Transocean Stays Afloat With Earnings

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By Chris Lange Updated Published
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Offshore drill rig
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Transocean Ltd. (NYSE: RIG) released its first-quarter earnings after the markets closed Wednesday. The company had $1.10 in adjusted diluted earnings per share (EPS) on $2.04 billion in revenue, versus Thomson Reuters consensus estimates of $0.60 in EPS on $1.91 billion in revenue. The first quarter from last year had $1.43 in EPS on $2.34 billion in revenue.

The company did not give guidance but there are consensus estimates of $0.25 in EPS and $1.70 billion in revenue for the second quarter. For the full year, the consensus estimates are $1.44 in EPS on revenue of $6.86 billion.

In this quarter, cash flows from operating activities were $526 million, down sequentially from $566 million.

Fleet revenue efficiency was 95.9%, compared to 95.3% in the fourth quarter of 2014. Revenue efficiency on ultra-deepwater rigs was 97.2%, an increase from 95.4% in the previous quarter. Fleet utilization was 79%, an increase from 73% in the fourth quarter of last year.

Transocean’s contract backlog was $19.9 billion as of the April 16.

Capital expenditures fell $117 million sequentially to $201 million. This was attributed to lower project costs on the existing fleet.

Operating and maintenance expenses decreased $226 million sequentially to $1.084 billion. The decrease was mainly associated with the company’s onshore and offshore cost reduction initiatives, including the optimization of maintenance and out-of-service costs, asset disposals and stacking of rigs.

ALSO READ: 4 Oil Service Stocks to Buy as Rig Count Continues to Plunge

In the weeks ahead of earnings a couple of analysts weighed in on Transocean:

  • Deutsche Bank has a Sell rating for Transocean.
  • Morgan Stanley downgraded Transocean to an Underweight rating from Equal Weight.
  • Edward Jones downgraded the company from a Hold rating to Sell.

Transocean shares closed Wednesday relatively flat at $18.99. In after-hours trading when the earnings were released, shares were initially up 1.6% at $19.30. The stock has a consensus analyst price target of $12.98 and a 52-week trading range of $13.28 to $46.12.

Photo of Chris Lange
About the Author Chris Lange →

Chris Lange is a writer for 24/7 Wall St., based in Houston. He has covered financial markets over the past decade with an emphasis on healthcare, tech, and IPOs. During this time, he has published thousands of articles with insightful analysis across these complex fields. Currently, Lange's focus is on military and geopolitical topics.

Lange's work has been quoted or mentioned in Forbes, The New York Times, Business Insider, USA Today, MSN, Yahoo, The Verge, Vice, The Intelligencer, Quartz, Nasdaq, The Motley Fool, Fox Business, International Business Times, The Street, Seeking Alpha, Barron’s, Benzinga, and many other major publications.

A graduate of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, Lange majored in business with a particular focus on investments. He has previous experience in the banking industry and startups.

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