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Date
Friday, April 24, 2026 at 11 a.m. ET
Call participants
- Chief Executive Officer — Olivier Le Peuch
- Chief Financial Officer — Stephane Biguet
Takeaways
- Revenue -- $8.7 billion, a 3% increase year over year; however, on an organic basis excluding the ChampionX acquisition, revenue declined by $607 million, or 7% year over year.
- Sequential revenue change -- Revenue decreased more than $1 billion, or 10.5%, compared to the prior quarter, which was approximately $200 million greater than previously forecast, primarily due to Middle East disruptions.
- Adjusted EBITDA margin -- 20.3%, contracting by 346 basis points year over year, driven by high decrementals in the Middle East and increased logistics and supply chain costs.
- EPS (excluding charges and credits) -- $0.52, down $0.20 year over year; ChampionX merger and integration charges reduced EPS by $0.02 this quarter.
- Digital division revenue -- $640 million, up 9% year over year, with annual recurring revenue at $1.02 billion (15% growth); adjusted EBITDA margin of 26.1% declined by 473 basis points due to exploration data sales mix.
- Automated footage reading -- 145% growth year over year in uptake, reflecting accelerated adoption of digital and AI-powered technologies.
- Data center solutions revenue growth -- 45% increase year over year; management confirmed on track for a $1 billion annual run rate by year-end and highlighted the NVIDIA modular design partnership.
- Production systems revenue -- $3.5 billion, a 23% rise year over year due to the ChampionX acquisition; when excluding ChampionX, revenue decreased 6% year over year.
- ChampionX performance -- Pro forma growth of 2% compared to 2025, with accretive margins and synergy capture proceeding as targeted.
- Well construction revenue -- $2.8 billion, down 6% year over year, with margin contraction of 463 basis points attributed to Middle East disruption and pricing headwinds in select markets.
- Reservoir performance revenue -- $1.6 billion, down 6% year over year, as disruptions in the Middle East reduced stimulation and intervention activity; pretax margin down 47 basis points.
- OneSubsea division -- First-quarter pretax margin at 14.4% (down from 18.1% in 2025) due to wind-down of large projects and ramp-up of new, high start-up-cost projects; backlog rose 5% year over year with higher bookings expected for the rest of the year.
- Net debt -- Increased by $797 million sequentially to $8.2 billion, as cash flow from operations was $487 million and free cash flow was slightly negative at €23 million, reflecting both seasonal working capital patterns and delayed collections in the Middle East.
- Capital investment -- $510 million in the quarter; full-year guidance for capital investment remains at approximately $2.5 billion.
- Shareholder returns -- $451 million in share repurchases during the quarter, reiterating a full-year buyback target of at least $2.4 billion and total 2026 shareholder returns exceeding $4 billion through dividends and repurchases.
- Middle East exposure -- The region comprised about 70% of the company’s Middle East and Asia business for the quarter, with activity disproportionately affected by operational shutdowns and production curtailments.
- Second quarter earnings guidance -- If current disruptions persist through mid-quarter and then ease, management estimates an incremental $0.06-$0.08 EPS headwind from the Middle East; international markets expected to deliver mid- to high-single-digit revenue growth with margin improvement, offsetting the decline.
- North America revenue outlook -- Expected to be flat on a sequential basis.
- S&P Global Commodity Insights software suite acquisition -- Management highlighted the acquisition of the upstream petrotechnical software suite (excluding datasets), designed to enhance North American presence and support further unconventional market expansion.
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Risks
- Chief Executive Officer Le Peuch said, "It was a challenging start to the year, marked by severe disruption in the Middle East that impacted our first quarter revenue and earnings," with specific reference to shutdowns in Qatar and Iraq and continued operational curtailments in the region.
- Chief Financial Officer Biguet stated, "adjusted EBITDA margin for the first quarter was 20.3%, down 346 basis points year on year," and cited elevated costs, supply chain disruption, and pricing headwinds as margin pressures.
- Chief Financial Officer Biguet added, "We did not make any material adjustments to our cost base during the quarter, as our immediate focus was the protection of our people and preserving operational capacity for the expected future rebound in activity."
- Chief Financial Officer Biguet said, "We estimate that it would negatively impact our second quarter earnings per share by an incremental 6¢-8¢ when compared to the first quarter."
