** Shares of oilfield services firm SLB up 0.9% at $51.26 ahead of Q1 results before the bell on Friday
** SLB has benefited from a spike in demand in international offshore exploration and development in the past few quarters
** "We think strong oil prices buoy activity," Morgan Stanley says in a note
** Wall Street expects the company to post an adj profit of $0.75/shr as compared to $0.63/shr in the prior-year quarter and rev of $8.7 bln vs $7.7 bln - LSEG data
** Houston, Texas-based SLB beat market expectations for the past eight quarters
** SLB kicks off earnings for its sector; Peers Baker Hughes
and Halliburton report next week
** 29 of 32 brokerages rate SLB "buy" or higher, 3 "hold"; their median PT is $68 - LSEG data
** SLB had risen 5.3% during the quarter as compared to a 12.7% increase in the S&P 500 Energy Sector
(Reporting by Kabir Dweit and Sourasis Bose in Bengaluru)
((Kabir.Dweit@thomsonreuters.com;))
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