Evercore ISI Maintains Sell on Transocean (RIG), But Says Earnings Have Positive Implications

Evercore ISI maintained a Sell rating on Transocean Ltd. (NYSE: RIG) with a price target set at $12, despite earnings showing a positive implication for the stock. 1Q15 report showed an operating EPS of $1.10, which is above the estimate and consensus of $0.65. RIG, has announced plans to reduce expenses by retiring a number of floaters.

Evercore ISI analyst, James West, covered the story, saying, "Over the last few months, Transocean announced plans to retire 19 floaters or more than half of the 35 total announced by the industry to date. This helped lower expenses by 17.3% sequentially to $1,084 million or 5.0% below our estimate, with the company citing its "onshore and offshore cost reduction initiatives including the optimization of maintenance and out-of-service costs, asset disposals, and stacking of rigs." Operationally the beat was also driven by higher-than-expected revenues across all asset classes, as revenue efficiency expanded 60 bps to 96%. We expect RIG to broadly lower its full year 2015 cost guidance on tomorrow's call, which included $4.5-4.7 billion for operating & maintenance expense, $1.0-1.2 billion for D&A, $200-215 million for G&A, and $400-450 million in interest expense."

For an analyst ratings summary and ratings history on Transocean click here. For more ratings news on Transocean click here.

Shares of Transocean closed at $18.99 yesterday.

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