New York, Feb 23, 2026, 07:18 EST — Premarket
- Transocean shares hovered near flat in premarket action, following a roughly 2.5% gain at Friday’s close.
- Contract backlog climbed to around $6.1 billion after a recent fleet update.
- Investors size up the proposed all-stock Valaris deal and scrutinize 2026 guidance.
Transocean Ltd barely budged in premarket trading Monday. The stock closed out Friday at $6.52, a 2.5% gain, as investors pored over the offshore driller’s recent backlog numbers and projections for 2026.
Transocean is looking to reassure investors about the strength of its cash flow, despite hefty interest expenses and ongoing talks for a potential merger with Valaris. For the first quarter, the company sees contract drilling revenue coming in between $1.02 billion and $1.05 billion. Full-year revenue, according to its guidance, should land somewhere in the $3.80 billion to $3.95 billion range.
Last week’s quarterly fleet status update revealed roughly $610 million in new backlog from 10 additional fixtures, pushing total backlog up to around $6.1 billion as of Feb. 19. Some of the latest awards featured dayrates that topped $400,000.
Transocean’s fourth-quarter numbers showed contract drilling revenue at $1.043 billion, a 1.5% increase from the previous quarter. Cash from operating activities jumped 42% to $349 million. Net income attributable to controlling interest came in at $25 million.
The company posted adjusted EBITDA of $385 million for the quarter, with an adjusted EBITDA margin hitting 36.8%, the filing showed. That figure strips out interest, taxes and a few other items to highlight core cash earnings.
Transocean’s contract drilling revenue for the year climbed to $3.965 billion, up from $3.524 billion last year. The company logged a net loss attributable to controlling interest of $2.915 billion, hit mainly by impairment charges and related items. Adjusted net income, though, came in at $37 million.
Transocean’s contract backlog refers to the highest contractual operating dayrate times the number of days left in the firm contract period. It’s an imperfect measure of revenue that’s technically “booked” but not locked in.
Earlier this month, the company revealed it had secured roughly $184 million in firm backlog for two harsh-environment rigs operating in Norway. That includes an extension for the Transocean Encourage, which is slated to begin in the first quarter of 2027.
The main weight on the stock remains the Valaris acquisition. On Feb. 9, Transocean announced plans to acquire Valaris in an all-stock deal worth $5.8 billion. CEO Keelan Adamson, speaking on a conference call, said: “We know that our debt level negatively impacts our equity value. This transaction addresses that.” Reuters
Optimism hasn’t been universal on Wall Street. Last week, Barclays cut its rating on Transocean to “Equalweight” from “Overweight” but bumped its price target up to $6. Shares have been hovering close to a 52-week high, about $6.57. Investing
Still, the risks are clear enough. Transocean is looking at about $480 million in interest costs for 2026, and offshore drilling demand isn’t exactly stable—it drops fast if oil prices ease or clients pause projects. As for the merger, both regulatory and shareholder sign-offs remain hurdles before anything is finalized.
Traders are eyeing upcoming merger filings to nail down the approval timeline, and they’re also waiting to see if new contract wins appear soon. Zacks lists Transocean’s next earnings report for April 27.