Summary
SLB N.V. (SLB +2.58%) management emphasized that recent acquisition and integration of ChampionX delivered both revenue growth and margin accretion, while new digital and data center initiatives confirmed momentum through partnerships and customer demand visibility. Company leaders outlined a constructive long-term oil and gas investment environment, driven by structural supply shifts, inventory replenishment, and increased emphasis on energy security, which are expected to support future cycles in both short- and long-cycle capital investments. Strategic focus was given to production recovery, data-driven operations, and modular infrastructure for data centers, including growth through M&A and differentiated solution partnerships such as with NVIDIA. While Middle East disruptions continue to present an immediate earnings headwind, management articulated multiple pathways for offsetting performance elsewhere, with resilience expected from international and digital markets. Preparation for recovery in the Middle East centers on rapid restoration of order in some countries and phased, intervention-led approaches in others, suggesting capacity expansion and market share recapture opportunities as conditions normalize.
- Digital division projected to return to full-year EBITDA margin at or above 35%, with fourth-quarter margins historically the strongest due to established seasonal trends.
- Management confirmed the backlog for OneSubsea increased 5% year over year.
- Data center solutions business is positioned for capital-light, high-visibility growth, underpinned by long-term agreements like the NVIDIA modular AI factory partnership and plans for further expansion via targeted M&A in areas such as thermal management.
- Company reported $487 million in operating cash flow and reiterated its confidence in generating substantially higher free cash flow in the second half of 2026 as delayed Middle East collections normalize and working capital cycles turn.
- Acquisition of the S&P Global Commodity Insights upstream software suite aligns with SLB N.V.’s ambitions to strengthen North American specialization, address unconventional market complexity, and deepen AI-driven integrated offerings.
Industry glossary
- Automated footage reading: The digital process of capturing and interpreting drilling data in real time using AI, improving operational efficiency in well construction workflows.
- FID (Final Investment Decision): The formal go-ahead by a company to commit capital to a major project, commonly used in reference to significant upstream oil and gas developments.
- OneSubsea: SLB N.V.’s subsea technology and services business, delivering solutions for offshore oil and gas field development, including subsea production systems and processing technologies.
- Delfi environment: SLB N.V.’s cloud-based digital platform for integrating AI, data, and domain science in energy workflows, supporting exploration, development, and production optimization.
- ChampionX: An acquired SLB N.V. business focused on production chemicals, artificial lift, and technology solutions for improved oilfield recovery and asset productivity.
Full Conference Call Transcript
Olivier Le Peuch: Thank you, James. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for joining us. Before we begin, I would like to acknowledge our people, customers, and partners in the Middle East as they navigate this challenging and uncertain time. Our strong presence in the region dates back more than 85 years, and I am proud of the resilience and unity demonstrated by our people as they work in lockstep with customers to safeguard our teams and assets, preparing for an eventual resumption of operations. I want to commend the entire SLB N.V. team for their continued care, commitment, and support for one another and for our customers. Turning to today’s call.
I will start with our first quarter performance, followed by an update on the evolving situation in the Middle East, and our outlook in the mid to long term. I will then cover our strategic initiatives including production recovery, digital, and data centers, and provide our outlook for the second quarter. Stephane will then take you through the financials, and we will open the line for your questions. Let us begin. It was a challenging start to the year, marked by severe disruption in the Middle East that impacted our first quarter revenue and earnings. At the onset of the conflict, customers’ decisions to safeguard personnel and assets led to an initial wave of operational shutdowns.
As the conflict persisted, further activity curtailments followed as a result of production shut-ins. The impact of these actions was most pronounced in Qatar due to force majeure and the suspension of offshore operations, and in Iraq due to the security conditions. We also experienced more gradual impact from offshore shutdowns in other countries in the region, driven by a combination of security concerns and export capacity disruptions. In addition to the situation in the Middle East, unfavorable activity mix and higher cost further weighed on the quarter, most notably in OneSubsea. Looking across the divisions, Production Systems and Digital grew year on year, while Reservoir Performance and Well Construction declined, mostly due to the impact of the conflict.
Production Systems year-on-year revenue increased 23% due to the acquisition of ChampionX, which continued to deliver accretive growth. Additionally, we are on track to achieve our synergies target. On a pro forma basis, ChampionX also grew year on year, demonstrating the increasing demand in the production market. Turning to Digital, we grew 9% year on year driven by strong uptake in digital operations. Of note, automated footage reading grew by 145% year on year as customers continue to adopt digital and AI-powered solutions to boost operational performance and efficiency. Also, data center solutions remain a bright spot, with 45% growth year on year.
The momentum in this area continues, as you saw in our recent announcement to serve as a modular design partner for NVIDIA DSX AI factories. With our growing backlog, we remain on track to exit the year at a 1 billion dollars run rate and expect the growth rate to accelerate in 2027. Overall, despite the challenges of the quarter, I am pleased that the strategic decisions and purposeful actions that we are taking in digital, data center solutions, and production recovery are delivering results. I would like to express a big thank you to our teams in the Middle East and across the world who continue to deliver each day for our customers in this very dynamic environment.
