Helmerich & Payne achieved its goal of achieving direct margins of 50% in the North America Solutions segment, leading to an annualized mid-teens return on invested capital for the first time since 2014.

The company expects a short-term decline in rig activity due to weakness in natural gas prices and customer budgetary constraints. However, they anticipate an improving rig count in the second half of the calendar year and a buying season in Q4.

Approximately 70% of the rigs being dropped are from private companies, while some may be replaced by lower-cost rigs, the focus remains on maintaining pricing to preserve returns.