HP vs NBR vs NE Stock Comparison

Helmerich & Payne, Nabors Industries and Noble Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
HP Helmerich & Payne, Inc.
$39.82 +3.2% 1M +55.3% 1Y
Market cap
$3.96B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$4.00B
Div. yield
0.03%
Land Drilling Energy
2 wins
NBR Nabors Industries Ltd
$82.34 +1.1% 1M +73.9% 1Y
Market cap
$1.16B
P/E
4.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$3.23B
Div. yield
–
Land Drilling Energy
5 wins
NE Noble Corp plc
$47.94 +12.0% 1M +56.9% 1Y
Market cap
$7.21B
P/E
134.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$3.00B
Div. yield
–
Offshore Drilling Energy
3 wins

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

Nabors Industries leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Nabors Industries 5, Noble 3, Helmerich & Payne 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionHPNBRNELeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $3.96B $1.16B $7.21B NE
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -28.9x 4.7x 134.4x NBR
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS — — 95.9x –
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +16.6% +5.6% -13.0% HP
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -3.4% 7.6% — NBR
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 2.0% 2.7% — NBR
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 2.0x 2.1x — HP
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.03% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +55.3% +73.9% +56.9% NBR
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +4.6%/yr -6.0%/yr +12.5%/yr NE
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 42.9% 51.5% 40.8% NE
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 38/100 64/100 55/100 NBR

Percentile Scorecard

HPNBRNE

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisHPNBRNE
Valuation 67 #16 of 47 91 #5 of 47 30 #33 of 47
Growth 40 #27 of 44 63 #17 of 44 12 #39 of 44
Profitability 25 #31 of 41 85 #7 of 41 60 #17 of 41
Financial Health 31 #32 of 46 16 #39 of 46 71 #14 of 46
Shareholder Returns 29 #23 of 32 – 100 #1 of 32
Overall 38 64 55
  • HP ranked among 48 companies in Oilfield Services and Equipment
  • NBR ranked among 48 companies in Oilfield Services and Equipment
  • NE ranked among 48 companies in Oilfield Services and Equipment

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodHPNBRNESPY
1 month +3.2%+1.1%+12.0% -0.8%
3 months +18.4%+4.5%+11.1% +3.5%
6 months +3.0%-9.2%-10.6% +7.0%
Year to date +38.8%+51.6%+69.8% +12.2%
1 year +55.3%+73.9%+56.9% +13.0%
3 years +0.9%-19.9%+3.4% +86.3%
3 years, per year +0.3%-7.1%+1.1% +23.1%
5 years +25.3%-26.6%+80.1% +68.6%
5 years, per year +4.6%-6.0%+12.5% +11.0%
10 years -38.6%-86.6%— +258.0%
10 years, per year -4.8%-18.2%— +13.6%

Risk

MeasureHPNBRNESPY
Volatility, 1Y 42.9%51.5%40.8% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 43.1%48.0%38.2% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.190.440.12 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.291.431.39 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -71.9%-87.7%-65.9% -25.4%
From 52-week high -16.4%-25.6%-11.8% -1.8%
52-week high $47.64$110.63$54.37 $779.14
52-week low $25.32$46.19$27.97 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleHPNBRNE
P/E now vs peer median -29.0xmedian 25.5x 4.8xmedian 25.5x 142.6xmedian 25.5x
P/S now vs peer median 1.0xmedian 1.2x 0.4xmedian 1.2x 2.6xmedian 1.2x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 6.8xmedian 8.6x 3.8xmedian 8.6x —median 8.6x
P/FCF now vs peer median 12.6xmedian 14.7x 33.1xmedian 14.7x 23.6xmedian 14.7x
P/B now vs peer median 1.5xmedian 1.6x 1.4xmedian 1.6x 1.8xmedian 1.6x
PEG now vs peer median 0.88median 0.41 0.05median 0.41 -2.70median 0.41

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsHPNBRNE
Revenue $4.00B $3.23B $3.00B
Gross profit $1.27B $1.25B –
Operating income $89.92M $125.73M $358.43M
Net income -$130.00M $322.20M $53.65M
Free cash flow $315.29M $39.65M –
R&D $27.14M $54.02M –
EPS (diluted) $-1.37 $17.31 $0.34
Cash & equivalents $204.43M $509.78M $337.19M
Total debt $1.86B $2.12B –
Shares (diluted) 100.03M 14.27M 159.57M
Enterprise value $3.05B -$1.22B $7.21B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricHPNBRNE
P/E -29.0x 4.8x 142.6x
P/FCF 12.6x 33.1x 23.6x
P/Operating cash flow 6.9x 1.9x 10.2x
P/S 1.0x 0.4x 2.6x
P/B 1.5x 1.4x 1.8x
P/Tangible book 1.8x 1.4x 1.8x
EV/EBITDA 6.8x 3.8x –
EV/EBIT 62.4x 23.3x –
EV/Revenue 1.4x 0.9x 2.6x
EV/FCF 17.8x 73.8x –
EV/Operating cash flow 9.7x 4.2x 10.2x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.88 0.05 -2.70