Now let me turn to how we expect the market to evolve as the conflict in the Middle East is resolved. Firstly, we anticipate that oil prices will set at levels above the pre-conflict baseline. This reflects the new balance of liquid supply and demand, which has been significantly altered by more than 500 million miles lost production impact thus far. In this environment, energy security remains at the forefront. We expect many countries to accelerate efforts to diversify supply, strengthen domestic resource development, and rebuild strategic and commercial inventories that have been drawn down during the conflict.
In short, the fragility of the global energy complex we are witnessing today demonstrates the strategic importance and long-term value of oil and gas. Together, these dynamics are expected to support a constructive macro environment for upstream investment over the coming years. In the near term, activity would be led by flow restoration and capacity across the Middle East for both oil and gas. While some countries that executed orderly shut-ins should be able to resume production within days or weeks, other areas—particularly where disruptions were more abrupt—may require more value ramp-up, including additional waiting time and maintenance.
As a result, while the near-term recovery will be gradual and will differ across countries, we see an upside in the outlook, buying demand restrictions from the prolonged conflict. We are committed and ready to support our customers across the region. Beyond the region, we expect a broad-based response across both short- and long-cycle investments. Short-cycle activity is likely to strengthen first, particularly in North America and parts of Latin America, where operators can respond quickly to higher prices. In addition, well intervention activities that can lead to additional production will get a natural boost across all basins.
At the same time, we expect renewed momentum in long-cycle developments, especially in offshore and deepwater markets, as customers look to secure durable, large-scale sources of supply. This is also likely to improve certainty of offshore FID approvals while also supporting increased exploration activity. As we can read in third-party reports, the FID pipeline in 2026 is strengthening and directionally adding over 100 billion dollars total investment approval, visibly ahead of the last two years, and with another step up expected in 2027, with deepwater resources getting a large portion of these investments. Regionally, this presents opportunity in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
Africa is one of the most compelling long-term opportunities, with a significant base of underdeveloped oil and gas resources. We expect portfolio allocation to shift more favorably toward this region over time. In Asia, we continue to see a priority on access to gas, both onshore and offshore, as it works to diversify supply through development of national resources. And across Latin America—from Guyana to Brazil to Suriname—we see continued strength in deepwater developments, complemented by short-cycle growth in unconventionals in Argentina. Separately, Venezuela continues to represent an exciting growth opportunity where we can expand on our existing operations in-country.
To conclude this section, in the context of energy security and the rebalancing of supply and demand, we see three primary drivers of increased investment over the coming years: first, the replenishment of depleted commercial inventories and strategic reserves; second, diversification of supply, including greater redundancy sourcing; and third, increased emphasis on developing local resources to enhance long-term resilience. Our core business will benefit from these dynamics, supporting the positive outlook for SLB N.V. into 2027 and 2028. Let me now describe the additional strategic growth levers for SLB N.V.: production recovery, digital, and data centers. Starting with production recovery. This is becoming increasingly critical as the industry faces structural challenges in replacing reserves and sustaining production from existing assets.
In this context, technology that enhances recovery and extends the life of mature fields is no longer optional; it is essential. Against the macro we just discussed, this is a defining moment for production recovery. These technologies have the potential to shape the next stage of recovery in unconventional assets, and create a step change in quality and enhancement in every basin and operating environment—from deepwater to conventional, and from gas to oil. With ChampionX, we are uniquely positioned to lead in this space by combining production chemistry, artificial lift, digital capabilities, and subsurface domain expertise, while helping customers unlock additional barrels from existing reservoirs in a capital-efficient manner.
This is particularly relevant as operators look to maximize recovery, improve returns, and bring incremental supply to market in support of energy security. We also held our first production recovery summit in Houston a couple of weeks ago, and we were very pleased with the engagement from our customers from every region across the world. They increasingly recognize the potential of this domain and the opportunities it presents to enable growth for the industry. Turning to digital. This business continues to build strong momentum and is a key driver of both differentiation and long-term value creation for SLB N.V. While still a relatively small portion of our revenue today, its impact extends well beyond its size.
Our approach is grounded in domain expertise, where AI, data, and software are integrated into our platform and workflows to deliver measurable performance outcomes. This is not about standalone tools; it is about embedding intelligence across the full life cycle of reservoir development and production. Our teams continue to make exciting developments, particularly in automation. As the number of use cases increases and the value of these technologies is proven in the field, we anticipate increased adoption.
