Baker Hughes Q3 2026 Adjusted EPS Beats but GAAP Profit Falls as Stock Slides After Earnings

Baker Hughes posted third-quarter 2026 revenue of $8.0 billion and adjusted diluted EPS of $0.70, up from $0.64 in Q2 2026 and ahead of consensus estimates. However, GAAP diluted EPS fell sharply to $0.41, down from $0.68 the prior quarter, weighed down by transaction costs and noncash amortization of intangible assets tied to the recently closed acquisition of Chart Industries. Adjusted EBITDA reached $1.415 billion, and the company generated $1.005 billion in operating cash flow and $769 million in free cash flow. Shares underperformed peers on Wednesday as investors judged the beat insufficient against elevated expectations.

Total orders for the quarter came in at $10.8 billion, with Industrial and Energy Technology segment orders of $5.9 billion lifting the record IET remaining performance obligation to $39.4 billion. Overall RPO climbed to $46.4 billion. On the earnings call, CEO Lorenzo Simonelli set an ambitious long-term target of more than $50 billion in cumulative IET orders over the company's Horizon 2 planning period, and management reiterated a Chart segment adjusted EBITDA margin goal of 22 to 23 percent by the second half of 2028. Analysts noted that near-term results from the Chart business largely reflect pre-merger sales backlogs rather than integration synergies, given long product lead times.

Baker Hughes also projected global LNG liquefaction capacity reaching 800 million tonnes per annum by 2030, underscoring the strategic rationale for the Chart deal and the company's broader push into gas technology infrastructure. Separately, the company secured a 1.1 gigawatt order for AI data center power and cooling equipment, adding to its growing industrial technology backlog. On the same day, Baker Hughes announced a significant subsea production systems and services contract for Eni's Cronos gas development offshore Cyprus, with standardized and configurable production systems designed to accelerate the timeline to first gas.