Better Buy: Baker Hughes vs. Core Laboratories N.V.

The energy sector has been struggling under the weight of volatile oil prices. The biggest issue for energy service providers like Baker Hughes, a GE Company (NYSE: BHGE) and Core Laboratories N.V. (NYSE: CLB) is that oil prices are hovering in a range that isn't high enough to support a robust, industry-wide uptick in capital spending, even noting the recent price jump related to the attack on Saudi Arabia's oil assets. Both of these companies are capably managing the headwinds, but one is definitely a better option than the other today, and that fact has little to do with oil prices. Here's what you need to know.

Baker Hughes' GAAP loss in the second quarter was $0.02 a share. However, taking out one-time items the company earned $0.20 a share. That figure was double what the company earned in the same quarter of 2018. Equally exciting, revenue was up 8% year over year and 7% sequentially from the first quarter. Orders, meanwhile, were up 9% over 2018 and 15% sequentially.

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