Over time, we expect digital to become an increasingly important lever for growth, both as a standalone business and as an enabler across our broader portfolio, and we are excited to share more about this business during our Digital Investor Day later in June. Finally, data centers represent a new and rapidly expanding opportunity for SLB N.V., building on our core strengths in engineering, manufacturing, and project execution, while extending our scope of modular infrastructure solutions to support the accelerating demand for AI and digital capacity. In less than two years, we have established our right to play in this industry, proven by our manufacturing know-how and supply chain capabilities.
We are building on this expertise to support design, engineering, and performance optimization of the data center buildout. And we are currently scaling the business to expand capacity, deepen partnerships, and selectively grow internationally. While still at an early stage, this business is already demonstrating characteristics we are looking for: capital-light growth, strong demand visibility, and a clear path to becoming a meaningful contributor to earnings over time. Looking ahead, we see additional upside to opportunities such as thermal management, decarbonized power, and serving as a system integrator. These are areas where our capabilities can further differentiate our offering and expand our addressable market. We also continue to assess potential opportunities to accelerate this trajectory through targeted M&A.
Taken together, these three areas—production recovery, digital, and data center solutions—reflect how we are evolving our portfolio toward higher-return, technology-driven, and less cyclical growth. They are complementary, scalable, and aligned with the long-term trends shaping both the energy system and digital infrastructure. Let me now share our view on how the second quarter may unfold. First, it is uncertain how long geopolitical disruption will last and how the recovery in the Middle East will unfold. At the same time, we are facing higher procurement and logistics costs driven by the conflict. As a result, it is challenging to provide precise guidance for this quarter.
However, there is a scenario where a portion of the disruption in the region persists through the middle of the second quarter and then begins to gradually ease. Under this assumption, we estimate that the sequential revenue and earnings decline in the Middle East will be fully offset by all of our international markets combined, where we anticipate mid- to high-single-digit revenue growth with improved margins. Meanwhile, North America revenue is expected to be flat sequentially. By division, under the business scenario just highlighted, Digital and Production Systems will grow globally, while Reservoir Performance and Well Construction will decline globally. I will now turn the call over to Stephane to discuss our financial results in more detail.
Stephane Biguet: Thank you, Olivier, and good morning, ladies and gentlemen. First quarter earnings per share, excluding charges and credits, was 52¢. This represents a decrease of 20¢ when compared to the first quarter of last year. During the quarter, we recorded 2¢ of merger and integration charges, primarily related to the ChampionX transaction. Overall, our first quarter global revenue of 8.7 billion dollars increased 3% year on year. Excluding the impact of the ChampionX acquisition in the third quarter last year, revenue declined by 607 million dollars, or 7% year on year. When compared to the fourth quarter of last year, revenue fell by just over 1 billion dollars, or 10.5%.
This decline was approximately 200 basis points—or about 200 million dollars—higher than what we expected at the time of our last earnings call in January. This was primarily due to the impact of the conflict in the Middle East, as we experienced operational disruptions throughout the month of March. Company-wide adjusted EBITDA margin for the first quarter was 20.3%, down 346 basis points year on year. Margins were negatively affected by high decrementals on the Middle East revenue impact. We did not make any material adjustments to our cost base during the quarter, as our immediate focus was the protection of our people and preserving operational capacity for the expected future rebound in activity.
We also incurred additional logistics and materials costs as a result of supply chain disruptions due to the conflict. Beyond the effect of the Middle East conflict, first quarter margins were impacted year on year by increased tariffs, project mix, and higher costs in OneSubsea, as well as pricing headwinds in select markets, particularly in Well Construction. Let me now go through the first quarter results for each division. First quarter Digital revenue of 640 million dollars increased 9% year on year, primarily driven by 87% growth in digital operations. This was supported by increased digital services adoption, and new technology introduction, as well as the acquisition of ChampionX.
Notably, annual recurring revenue for the division stood at 1.02 billion dollars at the end of the first quarter, representing year-on-year growth of 15%. Digital pretax operating margin of 20.9% was essentially flat year on year; however, adjusted EBITDA margin of 26.1% declined 473 basis points due to lower amortization relating to exploration data as a result of the mix of surveys sold during the quarter. As you know, Digital margins are historically lowest in the first quarter due to seasonality, and steadily increase throughout the year, reaching the highest level in the fourth quarter, as evidenced by last quarter’s results.
This trend will continue, and consequently, we expect to achieve full-year Digital adjusted EBITDA margin that is at least equivalent to last year’s level of 35%. Reservoir Performance revenue of 1.6 billion dollars decreased 6% year on year, while pretax operating margin of 16.1% decreased 47 basis points. These decreases were due to lower stimulation and intervention activity, primarily as a result of the disruptions in the Middle East. Well Construction revenue of 2.8 billion dollars decreased 6% year on year, primarily from lower activity due to the disruption in the Middle East, partially offset by higher offshore drilling activity in Europe, Africa, Latin America, and North America.
