Halliburton Stock Slips. CEO Sees Oil Services Demand Weakening.

Halliburton is one of the biggest oilfield services providers. (Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg)

Halliburton , the oil services provider, reported earnings that were in line with Wall Street expectations on Tuesday. A weaker outlook still sent shares lower.

Halliburton reported earnings-per-share of 55 cents, equal to the median estimate in a FactSet survey. Overall earnings were $472 million, slightly higher than consensus expectations.

Still, Haliburton’s finances are usually closely tied to the price of crude, since the higher the price of oil, the greater the demand for the company’s services. That’s bad news as West Texas Intermediate , the U.S. benchmark, has dropped more than 7% this year to trade at about $66 a barrel.

“The oilfield services market will be softer than I previously expected over the short to medium term,” Halliburton CEO Jeff Miller said. “We will of course take action to address this near term softness, and we remain fully committed to our shareholder returns framework.”

Halliburton shares fell 1% to $20.98 after the market opened. The company competes with Schlumberger and Baker Hughes , both of which were rising.

Write to Brian Swint at brian.swint@barrons.com