- Wells Fargo analysts say they are sticking with Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) as their top picks among oil service stocks even as the proposed merger with Baker Hughes looks increasingly iffy.
- The firm says it is re-adjusting its rankings with a bias towards large cap names along with high level of conviction towards execution, and expects the market to pay a premium multiple for the best-in-class names in the next multi-year recovery.
- In order, Wells' favorites in the sector are a stand-alone HAL, Baker Hughes (BHI), U.S. Silica (NYSE:SLCA), Nabors Industries (NYSE:NBR), FMC Technologies (NYSE:FTI) and Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB); it maintains an Outperform on Weatherford (NYSE:WFT) but moves the stock down in the rankings based on debt concerns and re-investment capacity in a recovery.
- Now read Schlumberger is Barclays' top pick in North America oilfield services