It has been about a month since the last earnings report for Core Laboratories (CLB). Shares have lost about 16% in that time frame, underperforming the S&P 500.

Will the recent negative trend continue leading up to its next earnings release, or is Core Laboratories due for a breakout? Before we dive into how investors and analysts have reacted as of late, let's take a quick look at the most recent earnings report in order to get a better handle on the important catalysts.

Core Laboratories’ Q4 Earnings Beat Estimates, Sales Miss

Core Laboratories reported fourth-quarter 2024 adjusted earnings of 23 cents per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 21 cents. The bottom line also increased from the year-ago quarter’s reported figure of 19 cents. This can be attributed to the better-than-expected performance of Reservoir Description segment.

This oil-field service provider’s operating revenues of $129.2 million missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $131 million by 1.4%, due to poor year-over-year performance from its Production Enhancement segment. However, the top line increased 0.9% from the year-ago quarter’s $128 million. This can be attributed to the Reservoir Description segment’s impressive performance.

During the fourth quarter, the company repurchased 264,982 shares of common stock for a total of $4.9 million. Additionally, the company reduced its debt leverage ratio to 1.31 and decreased net debt by $11.7 million.

As of Dec. 31, 2024, the company's leverage ratio, calculated as total net debt divided by adjusted EBITDA for the last four quarters, decreased to 1.31, improving from 1.47 as of Sept. 30, 2024.

Segmental Performance

Reservoir Description: Revenues in this segment increased about 2.1% to $86.8 million from $85 million in the fourth quarter of 2023. However, the top line missed our estimation of $$88.2 million.

Operating income increased from $12 million in the year-ago period to $16.5 million and beat our estimate of $12.6 million. This was due to increased demand for reservoir rock and fluid analysis in international and U.S. markets.

Production Enhancement: This segment’s revenues decreased 3.6% to $42.4 million from $44 million in the prior year quarter. Moreover, the top line missed our estimate of $42.7 million.

Operating loss of $2.6 million was below our estimate of an operating income of $3.6 million. This decrease was primarily due to lower U.S. onshore completion activity, which led to a reduction in product sales. The metric decreased from the year-ago quarter’s reported profit of $2.2 million.