Weatherford International Plc (NYSE:WFT) stock is soaring as the company announced plans to lay off thousands of workers.
The oil and natural gas service company is cutting 18% of its workforce with most of its cuts coming in its North American operations. The company had 49,000 workers as of March 31.
The move comes as energy prices declined, driving revenue down for Weatherford’s first quarter. Net revenue for the quarter was $2.79 billion, lower than the Thomson Reuters estimate of $3 billion.
The layoffs will save Weatherford about $640 million a year. Two company facilities were closed in the first quarter and an additional four are expected to be closed in the second quarter.
Weatherford posted a loss of 15 cents a share for the quarter, compared with 5 cents a share loss for the year-ago period.
WFT stock is up 6.2% Thursday.
