His wife Vida hand-washed cement sacks so they could be resold to cement companies, and at one point the couple had to pawn Vida's wedding rings to pay hired help. By 1948, the stock was listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Halliburton generates revenue by providing products and services to oil and gas companies across the entire lifecycle of a well — from exploration and drilling through completion, production, and intervention. This segment provides drilling services, drill bits, drilling fluids, wireline and perforating services, testing and subsea services, software and asset solutions, and project management. Drilling and completions fluids leverage Halliburton's century of material science expertise to manage wellbore stability, pressure control, and formation damage. Wireline services provide logging, perforating, and well intervention using electric cable conveyance. Revenue recognition follows standard patterns for the oilfield services industry: services revenue is recognized as work is performed, typically on a day-rate or unit-of-work basis; product sales revenue is recognized upon delivery; and long-term project revenue is recognized over time using input methods. Customer concentration is managed through a diversified portfolio across geographies and customer types. Halliburton's capital allocation framework prioritizes returns to shareholders, with a goal of returning at least 50% of annual free cash flow through dividends and share repurchases. Beyond the Big Four, Halliburton faces competition from national oilfield service companies in key markets — such as Saudi Aramco's subsidiaries in the Kingdom, Chinese service companies in Asia, and Russian service providers in the CIS region. These national champions often benefit from preferential access to domestic contracts and government support. The competitive dynamics vary significantly by region and service line. In North America, competition is primarily on price and efficiency, with operators demanding the lowest cost per stage and fastest completion times. In the Middle East, competition is driven by long-term relationships, local content requirements, and technology transfer agreements, where SLB and Baker Hughes have historically held stronger positions. The three-year revenue compression reflects the cyclical downturn in North American drilling activity and customer capital expenditure restraint. The profit margin was 6.95%. Halliburton paid quarterly dividends of $0.17 per share throughout 2024 and 2025, for an annual dividend of $0.68 per share and a yield of approximately 1.68%. North America revenue declined 8% year-over-year in the first half of 2024, driven by decreased pressure pumping services and lower artificial lift activity in US land, as operators responded to lower commodity prices by reducing capital expenditures. However, international margins are typically lower than North American margins, so the mix shift toward international revenue dilutes overall profitability. Competition in the oilfield services sector is intense and fragmented. Halliburton's material science expertise, honed over a century of cementing and drilling fluids operations, provides a technology differentiation that commodity service providers cannot replicate. Internationally, Halliburton targets markets where operator capital discipline has been less severe than in US shale. Halliburton's DecisionSpace 365 platform offers cloud-based applications for reservoir characterization, drilling optimization, and production analytics, competing with SLB's DELFI platform and Baker Hughes' Cordant suite. Halliburton's stock has traded in a 52-week range of $20.09 to $43.59, reflecting the market's uncertainty about the trajectory of energy prices and drilling activity. Analyst price targets range from $31 to $55, with a consensus of $43.88, suggesting modest upside from the current price of $40.50. Erle Palmer Halliburton was born on September 22, 1892, on a farm near Henning, Tennessee. After his father died when Erle was 14, he left home to work at various jobs, eventually joining the U.S. Navy in 1910. Halliburton's constant suggestions for improving Perkins's cementing process were unwelcome and eventually led to his being fired. The couple worked tirelessly with borrowed equipment and little or no operating cash. At one point, they had to pawn Vida's wedding rings to pay the hired help. This gave him a chance to prove his services. By late 1922, seventeen Halliburton trucks were busy cementing wells in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Arkansas. The work was difficult — the vehicles frequently got stuck in mud as they moved across all sorts of terrain to reach well sites. In 1948, the stock was listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The combined entity became one of the largest oilfield services and engineering companies in the world. The separation allowed Halliburton to concentrate on its strengths in drilling, evaluation, completion, and production while KBR pursued government and infrastructure contracts. In April 2016, the companies announced they had mutually agreed to terminate the merger due to regulatory opposition. The failed deal was a significant setback, though Halliburton's balance sheet and market position remained intact. In 2017, Jeffrey A. Miller was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer, succeeding Dave Lesar. The company expects its international business to deliver approximately 10% revenue growth, driven by activity increases in the Middle East, Latin America, and offshore markets. In Latin America, the company has built significant positions in Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, and Colombia through a combination of direct service contracts and integrated project awards. Halliburton's software and asset solutions business provides digital platforms for reservoir characterization, drilling optimization, and production analytics, creating recurring revenue streams and deeper customer integration. On the energy transition, Halliburton Labs incubates startups developing technologies in carbon capture, geothermal, hydrogen, and energy storage, providing the company with optionality without full capital commitment. Halliburton would later say that 'the two best things that ever happened to me were being hired, and fired, by the Perkins Oil Well Cementing Company.' In 1919, Halliburton and his wife Vida Tabor Halliburton moved to Burkburnett, Texas, in the Mid-Continent Region, where he introduced oil-well cementing to drillers with his new and improved method. Miller, who had joined Halliburton in 1997 and served in roles including Chief Operating Officer and Senior Vice President of Global Business Development, brought deep operational experience and a focus on capital discipline. Honorably discharged in 1915, Halliburton found work with Almond A. Perkins of the Perkins Oil Well Cementing Company in the California oil fields. To sustain the business, Vida hand-washed the cement sacks used in the cementing process so they could be resold to the cement companies. Halliburton's big break came when Skelly Oil Company hired him to control a wild well in the Hewitt-Wilson Field in south-central Oklahoma. On May 7, 1920, he reorganized his enterprise as the Halliburton Oil Well Cementing Company. In 1921, the company established headquarters in Duncan, Oklahoma. Two years later, it bought Otis Engineering Corporation of Dallas. In 1960, the firm shortened its name to Halliburton Company, and in 1961 it moved its headquarters from Duncan, Oklahoma, to Dallas, Texas. The merger created Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR), combining Halliburton's energy services with Dresser's engineering and equipment businesses. In 2019, Miller added the Chairman of the Board title, consolidating leadership.