Not a good buy right now for an impatient entry: earnings are after-hours today (2026-02-04), implied volatility is elevated, and there are no supportive proprietary buy signals.
Trend is generally up (bullish moving-average stack), but momentum has weakened (MACD histogram negative and expanding), which raises near-term pullback risk.
Options positioning is mixed (OI put/call bullish, but volume put/call bearish), suggesting uncertainty/hedging into the print.
Momentum: MACD histogram -0.0717 and negatively expanding = bearish momentum building despite the uptrend (often precedes consolidation/pullback).
RSI(6): 58.78 (neutral-to-slightly-bullish), not overbought.
Key levels: Pivot 19.483 (near-term line in the sand). Resistance R1 20.153 then R2 20.568; Support S1 18.813 then S2 18.398.
Pattern-based near-term odds: 60% chance of -0.97% next day and -0.12% next week (short-term bias slightly negative), but +1.89% next month (medium-term slightly positive).
Options Data
Bullish
Open Interest Put-Call Ratio
Bearish
Option Volume Put-Call Ratio
Sentiment snapshot: OI put/call at 0.65 is moderately bullish (more call positioning than puts).
But volume put/call at 1.2 is bearish/defensive on the day (puts traded > calls), consistent with pre-earnings hedging.
Volatility: IV30 ~72.27 with IV percentile 81.2 (very elevated) and historical volatility ~92; market is pricing a large move.
Activity: today’s volume 11 vs 30D avg is ~13.25x, and today’s OI 1652 is ~111% of OI avg—unusual activity into the event (earnings).
Technical Summary
Sell
6
Buy
6
Positive Catalysts
could re-rate the stock if guidance and margins improve.
Neutral/Negative Catalysts
Near-term timing risk: Buying immediately ahead of after-hours earnings with IV percentile 81 is a poor risk/reward for an impatient entry.
Momentum divergence: MACD histogram is negative and worsening, often preceding a dip even within an uptrend.
Mixed options tape: Bullish OI but bearish volume suggests traders may be positioning defensively into the report.
Revenue growth is minimal (2025/Q3 revenue +0.09% YoY), so results may be more sensitive to margin/guide commentary than top-line acceleration.
Financial Performance
Latest quarter provided: 2025/Q3.
Revenue: $134.521M, +0.09% YoY (flat growth).
Net income: $14.239M, +21.23% YoY (profitability improving).
Gross margin: 19.35%, +8.71% YoY (margin expansion is the key positive trend).
Next key checkpoint: QDEC 2025 earnings on 2026-02-04 after hours (EPS est ~0.20).
Growth
Profitability
Efficiency
Analyst Ratings and Price Target Trends
No analyst rating or price-target change data was provided in the dataset, so a confirmed trend in Wall Street upgrades/downgrades cannot be stated.
Wall Street-style pros (based on provided fundamentals/news): improving EPS and margins; some history of EPS beats; modest positive estimate revision.
Wall Street-style cons: top-line growth is essentially flat; earnings-day uncertainty is high (elevated IV); near-term momentum indicators are weakening.
Influential/political flows: No recent congress trading data available; hedge funds and insiders are reported as neutral with no significant recent trends.
Wall Street analysts forecast CLB stock price to fall over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for CLB is 11.5 USD with a low forecast of 11.5 USD and a high forecast of 11.5 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.
1 Analyst Rating
Wall Street analysts forecast CLB stock price to fall over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for CLB is 11.5 USD with a low forecast of 11.5 USD and a high forecast of 11.5 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.
0 Buy
0 Hold
1 Sell
Moderate Sell
Current: 18.780
Low
11.5
Averages
11.5
High
11.5
Current: 18.780
Low
11.5
Averages
11.5
High
11.5
Stifel
Hold
downgrade
$13 -> $12
AI Analysis
2025-07-16
Reason
Stifel
Price Target
$13 -> $12
AI Analysis
2025-07-16
downgrade
Hold
Reason
Stifel lowered the firm's price target on Core Laboratories to $12 from $13 and keeps a Hold rating on the shares. Oil service stocks have underperformed the S&P 500 in 2025, and catalysts have been largely negative, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Entering Q2 earnings season, the firm believes shares will be range bound until estimates stop falling.
Citi
Neutral
downgrade
$16 -> $13
2025-05-13
Reason
Citi
Price Target
$16 -> $13
2025-05-13
downgrade
Neutral
Reason
Citi lowered the firm's price target on Core Laboratories to $13 from $16 and keeps a Neutral rating on the shares. The firm updated models for a collection of Smid-cap oil and gas equipment and services stocks to incorporate updated rig count forecasts and recent earnings.
Unlock Full Analyst Thesis， Get the complete breakdown of rating reason for CLB