Growth

14 metrics
MetricHPNBRNE
Revenue growth (1Y) 16.6% 5.6% -13.0%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 12.0% 2.1% 5.3%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 5.7% -0.6% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 4.1% 0.7% –
Operating income growth (1Y) -20.0% -53.7% -34.1%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -45.2% -23.6% -14.9%
Net income growth (1Y) -340.3% 3,034% -76.3%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -32.4% 180.0% -51.4%
EPS growth (1Y) -341.3% 298.9% -76.4%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -32.9% 88.1% -52.8%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 14.8% 32.0% -16.8%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -7.7% 2.0% 17.8%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 762.7% 126.8% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -5.9% -40.2% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricHPNBRNE
Gross margin 31.8% 38.8% –
EBITDA margin 20.7% 23.9% –
Operating margin 2.3% 3.9% –
Pretax margin -1.0% 14.9% –
Net margin -3.4% 7.6% –
FCF margin 7.9% 1.2% –
Operating cash flow margin 14.5% 21.7% 25.0%
Return on equity -4.8% 33.9% 1.2%
Return on assets -2.0% 7.3% 0.7%
Return on invested capital 2.0% 2.7% –
Return on capital employed 1.6% 3.3% –
Asset turnover 0.6x 0.7x 0.4x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) -4.5x 2.2x 14.0x
Stock comp / revenue 0.9% 0.7% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricHPNBRNE
Debt / assets 29.6% 48.0% –
Debt / equity 0.7x 2.2x –
Net debt / EBITDA 2.0x 2.1x –
Debt / FCF 5.9x 53.5x –
Liabilities / assets 57.5% 78.6% 40.1%
Equity / assets 42.5% 21.4% 59.9%
Interest coverage 0.9x 0.7x –
Current ratio 2.0x 1.9x 1.8x
Quick ratio 1.4x 1.6x –
Cash ratio 0.3x 0.8x –
Altman Z-score 2.04 0.61 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricHPNBRNE
Dividend yield 2.5% – 4.2%
Net buyback yield – – –
Shareholder yield 2.5% 0.0% 4.2%
Payout ratio (earnings) -77.9% – –
Payout ratio (FCF) 32.1% – –
Dividend growth (1Y) -13.9% – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) -17.3% – –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusHPNBRNE
Forward P/E – – 95.9xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $-0.40FY2026 $-2.20FY2026 $0.50FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -142.6%FY2026 -112.7%FY2026 -25.4%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after – – +344.0%
Revenue, next fiscal year $4.22BFY2026 $3.26BFY2026 $2.75BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +12.6%FY2026 +2.6%FY2026 -16.3%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +5.4% +6.5% +13.0%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersHPNBRNE
Held by institutions 100.0% 76.0% 78.7%
Institutions holding 374 242 374
Change in shares held, QoQ -0.3% +8.5% -2.0%
Institutions buying 175 146 186
Institutions selling 125 64 126
Buyers to sellers 1.40 2.28 1.48

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

HPNBRNE
HP 1.00 0.75 0.58
NBR 0.75 1.00 0.55
NE 0.58 0.55 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, HP, NBR and NE?

Noble (NE) is the largest by market capitalisation: Helmerich & Payne (HP) $3.96B, Nabors Industries (NBR) $1.16B, Noble (NE) $7.21B.

Which stock is cheaper, HP, NBR and NE?

Nabors Industries (NBR) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Helmerich & Payne (HP) -28.9x, Nabors Industries (NBR) 4.7x, Noble (NE) 134.4x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Helmerich & Payne (HP) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Helmerich & Payne (HP) +16.6%, Nabors Industries (NBR) +5.6%, Noble (NE) -13.0%.

Which company is more profitable?

Nabors Industries (NBR) has the highest net margin (Helmerich & Payne (HP) -3.4%, Nabors Industries (NBR) 7.6%). On return on invested capital, Nabors Industries (NBR) leads (Helmerich & Payne (HP) 2.0%, Nabors Industries (NBR) 2.7%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Nabors Industries (NBR) returned the most: Helmerich & Payne (HP) +55.3%, Nabors Industries (NBR) +73.9%, Noble (NE) +56.9%. Over five years, Noble (NE) compounded fastest (Helmerich & Payne (HP) +4.6%/yr, Nabors Industries (NBR) -6.0%/yr, Noble (NE) +12.5%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Helmerich & Payne (HP) 0.03%, Nabors Industries (NBR) 0.00%, Noble (NE) 0.00%. Nabors Industries (NBR) and Noble (NE) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Noble (NE) has been the steadiest (Helmerich & Payne (HP) 42.9%, Nabors Industries (NBR) 51.5%, Noble (NE) 40.8%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, HP, NBR and NE?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Nabors Industries (NBR) leads on 5. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.