Patterson-UTI Energy faces declining revenue of -13%, business quality below the minimum investable threshold at 2.0/10, and customer concentration where the ten largest customers represent 57% of revenue, creating a fragile setup despite a favorable EV/EBITDA valuation and recent technical support signals.
Thesis pillars
- Dividend Coverage Risk→Stable
- Customer Concentration Fragility↓Deteriorating
- Revenue Decline Quality Deficit→Stable
- +1 more pillar — see the Why tab for full reasoning
Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (PTEN) Stock Analysis
Energy · Oil & Gas Drilling
Sell if holding. Engine safety override at $10.20: Quality below floor (2.0 < 4.0) triggers a hard block regardless of the otherwise-positive setup — overall score 5.1/10. Specifically: Below-average business quality.
Patterson-UTI Energy provides contract drilling (152 marketed land rigs, 137 Tier-1 super-spec), completion services (fracturing, wireline, cementing), and drill bit/downhole tool manufacturing to oil and gas E&P companies in the US, Colombia, and Ecuador. One customer generated... Read more
Sell if holding. Engine safety override at $10.20: Quality below floor (2.0 < 4.0) triggers a hard block regardless of the otherwise-positive setup — overall score 5.1/10. Specifically: Below-average business quality. Chart setup: No clear chart pattern; technical signals are mixed. Score 5.1/10, moderate confidence.
Passes 4/8 gates (positive momentum, news events none recent, semi cycle peak clear, materials cycle peak clear). Fails on favorable risk/reward ratio and earnings proximity 4d<=7d. Suitability: aggressive.
About Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc.
About Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc.
Patterson-UTI Energy averaged 100 drilling rigs per day in the United States in 2025 with a 152-rig marketed fleet—137 rated Tier-1 super-spec—covering the Permian, Appalachia, Eagle Ford, Haynesville, and Bakken/Rockies basins and international operations in Colombia and Ecuador. One customer generated approximately $597 million, or 12%, of 2025 consolidated operating revenues, with the ten largest customers representing 57% of total revenues. The US contract drilling backlog stood at approximately $291 million at December 31, 2025, down from $426 million a year earlier.
Patterson-UTI earns revenue across three segments: drilling services (daywork contracts and directional drilling for US, Colombian, and Ecuadoran operators), completion services (hydraulic fracturing, wireline, cementing, and power solutions in basins including the Permian, Marcellus/Utica, Eagle Ford, Haynesville, and Bakken/Rockies), and drilling products (PDC drill bits and downhole tools through the Ulterra business, sold or rented in over 30 countries from manufacturing sites in Fort Worth, Texas, Leduc, Alberta, and Saudi Arabia). Drilling contracts are structured as daywork—compensating the company at a contracted rate per day—or under performance-based terms pairing a lower base rate with incentive compensation for meeting operational targets. Based on contracts in place as of February 4, 2026, 49 rigs were expected to operate under term contracts in Q1 2026, with an average of 27 rigs under term contracts for the full year 2026. Supply risk is present in completion services, where acids, chemicals, and proppants are sourced from a limited number of suppliers and can be in short supply.
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Patterson-UTI's revenue is directly tied to oil and gas price expectations, as E&P customer drilling and completion budgets track commodity price sentiment. WTI averaged $59.62 per barrel in Q4 2025 and closed at $61.60 on February 2, 2026, levels the company notes contributed to industry-wide rig count declines. The US average active rig count fell from 112 in 2024 to 100 in 2025, and management projected the count to remain in the low-to-mid 90s in Q1 2026. OPEC+ began phasing out voluntary crude oil production cuts in Q2 2025, and prolonged trade tensions combined with sustained lower futures prices could weigh on customer capital spending and demand for the company's services.
See also: Energy · Oil & Gas Drilling
From Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc.'s most recent 10-K filing, extracted June 11, 2026.
Recent developments
updated 2026-07-26Recent Developments — Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc.
Latest news
- NEWS Piper Sandler Upgrades Patterson-UTI Energy to Overweight, Maintains Price Target to $13 — benzinga Jul 14, 2026 positive
- NEWS Penguin Solutions, Beazer Homes, Alibaba And Other Big Stocks Moving Higher On Wednesday — benzinga Jul 8, 2026 positive
- NEWS Susquehanna Maintains Positive on Patterson-UTI Energy, Lowers Price Target to $12 — benzinga Jul 8, 2026 neutral
- NEWS Citigroup Maintains Neutral on Patterson-UTI Energy, Lowers Price Target to $10.5 — benzinga Jun 29, 2026 negative
- NEWS Stifel Maintains Buy on Patterson-UTI Energy, Raises Price Target to $15 — benzinga Jun 16, 2026 positive
Generated 2026-07-26T09:23:01Z.
Upcoming dated catalysts
Thesis
Key Metrics
Quality Signals
Options Flow
Concentration Risks(10-K Item 1A)
- HIGHCustomerten largest customers57%10-K Item 1: 'we received approximately 57% from our ten largest customers and approximately 39% from our five largest customers'
- MEDIUMCustomerfive largest customers39%10-K Item 1: 'approximately 39% from our five largest customers'
- LOWCustomersingle largest customer12%10-K Item 1: 'one customer accounted for approximately $597 million, or approximately 12%, of our consolidated operating revenues'
Material Events(8-K, last 90d)
- 2026-06-04Item 5.02LOWPatterson-UTI Energy stockholders approved on June 4, 2026 an amendment to the 2021 Long-Term Incentive Plan increasing available shares by 28.9 million. Routine compensatory arrangement; no officer departure or appointment disclosed.SEC filing →
Model-generated analysis — not investment advice. Not a registered investment advisor. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
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Rating Breakdown
2 floor-breakers
Cyclical trough — margins compressed or negative. Profitability typically recovers with the cycle, but floor fires on current data.static
Technicals below the gate floor. Component breakdown shows what dragged the score down.static
Price Targets
Position Sizing
Risk Alerts
Earnings
Verdict History
Frequently Asked Questions
Sell if holding. Engine safety override at $10.20: Quality below floor (2.0 < 4.0) triggers a hard block regardless of the otherwise-positive setup — overall score 5.1/10. Specifically: Below-average business quality. Chart setup: No clear chart pattern; technical signals are mixed. Prior stop was $9.49. Score 5.1/10, moderate confidence.
Take-profit target: $11.31 (+10.9% upside). Prior stop was $9.49. Stop-loss: $9.49.
Concentration risk — Customer: ten largest customers (57.0%); Quality below floor (2.0 < 4.0).
Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. trades at a P/E of N/A (forward 60.4). TrendMatrix value score: 7.2/10. Verdict: Sell.
22 analysts cover PTEN with a consensus score of 3.7/5. Average price target: $13.
What does Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. do?Patterson-UTI Energy provides contract drilling (152 marketed land rigs, 137 Tier-1 super-spec), completion services...
Patterson-UTI Energy provides contract drilling (152 marketed land rigs, 137 Tier-1 super-spec), completion services (fracturing, wireline, cementing), and drill bit/downhole tool manufacturing to oil and gas E&P companies in the US, Colombia, and Ecuador. One customer generated approximately $597 million or 12% of 2025 consolidated operating revenues; the top 10 customers accounted for approximately 57%. The company operates in major US basins including the Permian, Appalachia, and Eagle Ford.