Seadrill Limited (NYSE: SDRL) is a global offshore drilling contractor focused on helping oil and gas operators unlock resources—particularly in deepwater and other technically demanding environments. The company’s core business model is contract drilling: customers (including major international oil companies, national oil companies/state enterprises, and independent producers) contract Seadrill’s offshore ...Seadrill Limited (NYSE: SDRL) is a global offshore drilling contractor focused on helping oil and gas operators unlock resources—particularly in deepwater and other technically demanding environments. The company’s core business model is contract drilling: customers (including major international oil companies, national oil companies/state enterprises, and independent producers) contract Seadrill’s offshore drilling units for exploration and production programs. Revenue and margins are therefore closely tied to day rates, utilization of the fleet, contract terms, and the prevailing offshore drilling cycle.
Product/service offering is primarily delivered through its fleet of drilling units. According to the company’s description, operations are organized into three main categories: Harsh Environment, Floaters (including drillships and semi-submersible rigs), and Jack-up rigs. This segmentation reflects both engineering capability and the operating conditions each rig type is designed to handle. In practical terms, the “products” are the deployed rigs and their associated operational capabilities—meeting regulatory requirements and safety/performance expectations while working across shallow to ultra-deep waters and benign to harsh conditions.
Seadrill also provides additional services beyond standalone drilling, including operational support and management services to third parties, including affiliated and independent companies. This can help diversify revenue streams around rig operations, management know-how, and operational expertise, though the scale and performance of those offerings typically remain linked to fleet utilization.
From a cost and BOM perspective, offshore drilling is asset-intensive. The major “inputs” driving cost structure include crew costs, maintenance and upgrades, mobilization/demobilization, consumables, spares, logistics, insurance, and compliance requirements—along with capital expenditures required to sustain and modernize the fleet. Financially, companies in this sector are heavily influenced by depreciation, impairment risk, contract restructuring, and leverage used to finance large capital programs.
As of the information provided, Seadrill had a sizeable workforce (reported as around 3,000 full-time employees in the dataset), and it maintains a worldwide footprint through headquarters/incorporation structure and offshore operations. Key leadership includes CEO Samir Ali (President and Chief Executive Officer per the provided management information).
Investor focus for offshore drillers typically includes fleet quality and survival during market downturns, contract backlog and re-contracting prospects, liquidity and debt management, and safety performance. Seadrill’s stated direction emphasizes building a safer, stronger, smarter offshore drilling company while setting standards in deepwater drilling and aiming to maximize value for shareholders.
YoYYoY means Year-over-Year. It compares the latest annual value with the previous annual value to show long-term trend strength.
QoQQoQ means Quarter-over-Quarter. It compares the latest quarter with the immediately previous quarter to show short-term momentum changes.
RevenueThe total money that came through the front door from selling things, before paying a single bill. Think of it as the grand total of every credit card swipe from customers. (YoY compares this year to last year's performance, while QoQ compares the current three months to the previous three).
$1.4B
+3.8%
+25.4%
Net IncomeThe absolute bottom line. If the company paid every single supplier, employee, banker, and tax collector, this is the actual money left in their pocket at the end of the day.
$-77.0M
-117.3%
+514.3%
Gross MarginThe basic markup. If they sell a $100 pair of sneakers, this percentage tells you how much of that price tag is profit right after paying for the rubber and shoelaces, but before paying for things like store rent or TV commercials.
+12.0%
-43.1%
+175.9%
Operating MarginThe 'day job' efficiency score. Out of every dollar a customer spends, this shows how many cents the company keeps after making the product AND paying for all the everyday corporate overhead (like salaries, marketing, and keeping the lights on).
+4.9%
-83.6%
+129.6%
Net MarginThe final take-home percentage. When you strip away every conceivable cost, tax, and interest payment, this is the exact number of cents the company truly gets to keep from every dollar in sales.
-5.4%
-116.6%
+430.3%
Free Cash FlowThe holy grail of corporate cash. It's the spendable, physical money left over after the business pays for its daily operations AND buys the big, expensive upgrades (like new factories or servers) it needs to survive. This is the 'free' money they can use to pay dividends or buy back stock.
$-138.0M
-100.0%
-325.7%
FCF MarginThe ultimate cash conversion rate. It shows how good the company is at turning regular sales directly into cold, hard, spendable cash. A high percentage means the business is an absolute cash-printing machine.
-9.6%
-92.8%
-239.4%
Debt / EquityThe financial risk gauge. It compares how much of the company's empire was built using borrowed money (loans) versus the owners' own money (shareholders). A high number means they are heavily leveraged and playing a riskier game; a low number means they are playing it safe.
21.4%
+1.3%
+19.5%
Current RatioThe 12-month survival check. It simply compares the cash they have right now (plus things they can quickly turn into cash) against the immediate bills they absolutely must pay this year. A score above 1 means they have enough in the wallet to cover the upcoming bills without panicking.
2.03x
+9.4%
+28.5%
Total AssetsThe absolute size of the company's empire. It bundles together absolutely everything of value they own—from the cash in the register and the inventory in the warehouse, to the software patents in the vault and the factories on the ground.
Operator: Hello, everyone. Thank you for joining us, and welcome to the Seadrill Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Call. [Operator Instructions] I will now hand the conference over to Kevin Smith. Please go ahead.
Kevin Smith: Hello, and welcome to Seadrill's Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Call. I'm Kevin Smith, Vice President of Corporate Finance and Investor Relations, and I'm joined today by Samir Ali, President and Chief Executive Officer; Grant Creed, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer; and Jacob Taylor, Vice President, Commercial. Our call will include forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainty. Actual results may differ materially. No one should assume these forward-looking statements remain valid later in the quarter or year and we assume no obligation to update them, except as required by securities laws. Our filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission provide a more detailed discussion of our forward-looking statements and the risk factors affecting our business. During the call, we will also reference non-GAAP measures. Our earnings release furnished to the SEC and available on our website includes reconciliations with the nearest corresponding GAAP measures. Our use of the term EBITDA on today's call corresponds with the term adjusted EBITDA as defined in our earnings release. I'll now turn the call over to Samir.
Samir Ali: Thank you Kevin. Welcome, everyone. Thank you for joining us. I'll begin with our second quarter highlights, including continued progress against our core priorities and our recent contracting successes. I'll then discuss the market backdrop and regional outlook before turning the call over to Grant to review our financial results and updated full year 2026 guidance. Second quarter financial performance was very strong, exceeding expectations. We delivered EBITDA of $144 million, underpinning our decision to raise full year revenue and EBITDA guidance. This marks our second guidance increase this year. The quarter also reflected continued execution against our core priorities: delivering safe, reliable operations, generating free cash flow and capturing the upside ahead of us. Let's start with our first priority, safe and reliable operations. safe and reliable operations. We delivered another solid quarter, achieving economic utilization of 96%. We also successfully completed the West Tellus reacceptance on schedule and on budget. Seadrill's one team culture met all client expectations, and the rig has been successfully operating since mid-June. This is an important milestone. It marks the second of 3 rigs to roll off legacy day rate contracts and begin generating revenue at substantially higher rates. Safety remains our top priority. We are proud of the progress we've made, but we are never satisfied with standing still. By continuing to invest in training, knowledge sharing and leadership development, we are building an even stronger organization for the future. I want …