- Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN), Precision Drilling (NYSE:PDS) and Nabors Industries (NYSE:NBR) are the best bets among oilfield services stocks, RBC analysts say.
- The firm says its initial 2017 EPS estimates for North American land drillers are generally higher than consensus, and believes the Street underestimates the magnitude of the North American recovery and that valuations are reasonable "when looking through the near term noise."
- RBC says land drillers consistently have been among the top performers in every oil cycle rebound dating back to 1997-98, driven primarily by U.S. E&P spending, which has the highest velocity once oil starts to recover; NBR, PTEN and PDS have averaged among the top five performing sector stocks coming off crude oil troughs, the firm says.