PDS vs HP vs NBR Stock Comparison

Precision Drilling, Helmerich & Payne and Nabors Industries 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
4 wins

Head to Head

9 decided of 12

Nabors Industries leads on 4 of the 12 questions below (Nabors Industries 4, Precision Drilling 3, Helmerich & Payne 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionPDSHPNBRLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $1.33B $3.96B $1.16B HP
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -56.9x -28.9x 4.7x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 19.4x — — –
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +5.0% +16.6% +5.6% HP
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -1.7% -3.4% 7.6% NBR
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 0.0% 2.0% 2.7% NBR
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.7x 2.0x 2.1x PDS
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.03% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +66.3% +55.3% +73.9% NBR
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +17.2%/yr +4.6%/yr -6.0%/yr PDS
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 39.1% 42.9% 51.5% PDS
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 51/100 38/100 64/100 NBR

Percentile Scorecard

PDSHPNBR

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

AxisPDSHPNBR
Valuation 96 #3 of 47 67 #16 of 47 91 #5 of 47
Growth 23 #34 of 44 40 #27 of 44 63 #17 of 44
Profitability 63 #16 of 41 25 #31 of 41 85 #7 of 41
Financial Health 64 #17 of 46 31 #32 of 46 16 #39 of 46
Shareholder Returns 10 #29 of 32 29 #23 of 32 –
Overall 51 38 64
  • PDS ranked among 48 companies in Oilfield Services and Equipment
  • HP ranked among 48 companies in Oilfield Services and Equipment
  • NBR 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

PeriodPDSHPNBRSPY
1 month +21.1%+3.2%+1.1% -0.8%
3 months +23.6%+18.4%+4.5% +3.5%
6 months +2.5%+3.0%-9.2% +7.0%
Year to date +37.8%+38.8%+51.6% +12.2%
1 year +66.3%+55.3%+73.9% +13.0%
3 years +71.3%+0.9%-19.9% +86.3%
3 years, per year +19.7%+0.3%-7.1% +23.1%
5 years +121.5%+25.3%-26.6% +68.6%
5 years, per year +17.2%+4.6%-6.0% +11.0%
10 years +5.1%-38.6%-86.6% +258.0%
10 years, per year +0.5%-4.8%-18.2% +13.6%

Risk

MeasurePDSHPNBRSPY
Volatility, 1Y 39.1%42.9%51.5% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 40.9%43.1%48.0% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.140.190.44 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.701.291.43 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -55.5%-71.9%-87.7% -25.4%
From 52-week high -2.9%-16.4%-25.6% -1.8%
52-week high $101.96$47.64$110.63 $779.14
52-week low $56.91$25.32$46.19 $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.

MultiplePDSHPNBR
P/E now vs peer median -56.5xmedian 25.5x -29.0xmedian 25.5x 4.8xmedian 25.5x
P/S now vs peer median 0.9xmedian 1.2x 1.0xmedian 1.2x 0.4xmedian 1.2x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 2.9xmedian 8.6x 6.8xmedian 8.6x 3.8xmedian 8.6x
P/FCF now vs peer median 2.5xmedian 14.7x 12.6xmedian 14.7x 33.1xmedian 14.7x
P/B now vs peer median 1.1xmedian 1.6x 1.5xmedian 1.6x 1.4xmedian 1.6x
PEG now vs peer median 1.88median 0.41 0.88median 0.41 0.05median 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 monthsPDSHPNBR
Revenue $1.39B $4.00B $3.23B
Gross profit $429.47M $1.27B $1.25B
Operating income $336.65M $89.92M $125.73M
Net income -$22.36M -$130.00M $322.20M
Free cash flow $508.21M $315.29M $39.65M
R&D – $27.14M $54.02M
EPS (diluted) $-1.75 $-1.37 $17.31
Cash & equivalents $46.65M $204.43M $509.78M
Total debt $1.91B $1.86B $2.12B
Shares (diluted) 13.34M 100.03M 14.27M
Enterprise value $1.16B $3.04B -$1.22B

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
MetricPDSHPNBR
P/E -56.5x -29.0x 4.8x
P/FCF 2.5x 12.6x 33.1x
P/Operating cash flow 4.3x 6.9x 1.9x
P/S 0.9x 1.0x 0.4x
P/B 1.1x 1.5x 1.4x
P/Tangible book 1.1x 1.8x 1.4x
EV/EBITDA 2.9x 6.8x 3.8x
EV/EBIT 5.0x 62.4x 23.3x
EV/Revenue 1.2x 1.4x 0.9x
EV/FCF 3.3x 17.8x 73.8x
EV/Operating cash flow 5.6x 9.7x 4.2x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.88 0.88 0.05

