New York, Feb 17, 2026, 06:16 EST — Premarket
Transocean Ltd (RIG) shares were down 0.1% at $6.53 in early premarket trading on Tuesday, after ending the last session at $6.54. (Investing)
The offshore driller reports fourth-quarter results after the close on Feb. 19 and will publish a fleet status report the same day, the company said. Investors get the conference call the next morning. (Deepwater)
The backdrop is oil again. Brent slipped to about $68 a barrel in Asian trading while U.S. crude edged higher as traders watched U.S.-Iran nuclear talks and weighed supply risks. (Reuters)
Transocean agreed this month to buy rival Valaris in an all-stock deal valued at about $5.8 billion, a move that would create a combined fleet of 73 rigs. Chief Executive Keelan Adamson called the deal “well-timed to capitalize on an emerging, multi-year offshore drilling upcycle.” (Deepwater)
The company has also talked up new work in Norway. It said on Feb. 11 it won a seven-well contract extension for the Transocean Encourage and had two one-well options exercised for the Transocean Enabler, adding about $184 million in firm contract backlog. Backlog is the dollar value of work already under contract; drillers earn a “dayrate,” a daily fee, when a rig is working. (Deepwater)
Those Norway fixtures start later, but they feed the near-term question investors keep circling: can Transocean turn a tightening rig market into steadier cash flow and fewer idle days?
Thursday’s release is also the first clean checkpoint since the Valaris tie-up, with traders looking for detail on contracting momentum, costs and what the combined company’s balance sheet could look like.
But the setup cuts both ways. Citi said geopolitics have supported oil prices in the near term, but it expects Brent could fall toward $60-$62 if tensions ease — a scenario that could cool offshore spending and squeeze risk appetite across drillers. (Reuters)
The Valaris deal still needs approvals and execution, and Transocean has pitched a rapid deleveraging path once it closes. Any stumble on timing, or a miss in Thursday’s numbers, would likely show up quickly in a stock sitting near recent highs. (Reuters)
Next up is Feb. 19 after the bell, followed by the Feb. 20 call at 9 a.m. EST, when management will have to put fresh figures behind the fleet story. (Businessinsider)
