SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB) slipped about 2% in premarket trading Wednesday after the company issued a negative preannouncement tied to the ongoing situation in the Middle East, becoming the first member of the S&P 500 to flag potential financial impacts from the conflict.
The oilfield services group said it has halted travel to and transit through parts of the Middle East and has begun scaling back operations in several countries across the region.
As a result of these disruptions, the company said its first-quarter revenue is now expected to fall short of earlier projections.
SLB also indicated that the operational adjustments will likely generate additional costs estimated at between $0.06 and $0.09 per share.
The company did not identify which countries are affected by the demobilization or outline when normal operations might resume.
The warning represents the first formal indication from a large publicly traded company that the ongoing Middle East conflict could have a measurable impact on financial results. While SLB’s exposure to the region may be relatively specific to its business model, the announcement underscores potential risks for other companies with operations in the region during the first half of the year.