CluenexHalliburton HAL
Halliburton scores weak on business quality (3.9 of 10). Here is why, in plain words, and what our sealed record shows.
Why it matters
- What Halliburton does
Halliburton provides oilfield services, helping exploration and production companies drill, evaluate, and complete wells globally. The business relies heavily on upstream oil and gas activity levels, collecting payments for specialized equipment, completion tools, and project execution. Facing flat demand, the company is managing its asset base tightly while avoiding speculative exploration ventures like the Sea Lion project in Argentina.
- What it does best
Halliburton excels in well construction and completion services, backed by a gross margin of 11.6% that trails peer Baker Hughes at 23.7%. Deep technical expertise and a massive global fleet create high switching costs for oil producers who cannot afford project downtime.
- The main risk
Slowing exploration budgets threaten top-line volume as North American drilling activity softens. With revenue declining 3.3% to $22.4 billion, any further reduction in customer spending directly compresses operating margins currently sitting at 13.1%.
Quality, check by check
Scored against its own industry, from company filings.
Operating margins rest at 13.1% alongside a free cash flow margin supported by $1.7 billion in annual cash generation. Profitability remains stable despite revenue headwinds, though scale benefits are currently muted by soft industry pricing.
Scale and deep customer integration create a moderate switching-cost moat across oilfield operators. However, a gross margin in the bottom quartile of its sector at 5th percentile limits pricing power against competitors like SLB and Baker Hughes.
Revenue contracted 3.3% to $22.4 billion over the latest period, reversing prior gains. History shows annual revenue sliding from $23.0 billion in 2023, signaling a fading top-line growth engine as market activity cools.
Total debt of $7.3 billion outweighs cash of $2.2 billion, leaving net debt at $5.1 billion. Interest coverage sits at 6.9x, meaning earnings easily cover debt servicing costs while generating $1.7 billion in free cash flow.
Insiders
Executives and directors, from SEC Form 4 filings we read ourselves. Open market trades only; grants, option exercises and pre-planned sales left out.
No open market buys or unplanned sales by executives or directors.
Our sealed record on HAL
Verdicts appear here 30 days after we publish them; members see today's. Each one is in the nightly ledger, fingerprinted the night it was made.
The first sealed verdicts appear here on Oct 11, 2026.
Questions
Halliburton scores weak on the Cluenex quality check (3.9 of 10), measured against its own industry. Profitability is weak, moat fair, growth slow and financial health fair.
In the last 90 days of SEC Form 4 filings: No open market buys or unplanned sales by executives or directors.
Oct 20, 2026, before the open.
See HAL today
- Today's verdict on HAL, and why
- Fair value with cautious, base and optimistic cases
- The exact price that would change the verdict
- Which stocks each signal names, the night it fires
Cite this page: Cluenex, “Halliburton (HAL)”, https://cluenex.com/stocks/hal/, data as of Oct 10, 2026.