Patterson-UTI Snaps Six-Quarter Slide as Pricing Turns Higher
Patterson-UTI Energy swung to a broad-based sequential rebound, with revenue climbing 10% to $1.2 billion and its rig count exit rate jumping to 96 from a 92 average.
Patterson-UTI Energy (PTEN) reported a sequential turn in its business this week, with revenue rising 10% to $1.2 billion in the second quarter of 2026 from $1.12 billion in the first quarter, and adjusted EBITDA climbing 13% to $232 million from $205 million. The oilfield-services provider's net loss attributable to common stockholders narrowed to $20 million from $25 million a quarter earlier and from $49 million a year ago.
The results mark a break from a trend that had persisted since mid-2025. Adjusted EBITDA had slid from $231 million in the second quarter of 2025 to $219 million, then $221 million, then $205 million by the first quarter of this year, tracking a rig count that fell from 104 average rigs to 92 over the same span. That count held at 92 again in the second quarter, but Patterson-UTI exited the period with 96 rigs running, the first sequential increase in the metric since the decline began, and operating days edged up to 8,361 from 8,301.
Completion Services drove much of the improvement. Segment revenue rose 11% sequentially to $754 million, and adjusted gross profit jumped 25% to $123 million from $98 million, reversing the margin compression seen in the fourth quarter of 2025 and first quarter of 2026. Revenue per pump hour rose by a mid-single-digit percentage in the quarter, the first increase in that metric since pricing was described as merely steady in the third quarter of 2025 and price discussions had only just begun in the first quarter of this year. Drilling Products, the segment built around the 2023 Ulterra acquisition, posted its strongest quarter on record at $91 million in revenue and $37 million in adjusted gross profit, both up sequentially.
Drilling Services told a more mixed story. Revenue rose 6% to $374 million, but adjusted gross profit fell to $114 million from $134 million, entirely the result of a $20 million non-cash charge tied to Patterson-UTI's exit from Colombia; stripped of that charge, gross profit would have held roughly flat at $134 million. The Colombia wind-down, which also carried a $5 million non-cash write-down of other noncontrolling investments, follows a $28 million impairment in the same market a year earlier, indicating the company chose to exit rather than continue absorbing losses there. Recently awarded Drilling Services term contracts are pricing 10% to 15% above levels at the start of the year, a new data point underscoring the tightening across its rig fleet.
Cash and restricted cash fell to $203 million at June 30 from $421 million at year-end 2025, a $217 million decline attributed to a larger-than-usual first-half working-capital investment made to support higher customer demand. Patterson-UTI is also increasing its capital-expenditure budget to fund additional growth investment extending into 2027, a shift from the disciplined, flat-capex framing of prior quarters.
For the third quarter, Patterson-UTI guides Drilling Services adjusted gross profit to approximately $145 million and Completion Services adjusted gross profit to approximately $140 million, both above the second quarter's actual results and representing raised sequential guidance versus the outlook language given a quarter earlier.
The company held its quarterly dividend at $0.10 a share for a third straight quarter, following the 25% increase from $0.08 a share enacted in the fourth quarter of 2025.