Q2 2026 Noble Corporation PLC Earnings Call Transcript
Key Points
- Noble Corp PLC (NE) secured two new contracts, adding approximately $200 million in backlog, including a six-well contract for Noble Viking and a three-well contract for Noble Claus Bachmann at $320,000 per day.
- Global UDW floater demand remains strong with 95% contracted utilization of the marketed fleet, and open demand outside Brazil is 20% higher than two years ago.
- Day rates are trending higher, with recent fixtures in the mid-$400,000s per day, supported by firming market conditions and tight supply.
- The company completed a successful debt refinancing in June, issuing $800 million in new notes at 6.25% due 2034, unlocking $35 million in annual cash benefits.
- Management is optimistic about a meaningful earnings inflection by the second half of 2027, driven by contract start-ups and promising opportunities for available rigs.
- Second-quarter adjusted EBITDA was adversely impacted by $43 million due to an operational suspension of two rigs in Brazil, leading to revised full-year guidance.
- Full-year 2026 adjusted EBITDA guidance was reduced to $850 million-$925 million from $940 million-$1.02 billion, driven by revenue headwinds from Brazil rigs and contract swaps.
- The Noble Stanley Lafosse contract ended earlier than expected in January 2027 instead of July 2027, reducing future backlog.
- UDW demand in South America declined to 41 units from 44 six months ago, primarily due to Petrobras' activity reduction in Brazil.
- The US Gulf of Mexico market softened to 19 rigs from 21 six months ago, with limited near-term activity expected to keep rig counts in the high teens.
Hello, everyone. Thank you for joining us, and welcome to the Noble Corp. second-quarter 2026 earnings call. After today's prepared remarks, we will host a question-and-answer session. (Operator Instructions)
I will now hand the conference over to Ian MacPherson, Vice President of Investor Relations. Ian, please go ahead.
Thank you, operator, and welcome, everyone, to Noble Corporation's second-quarter 2026 earnings conference call. You can find a copy of our earnings report, along with the supporting statements and schedules, on our website at noblecorp.com. We will reference an earnings presentation that's posted on the Investor Relations page of our website.
Today's call will feature prepared remarks from our President and CEO, Robert Eifler; as well as our CFO, Richard Barker. We also have with us Blake Denton, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Contracts; as well as Joey Kawaja, Senior Vice President of Operations.
During the course of this call, we
| Access to All Earning Calls and Stock Analysis | |
| 30-Year Financial on one screen | |
| All-in-one Stock Screener with unlimited filters | |
| Customizable Stock Dashboard | |
| Real Time Insider Trading Transactions | |
| 8,000+ Institutional investors’ 13F holdings | |
| Powerful Excel Add-in and Google sheets Add-on | |
| All data downloadable | |
| Quick customer support | |
| And much more... |
Trustpilot
We'd love to learn more about your experiences on GuruFocus.com and how we can improve!
Take Survey