Pretax operating margin of 15.2% contracted 463 basis points year on year due to lower profitability on account of the Middle East conflict, as well as pricing headwinds in select markets. Finally, Production Systems revenue of 3.5 billion dollars increased 23% year on year. Excluding the impact of the ChampionX acquisition, first quarter revenue decreased 6% year on year. On a pro forma basis, revenue from the ChampionX production chemicals and artificial lift businesses grew 2% compared to 2025. This strong ChampionX performance was offset by the impact of the Middle East conflict, lower OneSubsea revenue, and—independent of the conflict—lower product deliveries in Saudi Arabia.
Production Systems pretax operating margin of 14.2% declined 240 basis points year on year due to lower profitability in Surface Production Systems, Completions, and OneSubsea. As it specifically relates to OneSubsea, pretax margin in the first quarter was 14.4%, compared to 18.1% in 2025. Margins were affected by the concurrent wind-down of several large programs and the initiation of new projects with high start-up costs. OneSubsea margins are expected to increase over the remainder of the year. ChampionX partially offset those effects as we continue to make progress with our synergy realization.
As a result, ChampionX margins this quarter were higher than in both Q4 and Q1 of last year, and were accretive to both Production Systems and total SLB N.V. margins. Now turning to our liquidity. Our net debt increased 797 million dollars sequentially to 8.2 billion dollars. During the quarter, we generated 487 million dollars of cash flow from operations. Free cash flow was slightly negative at 23 million euros on account of the payment of annual employee incentives and the seasonal increase in working capital that we typically experience in the first quarter. This was compounded by delayed collections in the Middle East stemming from the conflict.
We expect our cash flow generation to follow our historical pattern, with free cash flow gradually increasing throughout the year, with the majority coming in the second half. Capital investments, inclusive of CapEx and investments in ATS projects and exploration data, were 510 million dollars in the first quarter. For the full year, we are still expecting capital investments to be approximately 2.5 billion dollars. During the quarter, we repurchased 451 million dollars of our stock, and we still expect to repurchase a minimum of 2.4 billion dollars for the full year, in line with 2025.
As a reminder, we are targeting to return more than 4 billion dollars to our shareholders in 2026 through a combination of dividends and stock buybacks. Before I wrap up, let me come back to our second quarter outlook and more specifically to the Middle East. I would first like to clarify that the Middle East represented approximately 70% of our Middle East and Asia business in the first quarter. Under the specific scenario that Olivier highlighted earlier—where operational disruption continues in the region until the middle of the quarter and then starts to alleviate—we estimate that it would negatively impact our second quarter earnings per share by an incremental 6 to 8¢ when compared to the first quarter.
This is the result of lost revenue as well as higher procurement and logistics costs associated with the conflict. I will now turn the conference call back to Olivier.
Olivier Le Peuch: Thank you, Stephane. I believe we are now ready to take your questions.
Operator: We will now open the call for questions. If you would like to ask a question, please press star then one. Your first question comes from the line of David Anderson with Barclays. Your line is open.
David Anderson: Good morning, Olivier. Looking past some of the near-term disruptions, I was wondering if you could expand a bit more on your views on how the investment cycle has changed. You mentioned a broad-based recovery in 2027 and 2028. Is that predicated on oil prices being structurally higher now? And can you also comment on which end markets you see the most upside in as you sit here today?
Olivier Le Peuch: I think there are multiple reasons why we will initially benefit from an uptick in investment. First, indeed, we are projecting that the commodity price will be higher after this than it was before. But more importantly, the significant impairment of the supply-demand balance has created the need for replenishing inventories and strategic reserves, and has also heightened the risk around energy security.
As a consequence, there will be multiple factors that will play into an increased investment outlook: firstly, replacing inventories and strategic reserves will supplement the natural demand for oil and gas; secondly, energy security will drive national decisions to invest into local resources and to diversify sources of supply, including creating redundancy if necessary, and clearly maintaining higher inventory stocks to prevent future supply shocks. This aligns with trends that were already in play indicating that offshore was set for a rebound as we exit 2026 into 2027. We believe this combination will affect both short-cycle activity in the near term and long-cycle activity at scale into 2027 and 2028.
So, in our opinion, we are set for an uptick into a cycle of strength going forward.
David Anderson: You had talked about deepwater looking particularly attractive in that outlook—obviously part of the long-cycle story. Where do you see the most upside in terms of the SLB N.V. business? Is it more on the Well Construction and Reservoir Performance side? Could OneSubsea be a big driver?
