The Globe and Mail reports in its Tuesday edition that ATB Capital's Waqar Syed and Tim Monachello are bearish on U.S.-based energy services companies in the near-term, expecting "weak" guidance from land drilling contractors and "sub-optimally positioned" pumpers during the second quarter. The Globe's David Leeder writes that Mr. Syed and Mr. Monachello continue to rate Precision Drilling "outperform." They raised their share target by a loonie to $126, a penny ahead of the consensus. Believing Precision has "performed very well," Mr. Syed thinks his estimates are safe. He expects Precision to "guide to an improving U.S. market in Q2." He says in a note: "In Canada, we believe that Precision is best positioned for the earnings season. Although the stock has been one of the best performing stocks year-to-date, we do see further upside through the course of the year. The Canadian high-spec drilling rig market remains the strongest asset class in North America and Precision is the largest owner of this asset class. We believe that although the U.S. drilling market should see weak activity in Q2/24, Precision's U.S. rig activity should see q/q improvement as its Rockies based rigs typically see a seasonal rebound in Q2."