Leading oilfield services player, Halliburton Company HAL announced its decision to defer its first-quarter 2016 earnings conference call until May 3, instead of announcing the full results today before the opening bell. However, the company has come up with operating updates for the first quarter. The results have been deferred to accommodate information related to the Baker Hughes Inc. BHI merger – the deadline of which is Apr 30, 2016. Halliburton is among the four big oilfield services players in the world. Among them Schlumberger Ltd. SLB is the biggest that and has already reported its first-quarter results. The other two, Baker Hughes and Weatherford International plc WFT, are yet to report their earnings. In the January–March period operating report, Halliburton reported revenues of $4.2 billion, 40.8% lower than that the prior-year quarter figure of $7.1 billion. However, the company surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.1 billion. First-Quarter Segmental Performance Completion & Production: Revenues were $2.3 billion, significantly lower than $4.3 billion during first-quarter 2015. Moreover, the segment’s operating profit slipped to $30 million from $462 million in the year-earlier quarter. Severe impact on North American pressure pumping business impacted the results. Pricing weakness globally impacted the company’s operations across all regions. Drilling & Evaluation: Revenues were $1.9 billion, lower than the prior-year figure of $2.8 billion. Operating profit of the unit fell to $241 million from $306 million during the January to March period of 2015. Lower drilling activities across all regions along with reduced logging operations following budget constraint of customers globally impacted the results. Job Cut Halliburton reduced its headcount by more than 6,000 during the first quarter. It is to be noted that following the weakness in oil prices since late 2014, the company cut almost one third of its jobs. Zacks Rank Houston, TX-based Halliburton currently carries a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell), implying that to the stock will significantly underperform the broader U.S. equity market over the next one to three months. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report WEATHERFORD INT (WFT): Free Stock Analysis Report BAKER-HUGHES (BHI): Free Stock Analysis Report SCHLUMBERGER LT (SLB): Free Stock Analysis Report HALLIBURTON CO (HAL): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research