NOW Inc. — which does business through its DistributionNOW brand — reported its 2023 first quarter financial results on May 4, showing a considerable sequential increase in year-over-year sales.

The Houston-based oilfield products distributor posted total January-March sales of $584 million, up 23.5% year-over-year. The company noted how that figure far outpaces the global rig count growth of 15% year-over-year.

The major year-over-year sales growth was driven by 28 percentage points of growth in the U.S. and 30 points in international, while Canada was up 1%.

Sequentially, sales improved 7% from 4Q22, during which sales decreased 5.2% year-over-year.

NOW’s 1Q gross margin was 23.5% — up from 22.6% a year earlier and trailing the 24.1% seen in 4Q22 and 3Q22. The company’s 1Q23 operating profit of $35 million topped the $23 million of a year earlier.

The company had a 1Q23 net profit of $28 million, topping the $15 million it had a year earlier and narrowly trailing 4Q22’s $29 million.

NOW’s 1Q23 EBITDA was $47 million, or 8.0% of costs — up from $28 million/5.9% in 1Q22 and trailing 4Q22’s $47 million/8.6%.

“Our year is off to a nice start, including strong top- and bottom-line performance,” NOW President and CEO David Cherechinsky said in a news release. “We achieved these better-than-expected results despite headwinds related to inclement weather, lower U.S. rig counts and completions, and weaker oil and gas prices during the quarter. We are excited about our international segment posting strong sequential revenue growth of 28% at operating profit levels not seen since 2014.

The company noted that it completed two acquisitions during May to fortify its U.S. Process Solutions pump and seal distribution and service territories.

Looking ahead, NOW reaffirmed its full-year 2023 revenue outlook of 8% to 12% growth vs. 2022, with full-year 2023 EBITDA targeted at 8.0% of revenue, excluding other costs (non-GAAP).