NOV Inc. (NOV) Business Profile

What it does

NOV Inc. makes equipment and provides technology and services used to drill wells, complete them and produce oil and gas. Its customers include energy producers, oilfield service companies, drilling contractors and shipyards. The company also serves industrial, marine and renewable energy markets. Founded in 1862, NOV is headquartered in Houston.

Its products range from drill bits and tools used below the surface to complete drilling equipment and systems for offshore production. NOV also makes pumps, pipe, cranes and equipment used to handle and process fluids. It sells equipment and consumable products, rents tools and provides field services. After a sale, customers can buy spare parts, repairs, upgrades, training and technical support.

NOV has two operating segments. Energy Products and Services supplies products and services that tend to be purchased for shorter-term needs, such as drill bits, downhole tools and well-site services. Energy Equipment supplies larger capital equipment and integrated systems, including drilling packages, offshore production systems and marine equipment. Many of those products take longer to build and deliver.

The company also applies its equipment and engineering capabilities outside conventional oil and gas. Its products are used in geothermal drilling, offshore wind construction, carbon capture and industrial applications. Digital offerings collect and analyze equipment and operating data, including information from remote drilling sites.

How it makes money

NOV earns revenue by selling equipment and products, renting tools and performing services. Its two segments differ in the types of purchases customers make and the time needed to deliver them.

Energy Products and Services sells drill bits, drill pipe, completion tools, pumps and other products used in drilling and production. It also rents tools and provides services such as tubular inspection, waste management and digital monitoring. Its offerings tend to be transactional and shorter-cycle: revenue comes from services and rentals as well as sales of consumables and shorter-lived or single-application capital assets.

Energy Equipment designs and builds larger systems, including land rigs, offshore drilling packages, subsea pipe and marine construction equipment. It also sells replacement parts and provides repair, field service, training and technical support. Most of its capital equipment products take more than three months to manufacture and deliver. Firm orders for qualifying products enter the segment’s reported backlog.

Aftermarket work gives NOV opportunities to earn revenue from equipment already in use. Energy Equipment also offers subscriptions for analytics, condition monitoring and digital performance services. These offerings sit alongside purchases of parts and repairs; NOV does not describe all aftermarket spending as contracted or recurring.

Prices and costs can change with market conditions. NOV has generally sought to offset higher raw-material costs through surcharges and product price adjustments. Customers can default on some firm backlog orders, although most such orders require reimbursement for costs incurred.

NOV generated revenue of $8.74 billion in 2025. Revenue was $2.23 billion during the third quarter of 2026. Energy Equipment backlog was $4.34 billion at December 31, 2025; NOV expected approximately 49 percent of that backlog to become revenue during 2026.

Customers and how it sells

NOV’s customers are predominantly service companies, oil and gas companies and shipyards. They include national, major-diversified and independent businesses, contractors and energy producers. Customers use NOV products in drilling and well completion, offshore construction, production and other industrial operations.

NOV operates in 57 countries. Its foreign operations include significant activity in the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, the Far East, Canada and Europe. It had 31,605 employees globally in FY2025. Employees work at manufacturing and service locations and travel to customer sites, including onshore and offshore drilling locations and shipyards.

The company sells and rents Energy Products and Services offerings worldwide through its sales force and commissioned representatives. Most Energy Equipment capital equipment and spare-parts sales, along with a large portion of smaller pump and parts sales, go through NOV’s direct sales force and distribution service centers. Some sales to foreign oil companies use representative arrangements.

In countries where local ownership policies favor purchases from businesses majority-owned by local nationals, NOV sometimes works through joint ventures, licenses or other arrangements with local partners. NOV reported that its Argentina revenue had grown by double digits year over year for three consecutive quarters as of the third quarter of 2026.

Suppliers and costs

NOV manufactures products using processes that include machining, welding, fabrication, heat treatment, assembly and testing. It combines components made in its own facilities with purchased components. The company believes the materials and components it uses are generally available from multiple sources; it does not identify a sole-source supplier.

Raw-material prices can change with energy, steel and other commodity prices, as well as tariffs, duties and foreign exchange rates. NOV has generally used product surcharges and price adjustments to mitigate higher material costs, although higher prices or reduced availability can affect future results.

