Transocean upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays

Barclays upgraded Transocean (RIG) to Overweight from Equal Weight with an unchanged price target of $4.50. The offshore drilling sector has underperformed from a series of downward earnings revisions as offshore tenders slowed, day-rates softened and now several drillers face “white space” in their calendars, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm says Transocean, however, has its entire fleet of deepwater rigs contracted out to 2026, discounting a day-rate of only $430,000 per day in the outer years. It expects contracting to pick up again in late 2025 as a wave of deepwater developments begin combined with increasing exploration activity.