By Steve Gelsi

NEW YORK (Dow Jones) - Weatherford International Ltd. on Monday reported first-quarter net income fell 38% on a sharp drop off in drilling in North America in the face of weak demand and oversupply in the oil and gas business.

Weatherford's (WFT) first-quarter earnings fell to $164.8 million, or 23 cents a share, from $264.2 million, or 38 cents, in the year-earlier period.

Excluding items, Weatherford adjusted earnings per share from continuing operations were 27 cents versus 50 cents.

Sales rose 2.7% to $2.26 billion from $2.20 billion.

Analysts polled by FactSet Research estimated earnings per share of 32 cents and sales of $2.27 billion for the Switzerland-based oil driller.

Analysts at Tudor Pickering Holt noted that Weatherford fell short of Wall Street's profit expectations. After recent gains in the stock, the shares could come under pressure, analysts said.

In early trading Monday, the shares were off more than 7%.

Weatherford's North American profit was light, but its international businesses were mostly in line with projections. Its Latin American results beat revenue targets and the company's Mexico contract looks solid, analysts said.

Weatherford noted that North America revenue declined 23%, in line with a 27% decline in rig count. However, international revenue was up 28% against a 2% decrease in international rig count.

Companywide revenue was hurt by $160 million as the U.S. dollar was relatively stronger compared with the year-ago period.