Olivier Le Peuch: We are confident that offshore, particularly deepwater, is very attractive economically now and is among the last large resource opportunities for operators to unlock and develop going forward. That is why we are seeing an uptick in the FID pipeline and multiple reports indicating that approvals will, at scale, exceed what we have seen in the last couple of years. The macro is very positive for deepwater, and this is true across Africa, Asia, and the Americas for different reasons. Africa, as I stated, is set to be one of the main beneficiaries—it has vast undeveloped oil and gas resources on both the West and East coasts, and we see potential acceleration of FIDs in the coming quarters.
The Americas are very strong, from Brazil to the Gulf of Mexico and into parts of Central America. In Asia, because of gas, we see a doubling down on deepwater resource development, including active developments in Indonesia. You have seen some announcements we made earlier today in the earnings press release, with OneSubsea being awarded projects in Malaysia and the South China Sea. Our core at large would benefit from this rebound—we have strong market positions across divisions. OneSubsea, in particular, should benefit at scale. As guided previously, we expect OneSubsea to have higher bookings this year than last year, and then to have a growth trajectory in 2026 and into 2027 and 2028 as this offshore cycle scales.
Operator: Thank you. Your next question comes from the line of James West with Melius Research. Your line is open.
James West: Good morning, Olivier and Stephane. The Middle East is your backyard—you have owned that market for a century or more. You do not leave conflict zones, and you are always there for the recovery. As you think about the recovery and how it could unfold—as you talk to customers—what do they want to do? What do they need you for initially, and how do you think the momentum builds assuming the conflict resolves on the timeline you laid out?
Olivier Le Peuch: We are working in lockstep with customers every day and every week. We continue to work closely with them as they contemplate options for recovery while observing geopolitical developments. We stand ready. Multiple scenarios are being considered: in some countries, resumption of operations should be relatively fast—days or weeks; in others, where facilities or fields were shut abruptly, we will need to intervene on those fields. There will be an initial phase of assessment and intervention before production can return to full capacity. There are zones where security will remain a concern and will delay recovery further. So, it is a gradual recovery.
We are working to mobilize equipment and resources, anticipate reservoir consequences, and define the services required as the situation stabilizes and customers remobilize. We see clear long-term upside in the region, and expect some countries to use this to catch up and possibly expand capacity to recover market share and production lost during this period.
James West: Understood. As countries and companies diversify supplies, do you see more of your Middle East-based customers stepping outside of the region post-conflict?
Olivier Le Peuch: Generally, operators will continue to diversify options across the world. There are plenty of basins still underdeveloped—I highlighted Africa, where fiscal terms and security conditions have improved, making it very compelling. The Middle East remains a low-cost barrel and low-cost gas region at scale and will continue to attract investment. We see a mix: additional investment into Africa, the Americas offshore, Asia deepwater, and production recovery across all regions because that is where the fastest incremental barrels can come from.
Operator: Thank you. Your next question comes from the line of Steve Richardson with Evercore ISI. Your line is open.
Steve Richardson: Good morning. On Digital, you announced an agreement with S&P. We understand this is largely a U.S.-centric petrotechnical software suite and dataset. What is the longer-term vision there, and is it an enabler for other things you are doing outside of Digital?
Olivier Le Peuch: As described in our press release this morning, we have agreed with S&P Global Commodity Insights to acquire the upstream petrotechnical software suite—not their data—and this is mostly deployed in North America with independents, with workflows quite specific to the unconventional market. This is highly complementary to our offering. It will enhance our North America presence, support expansion of these petrotechnical workflows internationally for hybrid markets, and help us address the next challenges in unconventional development and recovery. We will use this new software suite to complement what we have and unlock new unconventional workflows.
Separately, we have entered an agreement to pursue a strategic partnership with S&P Global Commodity Insights in AI—leveraging the power of our Delfi environment and domain foundation models with S&P’s global datasets to provide customers with unique insights by applying AI and our domain expertise to S&P’s datasets. We believe this will be very valuable to customers.
Steve Richardson: Thank you. And a brief update on the data center business—outlook on securing additional customers, commercial approach, and expectations for the balance of the year relative to what you discussed a quarter ago?
Olivier Le Peuch: We reiterate our ambition to reach or exceed a 1 billion dollars run rate as we close this year. We made great progress this quarter to secure additional customers, giving us further visibility into demand capacity in 2027 and 2028, supporting growth as we scale beyond our exit-rate commentary. You saw the NVIDIA announcement selecting us as a modular design partner for the DSX AI factory. This means we have been selected among trusted partners to develop modular infrastructure solutions for large-scale sites that need to be scaled fast. We will manufacture equipment off-site and bring modular infrastructure to NVIDIA customers. You will see additional announcements that show the breadth of our customer reach and scale of operations.
