Halliburton's fourth quarter earnings

Halliburton announced earnings today for the 4^th quarter along with full year. For the 4^th quarter of 2013, HAL’s total revenue was $7.6 billion, compared to $7.5 billion produced in the 3^rd quarter of 2013. Record revenues produced in their Middle East/Asia and Europe/Africa/CIS regions mainly drove the fourth quarter revenue. Reported income from continuing operations for the fourth quarter of 2013 was $770 million, or $0.90 per diluted share. Halliburton produced record setting annual revenues for 2013. We saw an increase in total full year revenue of 3%, or $899 million compared to year-end of 2012. Operating income did in fact decrease a near $1.0 billion, mainly due to substantial charges for an estimated loss contingency related to Macondo well incident along with pricing pressures in North America. Going forward Halliburton’s executives “expect low double-digit year-over-year growth in Eastern Hemisphere revenue, with quarterly margins consistently higher each quarter on a year-over-year basis, approaching 20% by year-end and averaging in the upper teens.” I think it is safe to stay optimistic about Halliburton and it’s future. They showed strong revenue growth in the recent past and seem to continue to grow in the following years.