What happened
Shares of Oceaneering International (OII -1.48%), a provider of engineered services to the energy industry, soared 15% today as of 2:30 p.m. EST.
The move accelerated a recovery in the stock from a rough 2020, when shares were down almost 50%. Today's jump brings shares to levels last seen in early March of last year.
So what
With oil prices hitting $50 per barrel for the first time since before the pandemic, the stocks of companies in the industry are moving broadly higher today. A recovery in the sector began slowly as promising vaccine news and the reopening of the economy started to take shape in the fall.
A deep-sea oil pipeline repair, one of Oceaneering International's services. Image source: Oceaneering International.
Now what
With no specific news from the company today, investors are thinking that the boost the sector is getting from oil prices will translate into an improvement on previous outlooks.
In its third-quarter earnings report, Oceaneering CEO Roderick Larson said, "We anticipate the oil sector will face continuing headwinds in 2021," and he predicted that the company's results in 2021 will be comparable to 2020.
At the time, Larson highlighted the uncertainty surrounding a demand recovery and "the resulting softness in energy commodity prices." With oil prices rebounding to pre-pandemic levels today, the company's predictions for 2021 may prove to be conservative, giving investors a reason to get back into the stock.