Growth

14 metrics
MetricPDSHPNBR
Revenue growth (1Y) 5.0% 16.6% 5.6%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) -1.1% 12.0% 2.1%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -3.6% 5.7% -0.6%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) -6.2% 4.1% 0.7%
Operating income growth (1Y) -7.6% -20.0% -53.7%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -6.7% -45.2% -23.6%
Net income growth (1Y) -129.5% -340.3% 3,034%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -29.9% -32.4% 180.0%
EPS growth (1Y) -133.2% -341.3% 298.9%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -30.1% -32.9% 88.1%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -8.8% 14.8% 32.0%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -0.7% -7.7% 2.0%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 2.8% 762.7% 126.8%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 3.7% -5.9% -40.2%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricPDSHPNBR
Gross margin 30.9% 31.8% 38.8%
EBITDA margin 41.7% 20.7% 23.9%
Operating margin 24.2% 2.3% 3.9%
Pretax margin 0.7% -1.0% 14.9%
Net margin -1.7% -3.4% 7.6%
FCF margin 36.6% 7.9% 1.2%
Operating cash flow margin 21.4% 14.5% 21.7%
Return on equity -1.9% -4.8% 33.9%
Return on assets -1.1% -2.0% 7.3%
Return on invested capital 0.0% 2.0% 2.7%
Return on capital employed 19.6% 1.6% 3.3%
Asset turnover 0.7x 0.6x 0.7x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) -13.3x -4.5x 2.2x
Stock comp / revenue – 0.9% 0.7%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricPDSHPNBR
Debt / assets 23.0% 29.6% 48.0%
Debt / equity 0.4x 0.7x 2.2x
Net debt / EBITDA 0.7x 2.0x 2.1x
Debt / FCF 0.9x 5.9x 53.5x
Liabilities / assets 41.1% 57.5% 78.6%
Equity / assets 58.9% 42.5% 21.4%
Interest coverage 9.1x 0.9x 0.7x
Current ratio 1.5x 2.0x 1.9x
Quick ratio 1.3x 1.4x 1.6x
Cash ratio 0.2x 0.3x 0.8x
Altman Z-score 1.89 2.04 0.61

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricPDSHPNBR
Dividend yield – 2.5% –
Net buyback yield -2.6% – –
Shareholder yield -2.6% 2.5% 0.0%
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.

ConsensusPDSHPNBR
Forward P/E 19.4xFY2026 – –
EPS, next fiscal year $5.11FY2026 $-0.40FY2026 $-2.20FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +5,010.0%FY2026 -142.6%FY2026 -112.7%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +69.3% – –
Revenue, next fiscal year $1.57BFY2026 $4.22BFY2026 $3.26BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +17.1%FY2026 +12.6%FY2026 +2.6%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +2.1% +5.4% +6.5%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersPDSHPNBR
Held by institutions 64.3% 100.0% 76.0%
Institutions holding 134 374 242
Change in shares held, QoQ +7.6% -0.3% +8.5%
Institutions buying 64 175 146
Institutions selling 49 125 64
Buyers to sellers 1.31 1.40 2.28

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.

PDSHPNBR
PDS 1.00 0.66 0.65
HP 0.66 1.00 0.75
NBR 0.65 0.75 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, PDS, HP and NBR?

Helmerich & Payne (HP) is the largest by market capitalisation: Precision Drilling (PDS) $1.33B, Helmerich & Payne (HP) $3.96B, Nabors Industries (NBR) $1.16B.

Which company is growing faster?

Helmerich & Payne (HP) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Precision Drilling (PDS) +5.0%, Helmerich & Payne (HP) +16.6%, Nabors Industries (NBR) +5.6%.

Which company is more profitable?

Nabors Industries (NBR) has the highest net margin (Precision Drilling (PDS) -1.7%, Helmerich & Payne (HP) -3.4%, Nabors Industries (NBR) 7.6%). On return on invested capital, Nabors Industries (NBR) leads (Precision Drilling (PDS) 0.0%, 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: Precision Drilling (PDS) +66.3%, Helmerich & Payne (HP) +55.3%, Nabors Industries (NBR) +73.9%. Over five years, Precision Drilling (PDS) compounded fastest (Precision Drilling (PDS) +17.2%/yr, Helmerich & Payne (HP) +4.6%/yr, Nabors Industries (NBR) -6.0%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

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

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Precision Drilling (PDS) has been the steadiest (Precision Drilling (PDS) 39.1%, Helmerich & Payne (HP) 42.9%, Nabors Industries (NBR) 51.5%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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 4. 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.