Sectors & IndustriesEnergyOil & Gas Drilling

Best Oil & Gas Drilling Stocks to Buy Now (2026)

Top oil & gas drilling stocks in 2026 ranked by overall Zen Rating. "A" Rated stocks have returned an average of +28.50% per year, and are the best oil & gas drilling stocks to buy now. Learn More.

According to Zen Ratings, our proprietary rating system that evaluates 115 factors proven to drive growth in stocks and assigns each stock in our system an overall letter grade as well as 7 individual Component Grades for Value, Growth, Momentum, Sentiment, Safety, Financials, and proprietary AI algorithms, the 3 best oil & gas drilling stocks to buy right now are:

Patterson Uti Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN) is the #1 top oil & gas drilling stock out of 9 with a Zen Rating of B. Stocks with a rating of B have had an average return of +17.17% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Patterson Uti Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN) is: Value: C, Growth: A, Momentum: C, Sentiment: A, Safety: B, Financials: C, and AI: B.

Patterson Uti Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN) has a Due Diligence Score of 31, which is 8 points higher than the oil & gas drilling industry average of 23.

PTEN passed 11 out of 38 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Patterson Uti Energy has seen its stock return 63.07% over the past year, overperforming other oil & gas drilling stocks by 20 percentage points.

Patterson Uti Energy has an average 1 year price target of $14.15, an upside of 35.8% from Patterson Uti Energy's current stock price of $10.42.

Patterson Uti Energy stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 10 analysts covering Patterson Uti Energy, 50% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 10% have issued a Buy, 40% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Precision Drilling (NYSE:PDS) is the #2 top oil & gas drilling stock out of 9 with a Zen Rating of B. Stocks with a rating of B have had an average return of +17.17% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Precision Drilling (NYSE:PDS) is: Value: C, Growth: B, Momentum: B, Sentiment: C, Safety: C, Financials: C, and AI: C.

Precision Drilling (NYSE:PDS) has a Due Diligence Score of 17, which is -6 points lower than the oil & gas drilling industry average of 23. Although this number is below the industry average, our proven quant model rates PDS as a "B".

PDS passed 5 out of 33 due diligence checks and has weak fundamentals. Precision Drilling has seen its stock return 57.2% over the past year, overperforming other oil & gas drilling stocks by 14 percentage points.

Precision Drilling has an average 1 year price target of $128.67, an upside of 35.51% from Precision Drilling's current stock price of $94.95.

Precision Drilling stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 3 analysts covering Precision Drilling, 66.67% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 0% have issued a Buy, 33.33% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Nabors Industries (NYSE:NBR) is the #3 top oil & gas drilling stock out of 9 with a Zen Rating of C. Stocks with a rating of C have had an average return of +5.11% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Nabors Industries (NYSE:NBR) is: Value: C, Growth: C, Momentum: C, Sentiment: F, Safety: C, Financials: C, and AI: C.

Nabors Industries (NYSE:NBR) has a Due Diligence Score of 15, which is -8 points lower than the oil & gas drilling industry average of 23.

NBR passed 6 out of 38 due diligence checks and has weak fundamentals. Nabors Industries has seen its stock return 55.42% over the past year, overperforming other oil & gas drilling stocks by 12 percentage points.

Nabors Industries has an average 1 year price target of $105.25, an upside of 30.76% from Nabors Industries's current stock price of $80.49.

Nabors Industries stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 4 analysts covering Nabors Industries, 25% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 0% have issued a Buy, 75% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Out of 3 oil & gas drilling stocks that have issued dividends in the past year, the 3 oil & gas drilling stocks with the highest dividend yields are:

Noble (NYSE:NE) has an annual dividend yield of 4.74%, which is 1 percentage points higher than the oil & gas drilling industry average of 3.7%.

Noble's dividend payout ratio of 588.2% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Patterson Uti Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN) has an annual dividend yield of 3.65%, which is the same as the oil & gas drilling industry average of 3.7%. Patterson Uti Energy's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% one times in the last 10 years. Patterson Uti Energy's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Patterson Uti Energy's dividend payout ratio of -633.3% indicates that its dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) has an annual dividend yield of 2.73%, which is -1 percentage points lower than the oil & gas drilling industry average of 3.7%. Helmerich & Payne's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% three times in the last 10 years. Helmerich & Payne's dividend has not shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Helmerich & Payne's dividend payout ratio of -70.9% indicates that its dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Oil & gas drilling stocks were up 3.06% in the last day, and up 2.91% over the last week.

We couldn't find a catalyst for why oil & gas drilling stocks are up.

Based on the Valuation rating, one of the 7 components of a stocks overall Zen Ratings grade, which evaluates factors including estimated earnings yield, earnings before interest and taxes/enterprise value, cash flow yield, free cash flow to price, and price-to-earnings growth (PEG ratio), the 3 most undervalued oil & gas drilling stocks right now are:

Precision Drilling (NYSE:PDS) is the most undervalued oil & gas drilling stock based on its Valuation Rating of C. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Precision Drilling has a valuation score of 14, which is -3 points higher than the oil & gas drilling industry average of 17. It passed 1 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Precision Drilling's stock has gained 57.2% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the oil & gas drilling industry by 14 percentage points.

Sable Offshore (NYSE:SOC) is the second most undervalued oil & gas drilling stock based on its Valuation Rating of C. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Sable Offshore has a valuation score of 14, which is -3 points higher than the oil & gas drilling industry average of 17. It passed 1 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Sable Offshore's stock has dropped -89.7% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the oil & gas drilling industry by -133 percentage points.

Nabors Industries (NYSE:NBR) is the third most undervalued oil & gas drilling stock based on its Valuation Rating of C. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Nabors Industries has a valuation score of 0, which is -17 points higher than the oil & gas drilling industry average of 17. It passed 0 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Nabors Industries's stock has gained 55.42% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the oil & gas drilling industry by 12 percentage points.

50% of oil & gas drilling stocks rated by analysts are a strong buy right now. On average, analysts expect oil & gas drilling stocks to rise by 37.12% over the next year.

0% of oil & gas drilling stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 22.22% of oil & gas drilling stocks are rated B (Buy), 33.33% are rated C (Hold), 33.33% are rated D (Sell), and 11.11% are rated F (Strong Sell).