HP vs NE vs SFL Stock Comparison

Helmerich & Payne, Noble and Sfl Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
HP Helmerich & Payne, Inc.
$38.92 -1.6% 1M +51.5% 1Y
Market cap
$3.98B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$4.00B
Div. yield
0.03%
Land Drilling Energy
1 win
NE Noble Corp plc
$47.73 +7.0% 1M +56.7% 1Y
Market cap
$7.66B
P/E
51.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$3.07B
Div. yield
–
Offshore Drilling Energy
6 wins
SFL SFL Corp Ltd.
$12.65 -0.6% 1M +77.4% 1Y
Market cap
$1.70B
P/E
26.2x
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
–
Marine Shipping Industrials
4 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Noble leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Noble 6, Sfl 4, Helmerich & Payne 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionHPNESFLLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $3.98B $7.66B $1.70B NE
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -29.0x 51.2x 26.2x SFL
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS — 91.8x 23.0x SFL
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +16.6% -11.1% — HP
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -3.4% 4.9% — NE
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 2.0% 4.1% — NE
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 2.0x 1.6x 6.1x NE
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.03% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +51.5% +56.7% +77.4% SFL
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +2.7%/yr +12.4%/yr +8.7%/yr NE
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 42.8% 40.8% 31.1% SFL
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 39/100 58/100 45/100 NE

Percentile Scorecard

HPNESFL

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

AxisHPNESFL
Valuation 67 #16 of 47 35 #31 of 47 31 #94 of 136
Growth 40 #27 of 44 37 #28 of 44 58 #52 of 122
Profitability 25 #31 of 41 68 #14 of 41 –
Financial Health 33 #31 of 46 58 #20 of 46 6 #139 of 147
Shareholder Returns 29 #23 of 32 90 #4 of 32 86 #13 of 84
Overall 39 58 45
  • HP ranked among 48 companies in Oilfield Services and Equipment
  • NE ranked among 48 companies in Oilfield Services and Equipment
  • SFL ranked among 150 companies in Transportation

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodHPNESFLSPY
1 month -1.6%+7.0%-0.6% -1.0%
3 months +10.2%+10.3%+6.1% +2.9%
6 months +1.5%-3.7%+15.7% +6.4%
Year to date +35.7%+69.0%+62.0% +11.4%
1 year +51.5%+56.7%+77.4% +13.1%
3 years -4.4%+2.1%+15.6% +79.4%
3 years, per year -1.5%+0.7%+5.0% +21.5%
5 years +14.1%+79.6%+51.5% +67.7%
5 years, per year +2.7%+12.4%+8.7% +10.9%
10 years -41.5%—-9.8% +255.2%
10 years, per year -5.2%—-1.0% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureHPNESFLSPY
Volatility, 1Y 42.8%40.8%31.1% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 42.7%38.0%29.0% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.170.110.36 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.201.392.49 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -71.9%-65.9%-52.6% -25.4%
From 52-week high -18.3%-12.2%-7.9% -2.5%
52-week high $47.64$54.37$13.74 $779.14
52-week low $25.32$27.97$7.03 $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.

MultipleHPNESFL
P/E now vs peer median -28.4xmedian 25.5x 50.9xmedian 25.5x 25.9xmedian 16.0x
P/S now vs peer median 1.0xmedian 1.2x 2.5xmedian 1.2x —median 1.0x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 6.7xmedian 8.8x 9.8xmedian 8.8x 11.1xmedian 8.7x
P/FCF now vs peer median 12.3xmedian 14.7x 26.8xmedian 14.7x —median 11.5x
P/B now vs peer median 1.5xmedian 1.6x 1.7xmedian 1.6x 1.8xmedian 1.2x
PEG now vs peer median 0.86median 0.41 -1.95median 0.41 -1.44median 0.82

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 monthsHPNESFL
Revenue $4.00B $3.07B –
Gross profit $1.27B $1.08B –
Operating income $89.92M $348.74M –
Net income -$130.00M $149.58M $64.88M
Free cash flow $315.29M $283.92M –
R&D $27.14M – –
EPS (diluted) $-1.37 $0.94 $0.49
Cash & equivalents $204.43M $456.21M $113.10M
Total debt $1.86B $1.89B $2.38B
Shares (diluted) 100.03M 159.57M 133.06M
Enterprise value $3.06B $5.59B -$144.43B

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
MetricHPNESFL
P/E -28.4x 50.9x 25.9x
P/FCF 12.3x 26.8x –
P/Operating cash flow 6.7x 8.6x –
P/S 1.0x 2.5x –
P/B 1.5x 1.7x 1.8x
P/Tangible book 1.7x 1.7x 1.8x
EV/EBITDA 6.7x 9.8x 11.1x
EV/EBIT 61.4x 26.0x 29.0x
EV/Revenue 1.4x 3.0x –
EV/FCF 17.5x 31.9x –
EV/Operating cash flow 9.5x 10.3x –
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.86 -1.95 -1.44

