Out Fox The $treet

C&J Energy Services ( NYSE: CJES     ) continues to be one of the most aggressive firms in the oil services sector. In the first quarter, the company is starting to see the benefit of aggressively building out assets during the downturn of the last couple of years. The interesting takeaways from the earnings report are a substantial increase in revenue, a rebound in income, an ongoing push to add more assets, and no mention of weather disruptions despite industrywide issues during the quarter. The growth surpasses the gains made by the oil services majors and hugely disappointing results from Key Energy Services ( NYSE: KEG     ) . Even Basic Energy Services ( NYSE: BAS     ) , which has seen a huge gain in its shares, still reported a loss for the quarter, but the oil service player is making some aggressive moves. Read the full article here . Disclosure: Long CJES. Please read th...

Last week, Basic Energy Services ( NYSE: BAS     ) announced a $50 million increase in capital spending for 2014 that shot the company's stock up 4% on the day. The news didn't have much of a ripple effect on other smaller oilfield services firms, probably due to the lack of appreciation for the scope of the increase. Most investors probably missed the company's run from only $12 back in October to the current level of $27. The quickly-changing dynamics in the domestic land-drilling sector have analysts forecasting the company earning $1.14 in 2015 after producing a large loss last year. At the same time, other oilfield services firms aren't seeing the same gains. Superior Energy Services ( NYSE: SPN     ) is up solidly from February levels, but its stock has gained nowhere near the increases of Basic Energy. Key Energy Services  ( NYSE: KEG     ) has seen its stock price pull back to levels last seen in Octob...

Several trends are colliding to make 2014 likely a lucrative one for investors in domestic oil services firms. First, natural gas inventories have plunged 40% below five-year averages. Second, domestic drilling rig counts are starting to move up. Third, there has been a pullback in deepwater capital budgets despite high oil prices. All of these scenarios set up the need for increasing domestic drilling budgets, at least short-term. Despite the bullish trends and the bull market in stocks, a lot of the domestic oil service stocks trade below levels of the 2011 peaks. The firms of intrigue include: C&J Energy Services ( NYSE: CJES     ), Baker Hughes ( NYSE: BHI     ), and even lowly Key Energy Services ( NYSE: KEG     ). Read the full article here . Disclosure: Long CJES. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

Despite a weak operating environment for domestic oil services, C&J Energy Services ( NYSE: CJES     ) undertook an aggressive expansion plan for 2013. That strategy culminated in several deals during the fourth quarter and further plans for 2014. The reported financials continue to disappoint due to higher costs for expansion, but the company might be set up to take advantage of suddenly sparse natural gas inventories. The domestic hydraulic fracturing specialist has spent the last couple of years expanding the business line and, surprisingly, building new equipment. Now with natural gas inventories plunging to five-year lows, C&J Energy is positioned to take advantage of a market where utilization is already firming. Read the full article here . Disclosure: Long CJES. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

While some continue to fret over debt issues at Nuverra Environmental ( NES ) , the company recently announced an update to an important credit facility to provide it more time to turn around operations before encountering liquidity issues. The move shouldn't be a huge surprise to investors, as creditors normally want to work with companies to provide ample time to improve numbers to acceptable levels. Not to mention, our previous article highlighted how positive operating cash flows would make it a slam-dunk for the modified covenants, if needed. The company is dedicated to the protection and enhancement of environmental solutions for the removal and disposal of restricted fluids primarily from shale drilling. It has scattered operations in most of the shale areas with a focus on the Bakken shale from the Power Fuels merger last year. Several catalysts for improving operations include the shift away from contract workers in the Marcellus shale and new management t...

The recent article against Nuverra Environmental ( NES ) used personal attacks to distract from the real results of the company. Claims that the well-respected former CEO made an acquisition to escape or that the company creates a "distorted reality" by making adjustments to financials is absurd. The company is dedicated to the protection and enhancement of environmental solutions for the removal and disposal of restricted fluids primarily from shale drilling. As environmentalists fret over the safety of the fluids used in fracking, Nuverra was suppose to benefit from the need to safely dispose of the "dangerous" fluids. Read the full article at Seeking Alpha. Disclosure: Long NES and CJES. Please review the disclaimer page for more details 

After reporting earnings on Thursday morning, C&J Energy Services (CJES) fell sharply after initially jumping more than 5%. For some reason the market was disappointed with earnings that easily beat estimates and guidance of a significantly accretive acquisition. The company is an oil services firm that focuses on hydraulic fracturing, coil tubing, and wireline services primarily in the Eagle Ford Shale and Permian basin. As mentioned with the article on SodaStream (SODA) last week, the market appears fixated on certain stocks while allowing others to slide. C&J not only has the lowest multiple in the sector, but it also appears to have better operating results. Not only did the company mostly sidestep the natural gas issue by focusing on oily plays, it also has made attractive acquisitions. On top of that, it has mostly avoided the guar and sand issues that have plagued the other oil service companies. Read the full article on Seeking Alpha. Disclosure: Long CJES....

After the close on Monday, Chesapeake Energy (CHK) filed for an IPO of its oilfield services division. Based on initial review of the S-1, Chesapeake Oilfield Services (COS) should be avoided at best if not shorted. Naturally this will highly depend on the ultimate valuation place on the stock once it prices and starts trading. Chesapeake intends to raise $862M in a much announced IPO of the oilfield services division that performs a big portion of the work for Chesapeake itself. The interesting part is that the sector is under pressure so a lot of investors will see this as a desperate move. Industry leader Haliburton (HAL) is around 52 week lows and last year's fracing IPO C&J Energy Services (CJES) trades near lows as well. Additionally, Chesapeake has made it clear that it needs to raise cash so most contrarian investors might think that such an IPO might be priced to sell. Unfortunately, the funds to be raised and the past comments from the company don't sugges...

After watching a Mad Money feature on little known Key Energy Services (KEG), it got me to wondering what other oil service plays I didn't really know. Everybody has heard of the big players in the sector such as Haliburton (HAL), Schlumberger (SLB), and Baker Hughes (BHI). What about the second tier companies? Hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling remain all the rage, even with natural gas prices plunging to 10 year lows this year. Even with expected rigs drilling for natural gas declining, it wouldn't be surprising to see them move directly into oil shale plays as oil remains around $100. Not to mention one needs to be careful when focusing on the current price of natural gas as future prices on the NYMEX remain in the $4-5 range. Read full story on Seeking Alpha. Disclosure: Long CJES. Please review the disclaimer page for more details