We are pleased with progress—this will continue in 2026 and at scale in 2027.
Operator: Thank you. Your next question comes from the line of Arun Jayaram with JPMorgan. Your line is open.
Arun Jayaram: Good morning. Production recovery seems to be an important theme this morning. Could you highlight some of the industrial and technical challenges in restoring production that is offline in the Middle East? And assuming there is improvement in the situation in 2Q, could this drive SLB N.V.’s second-half 2026 results?
Olivier Le Peuch: We will not comment on behalf of our customers in the Middle East as they assess their facilities—some have been damaged by the crisis. We will comment on our engagement and close partnership to prepare for remobilization as security concerns ease. Some shut-ins were orderly and will resume with remobilization of resources without significant short-term impact. Others will need well intervention activity, where we have upside, and we will apply production recovery technologies to help restore pre-conflict capacity. Over time, we expect resumption to gradually proceed over months and possibly quarters for some countries. We also see upside in some countries seeking to uplift capacity and participate in replenishing depleted inventories and strategic reserves.
So we expect an initial phase of intervention and recovery, followed by larger-scale development and capacity expansion for some countries.
Arun Jayaram: A follow-up on Digital. Year over year, revenue was up 9% but EBITDA margins fell by 473 basis points. What did you see on margins, and what is the recovery potential over the balance of the year?
Stephane Biguet: As you know, we closed last year in Digital with full-year EBITDA margin of 35% and pretax operating margin of 28%. We started 2026 with pretax margin of about 21%, which is essentially in line with where we started in 2025. EBITDA margins were lower exclusively due to lower amortization from the mix of exploration data sold during the quarter. Stepping back, the first quarter is typically the lowest for Digital margins, and margins rise through the year, peaking in Q4. Our ambition is to deliver total Digital EBITDA margins of at least 35% again this year. The quarterly choppiness is not a concern.
Operator: Thank you. Next question comes from the line of Scott Gruber with Citi Research. Your line is open.
Scott Gruber: Good morning. In a world where code writing becomes easier and more commoditized, can you speak to the resilience of the value-add of your Digital portfolio? And as you shape the portfolio—like with the S&P acquisition—how are you expanding that value-add and enhancing resilience?
Olivier Le Peuch: Customers are accelerating digital adoption because regardless of cycle conditions, they need to differentiate and extract efficiency and productivity across geoscience, planning, drilling, and production workflows. The adoption of digital operations is growing nicely—drilling automation and production workflows, including autonomous ESPs, are resonating across basins. We see not only resilience but a long-term tailwind because our industry has unique data and deep domain expertise, and AI is becoming a catalyst to unlock productivity. We are unique in our capability: deep domain knowledge, platforms to scale AI, and growing field-proven use cases. We believe it is the right time for the industry to adopt AI at scale. We will show more at the Digital Investor Day.
Scott Gruber: With an outlook for higher oil prices over the medium term, how does that impact Digital? Could seismic sales improve meaningfully? And do you anticipate customers using excess cash to spend more on software and applications to boost efficiency?
Olivier Le Peuch: Higher commodity prices give customers more optionality for discretionary spend. They tend to accelerate exploration and digital adoption. We are already seeing signals that exploration is coming back—some companies are reinvesting at scale to secure reserves. They will use discretionary spend to acquire datasets and accelerate exploration, and to move faster from pilots to broader software platform deployments.
Operator: Thank you. Your next question will go to the line of Sebastian Erskine with Rothschild & Co and Redburn. Your line is open.
Sebastian Erskine: Good morning, and thanks for taking my questions. On SLB N.V.’s OneSubsea—it is one of the jewels in your crown. You had guided to 9 billion dollars in order intake over the next two years. Could you give an outlook on margin expansion within OneSubsea, especially relative to the broader offshore E&C universe? Is there more room for integration with the rest of your portfolio or further efficiencies?
Stephane Biguet: You will have noticed that for the first time we provided OneSubsea margins for the first quarter. Unfortunately, they were not as strong this quarter, but these are temporary effects due to timing of project completions and start-ups. In the same quarter last year, pretax margins were 18%, implying EBITDA margins very close to 20%. This is what we expect from this business over the cycle at a minimum. Even though we started on a rough note in the first quarter, we expect margins to normalize in coming quarters. On the back of a backlog that is up 5% year on year, we have better visibility on growth and potential margins going forward.
