate of $0.31 and well above market expectations of $0.26. The Bermuda-based company’s outperformance was driven by strengthened margins associated with new rig deployments in its international operations and solid results from the Alaska sub-segment.  However, on a year-over-year basis, Nabors’ adjusted earnings per share declined 46.7% (from $0.60 to $0.32) due to weakness in its North American gas-centric businesses combined with less robust international results, particularly in Latin America. Revenue was down 32.6% to $878 million as sales declined in almost all of the company’s segments.  Nabors’ main operating segment is ‘Contract Drilling’, which accounts for bulk of the company’s revenues and operating earnings. Its operations are spread across 6 ...

Unit Corp. (UNT) recently delivered second-quarter earnings per share of $2.00, eclipsing the previous year’s $1.41 and topping the consensus estimate by a penny. During the past four consecutive quarters, the company’s earnings results were ahead of Street estimates three times and matched the other time.

Company Description

Unit Corporation is a diversified energy company engaged through its subsidiaries in the exploration for and production of oil and natural gas, the acquisition of producing oil and natural gas properties, the contract drilling of onshore oil and natural gas wells, and the gathering and processing of natural gas. Operations are principally located in the Mid-Continent region, including the Anadarko, Arkoma, Permian, Rocky Mountains and Gulf Coast Basins.

Solid Quarterly Results Included a New Record for UNT

The company recently delivered second-quarter earnings per share of $2.00, eclipsing the previous year’s $1.41 and topping the consensus estimate by a

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