What Should Investors Watch for in Schlumberger's Earnings?

By Tyler Crowe – Oct 17, 2013 at 3:14PM

NYSE: SLB

Schlumberger

Market Cap

$70B

Today's Change

(-0.89%) -$0.44

Current Price

$49.11

Price as of April 24, 2024, 4:00 p.m. ET

Schlumberger has a major leg up over Halliburton and Baker Hughes in this part of the market. Can it stay there?

Schlumberger (SLB -0.89%) has an ace up its sleeve that Halliburton (HAL 0.34%) and Baker Hughes (BHI) wish they could have: a dominant position in what they call the reservoir description business. This service -- which entails things like seismic imaging and subsurface analysis -- is getting more and more valuable by the day. Major oil players like Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A) and BP (NYSE: BP) rely on this service to make sure they hit oil and gas when they venture out into more risky drilling environments.

Can Schlumberger hang onto this dominant position over Halliburton and others for long? Tune into the video where Fool.com contributor Tyler Crowe dives into this subject and explains why this segment of the business is a big factor to watch this coming quarter.

Fool contributor Aimee Duffy has no position in any stocks mentioned. Fool contributor Tyler Crowe has no position in any stocks mentioned. You can follow them both on Twitter:@TMFDuffy and @TylerCroweFool, respectively.

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