Olivier Le Peuch: To add, subsea is essential for our customers’ deepwater developments, and production recovery plays a great role. We have a unique subsea processing portfolio. You saw another announcement enhancing our project with Equinor in Norway, and we made an acquisition to complement our intervention offering in deepwater subsea. Production recovery and our core capabilities are essential going forward. We will help customers leverage OneSubsea to enhance production of existing fields and provide more life-of-field services, including digital capabilities. So we benefit from both the EPCI cycle and long-term life-of-field services.
Sebastian Erskine: Thank you. A follow-up on data centers: you mentioned considering potential further M&A. What areas are you seeking to add to your portfolio?
Olivier Le Peuch: We are looking at opportunities that give us a stronger technology anchor in modular infrastructure. Thermal management is top of mind, and we are evaluating options that would complement our offering and go-to-market in this space.
Operator: Thank you. Next question will go to the line of Mark Bianchi with TD Cowen. Your line is open.
Mark Bianchi: Thank you. To clarify the 2Q outlook: you are essentially saying results will be similar to 1Q, with a 6 to 8¢ incremental hit from the Middle East that is being offset elsewhere. Is that the message?
Stephane Biguet: Yes, that is a good summary—under the specific scenario we highlighted, where operational disruptions start to ease around mid-quarter and then gradually recover. In this scenario, we can offset the 6 to 8¢ incremental effect from the Middle East with the rest of our international operations.
Mark Bianchi: Thank you. On OneSubsea and the 9 billion dollars of awards over 2026–2027—given the outlook, do you see upside to that now? And how do you think about competitive positioning?
Olivier Le Peuch: If the current dynamics persist and as the conflict ends, deepwater investments—comprising the majority of expected FIDs in 2027 and 2028—should become even more attractive. If FIDs firm up or accelerate in 2026–2027, that could enable us to outperform prior guidance. On positioning, we feel extremely good. Our partnership with Subsea7 enables us to deliver integrated offerings when customers ask for them, and we have done this at scale. We have collaborative engagements with several customers to optimize subsea architectures and unlock FIDs—this is true with partners like Equinor and BP. We also have a unique subsea processing portfolio that has no match in the market.
You have seen the Åsgard subsea gas compression unlocking new levels of recovery in Norway, and today’s additional announcement on the Gullfaks project to extend life and improve performance via subsea processing. Our awards pipeline remains strong—in Malaysia, the South China Sea, Suriname, and Norway—and we see exciting projects ahead across the Americas, Asia, and Africa.
Operator: Thank you. Your last question comes from the line of Neil Mehta with Goldman Sachs. Your line is open.
Neil Mehta: Thanks. You spoke about cost impacts in the Middle East, including freight. Can you give more specifics on line items causing pressure and how you are addressing them?
Stephane Biguet: The situation introduced strain on supply chain networks locally, with ripple effects elsewhere. The most impacted line item is logistics and transportation costs. Next are raw materials—particularly those derived from petroleum products—including chemicals. These impacted margins in the first quarter and will linger for a while. We have mobilized our commercial organization to recover some of these increased costs by activating inflation pass-through clauses in our contracts. Where we do not have such clauses, we are in direct negotiations with both suppliers and customers to offset effects. We are accustomed to cost spikes from inflation and work to recover as much as we can.
Neil Mehta: Lastly, it has been a couple of months since ChampionX has officially been in the SLB N.V. portfolio. Any observations on what it is bringing to the table and how integration is progressing?
Olivier Le Peuch: First, I will reiterate the results: ChampionX has been accretive to the company in the first quarter, growing year on year and expanding margins year on year. Second, during three days with our board in Midland, it was a pleasure to see former ChampionX employees fully integrated, demonstrating technology fit and revenue and technology synergies that customers appreciate. We also met many customers with our board; their feedback on integration progress was very positive, and they clearly see the potential of ChampionX within SLB N.V. We are seeing the financial benefits, and we see exciting opportunities in production recovery.
Our teams are enthusiastic, and customers are appreciative—this is a unique combination that can unlock production recovery potential, particularly in unconventionals and across all our basins globally.
Operator: I will now turn the call over to SLB N.V. for closing comments.
Olivier Le Peuch: Thank you very much. As we conclude today’s call, I would like to leave you with the following reflections. First, while recent events have created near-term disruption, they have also reinforced the need for secure and reliable energy, which will support oil prices above pre-conflict levels and create an ongoing backdrop for oil and gas investment. Second, production recovery, digital, and data center solutions are creating the foundation for accelerated growth. Finally, this year marks 100 years of SLB N.V. As we celebrate this milestone, I am proud that we are not only honoring an extraordinary legacy, but also building the foundation for the next century of innovation, performance, and leadership. With this, I will conclude today’s call.
Thank you all for your time.
Operator: This concludes today’s conference call. You may now disconnect.

