Milan, May 9, 2026, 00:08 (CEST)
Saipem shares closed lower in Milan on Friday, extending a sharp test of one of Italy’s strongest energy-service rallies this year. The stock ended down 0.69% at 4.304 euros, after Teleborsa flagged a 4.18% slide in the previous session.
The timing matters because the move is not happening in a weak story. Borsa Italiana data showed Saipem still up 95.55% over six months and 108.53% over one year, leaving investors to ask how much of the turnaround is already in the price.
Analysts are not backing away yet. Investing.com data showed a “Buy” consensus on Saipem, with 12 buy ratings, four holds and one sell, and an average 12-month target of 4.6653 euros, about 8.4% above the latest price. Investing
Teleborsa’s technical note put the near-term pressure in plain market terms: Saipem had lagged the FTSE MIB and was weakening below resistance at 4.521 euros, with first support at 4.317 euros and a possible test of 4.233 euros. Support is a price area where buyers often step in; resistance is where sellers tend to emerge.
The fundamental case still rests on Saipem’s first-quarter numbers. The company reported revenue of 3.528 billion euros, adjusted EBITDA — earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation — of 434 million euros, up 23.6%, and a net result of 78 million euros. It also confirmed its 2026 guidance.
The backlog gives the equity story its weight. Saipem said it had a backlog of about 29.6 billion euros at the end of March, with 10.2 billion euros due to be executed over the rest of 2026, and reported free cash flow of 199 million euros net of lease repayments.
Chief Executive Alessandro Puliti told analysts after the results that demand was “sustained” and that the “commercial pipeline is alive and kicking,” while pointing to an expected ramp-up in order intake through the year and a peak in the fourth quarter.
The market also has a cleaner balance sheet to weigh. Saipem said its pre-IFRS 16 net cash position rose to 1.217 billion euros at the end of March, up 218 million euros from the end of 2025. IFRS 16 is the accounting rule that brings many lease liabilities onto the balance sheet.
There was also a separate governance signal this week. Investing.com, citing Borsa Italiana disclosures, reported that Simone Chini, a manager at Saipem, sold 120,000 ordinary shares for about 538,000 euros on April 30 at an average price of 4.4882 euros. Such “internal dealing” notices are mandatory disclosures of trades by senior managers or people tied to them; they do not by themselves explain the reason for a sale. Investing.com Italia
Saipem added a smaller strategic item on May 6, signing an initial three-year collaboration agreement with Italian utility Hera to work on energy efficiency, decarbonisation and circular-economy projects for energy-intensive industries such as ceramics, glass, chemicals, cement and steel. The company framed the deal as part of its move to support complex industrial sectors in the energy transition.
The bigger competitive question remains Saipem’s planned combination with Norway’s Subsea 7. Reuters has reported that the all-share deal would create Saipem7, with a combined backlog of about 43 billion euros and revenue of around 20 billion euros, putting it more squarely against large offshore engineering rivals including TechnipFMC.
But the risk side is real. Saipem management has warned that a prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz could delay critical components, disrupt logistics and raise inflation pressures, even though it said the Middle East conflict had not had a material negative impact in the first quarter. The Subsea 7 deal also faces regulatory scrutiny, with Reuters reporting last year that Exxon Mobil, Petrobras and TechnipFMC had asked Brazil’s antitrust regulator to examine the transaction.
For now, the market is not treating Saipem as a broken trade. It is treating it as a crowded one: a stock with better cash flow, a deep backlog and broker targets still above the screen price, but also a one-year gain large enough to make every wobble matter.
