Baker Hughes Company (BKR) Posted Record Orders, so Why is it Warning About 2026 Spending? Fatima Gulzar Tue, August 11, 2026 at 3:47 PM GMT+2 3 min read BKR Baker Hughes Company (NASDAQ:BKR) shares jumped more than 6% after the company beat second-quarter profit estimates and posted record orders, even as it warned that oil and gas producers will spend modestly less this year. Earnings per share came in at 64 cents, well above the 50 cents analysts expected, according to LSEG data.
Why Record Orders and a Spending Warning Came in the Same Breath The quarter told two different stories at once. Orders rose 49% from a year earlier to a record $10.5 billion, including a record $7.1 billion for its industrial and energy technology (IET) segment. It is part of Baker Hughes that serves LNG, power generation, and data centers.
Backlog rose 19% to an all-time high, and remaining contracted work hit $40.1 billion. At the same time, the company said annual global spending by oil and gas producers will decline modestly this year, with weaker spending in Europe and the Middle East offsetting growth in Latin America, offshore Africa, and North America. Ongoing conflict between the U.S. and Iran has made producers more cautious.
CEO Lorenzo Simonelli has been framing the firm's strategy around what he calls a "demand decade for energy," pushing Baker Hughes further into power grids, LNG, and data centers, beyond traditional oilfield services. This makes you wonder: is Baker Hughes' pivot into LNG, power, and data centers a big enough growth engine to outweigh a slowing oil and gas market? Baker Hughes Posted Record Orders, So Why Is It Warning About 2026 Spending?
The Bull Case The turn toward LNG, power grids, and data centers is paying off. Baker Hughes Company (NASDAQ:BKR) just landed a major order from LNG producer Venture Global to manufacture 12 LNG trains for its proposed CP2 expansion. It is expanding its gas turbine and generator capacity, which it expects to bring online by 2029 and says could support nearly $5 billion a year in power systems revenue.
It also raised its full-year order guidance under its Horizon 2 growth plan to more than $45 billion. Operating cash flow more than doubled from a year earlier to $1.35 billion, and free cash flow jumped to $1.11 billion from just $239 million. The Bear Case Baker Hughes Company (NASDAQ:BKR) expects the Middle East conflict to cut IET segment revenue by 1% to 2%.
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