Baker Hughes raises annual forecasts after Chart purchase, signals LNG recovery ahead

Adds conference call details throughout

By Vallari Srivastava and Pranav Mathur

Sept 9 (Reuters) - U.S. oilfield services provider Baker Hughes BKR.O raised its full-year forecasts on Wednesday, reflecting the benefits of its $13.6 billion acquisition of industrial equipment maker Chart Industries.

Speaking at the Barclays Annual Energy conference, CEO Lorenzo Simonelli also struck an optimistic tone on liquefied natural gas (LNG) markets, where equipment demand has been pressured by the slow pace of new project sanctions and customer spending.

"We see improving visibility toward an LNG order recovery as we move into 2027," Simonelli said.

Shares of the company were up 3.2% in early trading.

Baker Hughes completed the acquisition of Chart in July after securing EU antitrust approval on the condition it would sell the industrial gear manufacturer's proprietary process technology and its small-scale process technology business, while ensuring the ⁠interoperability of its gear with third parties' LNG ​equipment.

Baker Hughes now expects revenue of $28.50 billion to $30.30 billion in 2026, up from its prior forecast of $26.65 billion to $28.05 billion.

Annual adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) is expected at $4.88 billion to $5.48 billion, compared with its earlier forecast of $4.6 billion to $5.1 billion.

Simonelli said the company expects 55% to 65% of Chart's segment core profit to be realized in the fourth quarter, reflecting both the mid-July close of the transaction and Chart's typical seasonal weighting toward the final quarter of the year.

Near-term Chart margins are being impacted by the timing of LNG equipment volumes and soft hydrogen demand, he added.

Analysts expect the company to report revenue of $28.31 billion and core profit of $5.09 billion in 2026, according to data compiled by LSEG.

(Reporting by Vallari Srivastava and Pranav Mathur in Bengaluru; Editing by Jonathan Ananda)

((Srivastava.Vallari@thomsonreuters.com;))