NOV shifts production runs among facilities according to demand and cost. During periods of increased activity, it also outsources some non-critical machining and brings that work back into its own facilities during downturns. Manufacturing facilities require relatively low investment and maintenance expenses compared with the sales they enable, in NOV’s assessment.

Supply and shipping costs remain variable. NOV said freight costs were up about 20% year over year in the third quarter of 2026. It also maintained inventory buffers in response to logistics disruptions.

Competitive position

NOV competes with publicly traded oilfield service and equipment companies and smaller independent equipment manufacturers across oil and gas, industrial and renewable energy equipment markets. No individual competitors are named. NOV competes through product quality and delivery, customer service, technical skills and intellectual property. Other companies have developed and marketed competing products with different designs.

NOV has a portfolio of patents, trademarks, trade secrets and other proprietary rights. It also develops products with customers and applies expertise across its businesses, such as linking downhole data to drilling rig controls. Our reading: proprietary technology offers some protection, but its strength is limited by competitors’ ability to bring different designs to market.

NOV’s installed equipment creates opportunities to provide original-equipment parts and service. The company says customers often prefer or require that support and can face risks and costs when combining incompatible equipment. Customers may also standardize training, maintenance and spare parts across their fleets. Our reading: the installed base and standardization can support customer relationships, although they do not guarantee repeat purchases.

NOV uses manufacturing facilities, procurement and distribution networks across multiple markets. Our reading: this footprint can help it reach customers and shift production, but the company remains exposed to changing demand and supply-chain disruption.

Growth opportunities

NOV is developing technologies intended to improve drilling and production efficiency, including automation, robotics and digital services. Its Max platform collects and analyzes equipment and process data, and customers can use its analytics services to apply artificial intelligence and machine learning to operating data. In the third quarter of 2026, NOV won a digital-services contract covering more than 30 rigs for a large U.S. operator.

The company is also applying its equipment and engineering capabilities to adjacent markets. It supplies tools for geothermal drilling, equipment for offshore wind construction and systems used in carbon capture. NOV is pursuing opportunities to provide manufacturing and industrial services for advanced nuclear technology.

Offshore production and construction provide demand for equipment such as subsea flexible pipe, processing systems, mooring equipment and cranes. NOV expects 2027 Energy Equipment bookings to meaningfully exceed 2026 and 2025. It also expects industry demand for flexible pipe to exceed supply through the end of the decade. Offshore equipment orders generally follow project investment decisions by a few quarters, and the timing varies by project and equipment package.

In international land markets, NOV is supplying drilling and production equipment as operators develop unconventional resources. In the third quarter of 2026, its production and midstream business recorded orders for pipeline capacity in Argentina and production optimization projects in Oman, Nigeria and Venezuela. NOV also reported that offshore spare-parts backlog increased for the fifth consecutive quarter.

Structural risks

• Oil and gas cycles: Demand depends on worldwide drilling and production activity, which is influenced by oil and gas prices and customer spending. Volatility in activity has caused and may continue to cause fluctuations in NOV’s results.

• International disruption: Foreign operations face political, economic and currency risks, as well as sanctions, trade restrictions and local-content requirements. NOV said deteriorating maritime security in the Middle East disrupted deliveries and delayed tenders in the third quarter of 2026.

• Supply and cost pressures: NOV faces risks from raw-material price increases, tariffs, shipping delays and difficulty securing third-party components at reasonable costs and within required timeframes. Higher steel costs can reduce margins.

• Project execution and backlog: Capital equipment orders involve risks in estimating costs, meeting technical requirements and managing supplier or other delays. Customers can default on some backlog orders, and backlog is not guaranteed to become revenue or earn a profit.

• Competition and technology: Competitors can introduce new products or improve availability and delivery. Intellectual-property rights expire, and NOV cannot be assured that new products will generate future revenue. Logistics disruptions and delayed customer billings and collections also contributed to a free cash outflow of $47 million in the third quarter of 2026.

Bottom line

Our reading

NOV combines shorter-cycle tools, rentals and services with longer-lead equipment projects and aftermarket support for an installed base (item1). Our reading: that mix provides several ways to participate in energy spending, but demand remains tied to oil and gas activity, while large orders and project timing can make results uneven (item1, item7, call_prepared). Its international reach also brings exposure to logistics, political and cost disruptions (item1a, call_prepared).