What Happened?
A number of stocks fell in the afternoon session after Crude oil prices pulled back as traders locked in profits after two weeks of gains and awaited details on planned U.S. sanctions against Iran. According to CNBC, West Texas Intermediate fell roughly 2%–2.5% toward the mid-$80s per barrel on August 24, 2026, while Brent slipped a similar amount to the low $90s. The retreat followed consecutive weeks of strong gains driven by Middle East geopolitical risk.
Attention centered on U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s push for expanded sanctions aimed at economically isolating Tehran, including measures targeting entities that purchase and transport Iranian crude. Broader supply worries remain: commercial traffic through the Strait of Hormuz — which historically carries about 20% of global oil flows — stays constrained, even as alternative routes, U.S. output, and regional exports have so far limited severe shortages.
The stock market overreacts to news, and big price drops can present good opportunities to buy high-quality stocks.
Among others, the following stocks were impacted:
- Infrastructure company Calumet (NASDAQ: CLMT) fell 5.1%. Is now the time to buy Calumet? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Oilfield Services company Atlas Energy Solutions (NYSE: AESI) fell 4.9%. Is now the time to buy Atlas Energy Solutions? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Mixed or Offshore Upstream E&P company Kosmos Energy (NYSE: KOS) fell 4.6%. Is now the time to buy Kosmos Energy? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Oilfield Services company TETRA Technologies (NYSE: TTI) fell 5.5%. Is now the time to buy TETRA Technologies? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Oilfield Services company ProPetro (NYSE: PUMP) fell 4.2%. Is now the time to buy ProPetro? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
Zooming In On TETRA Technologies (TTI)
TETRA Technologies’s shares are extremely volatile and have had 36 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The biggest move we wrote about over the last year was 3 months ago when the stock gained 7% on the news that the U.S. launched "self-defense strikes" on Iran as Trump warned the country "will have to pay the price" for stalling negotiations. $90+ oil and a seventh consecutive inventory draw make sustained upstream spending the only logical decision for U.S. producers. The EIA reported that crude inventories fell 7.2 million barrels the previous week, the seventh straight draw, nearly double the 4 million barrel consensus, while Cushing hub stocks fell to around 22 million barrels, a level describes as "multi-decade lows" for total U.S. petroleum stocks.
Oilfield services companies (SLB, Halliburton, Baker Hughes) are paid when E&P operators drill. When inventory is critically tight and oil is at $90+, producers expand rig counts and completion programs, not defer them. Iran's disruption of more than 11 million barrels per day of Middle East production placed U.S. upstream activity at the centre of global supply response, making sustained domestic drilling not just profitable but necessary.
TETRA Technologies is down 30.2% since the beginning of the year, and at $6.84 per share, it is trading 44.5% below its 52-week high of $12.32 from February 2026. Despite the year-to-date decline, investors who bought $1,000 worth of TETRA Technologies’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $2,333.
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