Weatherford price target raised to $79 from $73 at Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler raised the firm’s price target on Weatherford (WFRD) to $79 from $73 and keeps an Overweight rating on the shares. Recently, over the past six weeks, both oil and gas activity has bounced off the bottom, in a potential sign that the worst may be behind them, causing investors to begin thinking about the possible shape of recovery. However, with WTI recently falling below $60/b amid renewed supply and demand concerns, Piper expects the challenging macro backdrop to once again set the tone for earnings season as expectations for further activity cuts creep back in. Under this scenario, the firm continues to favor the longer-cycle/production focused defensive names or those with idiosyncratic tailwinds and continues to be cautious with U.S. Land names, believing upside is more of a Q2 2026 event.