Growth

14 metrics
MetricHPNESFL
Revenue growth (1Y) 16.6% -11.1% –
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 12.0% 12.1% –
Gross profit growth (1Y) 5.7% -22.9% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 4.1% 10.1% –
Operating income growth (1Y) -20.0% -42.7% –
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -45.2% -6.9% –
Net income growth (1Y) -340.3% -51.6% 82.4%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -32.4% -24.1% -18.9%
EPS growth (1Y) -341.3% -51.0% 78.2%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -32.9% -26.2% -18.0%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 14.8% -2.8% –
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -7.7% 30.9% –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 762.7% -30.7% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -5.9% 30.3% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricHPNESFL
Gross margin 31.8% 35.2% –
EBITDA margin 20.7% 30.0% –
Operating margin 2.3% 11.4% –
Pretax margin -1.0% 6.4% –
Net margin -3.4% 4.9% –
FCF margin 7.9% 9.3% –
Operating cash flow margin 14.5% 28.7% –
Return on equity -4.8% 3.3% –
Return on assets -2.0% 2.0% –
Return on invested capital 2.0% 4.1% –
Return on capital employed 1.6% 5.2% –
Asset turnover 0.6x 0.4x –
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) -4.5x 5.9x –
Stock comp / revenue 0.9% 1.1% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricHPNESFL
Debt / assets 29.6% 26.1% 67.8%
Debt / equity 0.7x 0.4x 2.3x
Net debt / EBITDA 2.0x 1.6x 6.1x
Debt / FCF 5.9x 6.7x –
Liabilities / assets 57.5% 38.1% 70.6%
Equity / assets 42.5% 61.9% 29.4%
Interest coverage 0.9x 2.2x –
Current ratio 2.0x 1.9x 0.4x
Quick ratio 1.4x 1.6x 0.4x
Cash ratio 0.3x 0.7x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 2.02 2.38 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricHPNESFL
Dividend yield 2.6% 4.2% 6.6%
Net buyback yield – 0.0% –
Shareholder yield 2.6% 4.2% 6.6%
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.

ConsensusHPNESFL
Forward P/E – 91.8xFY2026 23.0xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $-0.38FY2026 $0.52FY2026 $0.55FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -140.4%FY2026 -22.4%FY2026 +450.0%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after – +334.6% +76.4%
Revenue, next fiscal year $4.21BFY2026 $2.75BFY2026 $691.35MFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +12.3%FY2026 -16.3%FY2026 -5.7%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +5.4% +14.0% +19.5%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersHPNESFL
Held by institutions 100.0% 78.7% 43.5%
Institutions holding 374 374 223
Change in shares held, QoQ -0.3% -2.0% +15.8%
Institutions buying 175 186 133
Institutions selling 125 126 55
Buyers to sellers 1.40 1.48 2.42

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.

HPNESFL
HP 1.00 0.58 0.19
NE 0.58 1.00 0.28
SFL 0.19 0.28 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, HP, NE and SFL?

Noble (NE) is the largest by market capitalisation: Helmerich & Payne (HP) $3.98B, Noble (NE) $7.66B, Sfl (SFL) $1.70B.

Which stock is cheaper, HP, NE and SFL?

Sfl (SFL) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Helmerich & Payne (HP) -29.0x, Noble (NE) 51.2x, Sfl (SFL) 26.2x). On next year's consensus earnings, Sfl (SFL) is cheapest (Noble (NE) 91.8x, Sfl (SFL) 23.0x). 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%, Noble (NE) -11.1%.

Which company is more profitable?

Noble (NE) has the highest net margin (Helmerich & Payne (HP) -3.4%, Noble (NE) 4.9%). On return on invested capital, Noble (NE) leads (Helmerich & Payne (HP) 2.0%, Noble (NE) 4.1%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Sfl (SFL) returned the most: Helmerich & Payne (HP) +51.5%, Noble (NE) +56.7%, Sfl (SFL) +77.4%. Over five years, Noble (NE) compounded fastest (Helmerich & Payne (HP) +2.7%/yr, Noble (NE) +12.4%/yr, Sfl (SFL) +8.7%/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%, Noble (NE) 0.00%, Sfl (SFL) 0.00%. Noble (NE) and Sfl (SFL) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Sfl (SFL) has been the steadiest (Helmerich & Payne (HP) 42.8%, Noble (NE) 40.8%, Sfl (SFL) 31.1%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Noble (NE) leads on 6. 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.