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    How Rising North American Rig Counts At Baker Hughes (BKR) Have Changed Its Investment Story

    Simply Wall St·12/11/2025 11:31:18
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    • In early December 2025, Baker Hughes’ latest North America rotary rig count showed that the region added eight rigs week on week, with the U.S. gaining five rigs and Canada three, driven mainly by a rise in oil-directed drilling.
    • This pickup in North American drilling activity points to strengthening demand for oilfield services, which could influence how investors view Baker Hughes’ role across traditional and lower-carbon energy markets.
    • We’ll now examine how this increase in North American rig activity interacts with Baker Hughes’ investment narrative and future earnings profile.

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    Baker Hughes Investment Narrative Recap

    Baker Hughes largely suits investors who believe the company can translate a gradually improving oil and gas spending backdrop into steadier cash flows while building its lower carbon and industrial businesses. The recent uptick in North American rigs slightly supports the near term demand picture for oilfield services, but does not materially change the key catalyst, which is continued order growth in higher margin Industrial & Energy Technologies, or the main risk of exposure to volatile upstream activity and policy shifts.

    Against this rig count backdrop, the Argent LNG contract at Port Fourchon stands out as especially relevant, since it illustrates how Baker Hughes’ LNG turbomachinery and long term service agreements can compound as activity builds around natural gas infrastructure. That kind of multi year, service rich order helps underpin the company’s growing backlog and is central to the thesis that Baker Hughes can gradually tilt its earnings mix toward more resilient, less commodity sensitive revenue streams.

    But while rig activity is ticking up, investors should also be aware that faster policy shifts toward renewables and electrification could...

    Read the full narrative on Baker Hughes (it's free!)

    Baker Hughes' narrative projects $29.1 billion revenue and $2.9 billion earnings by 2028. This requires 1.8% yearly revenue growth and a $0.1 billion earnings decrease from $3.0 billion today.

    Uncover how Baker Hughes' forecasts yield a $52.57 fair value, a 9% upside to its current price.

    Exploring Other Perspectives

    BKR 1-Year Stock Price Chart
    BKR 1-Year Stock Price Chart

    Four members of the Simply Wall St Community currently see Baker Hughes’ fair value between US$50 and about US$70, highlighting how widely opinions can differ. Set against that spread, the reliance on expanding LNG and data center power solutions as a growth driver raises important questions about how policy or technology shifts could affect the company’s longer term earnings power.

    Explore 4 other fair value estimates on Baker Hughes - why the stock might be worth as much as 46% more than the current price!

    Build Your Own Baker Hughes Narrative

    Disagree with existing narratives? Create your own in under 3 minutes - extraordinary investment returns rarely come from following the herd.

    • A great starting point for your Baker Hughes research is our analysis highlighting 4 key rewards that could impact your investment decision.
    • Our free Baker Hughes research report provides a comprehensive fundamental analysis summarized in a single visual - the Snowflake - making it easy to evaluate Baker Hughes' overall financial health at a glance.

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    This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.