Tidewater has reported its financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2026.
Tidewater posted Q1 2026 revenues of US$326.2 million, compared with US$333.4 million for the three months ended March 31, 2025. The company's net income for the three months ended March 31, 2026, was US$6.1 million (US$0.12 per common share), compared with net income of US$42.7 million (US$0.83 per common share) for the three months ended March 31, 2025.
"The first quarter of 2026 exceeded our expectations across all key financial and operational measures, with revenue, gross margin, day rate and utilisation all outperforming," Quintin Kneen, Tidewater’s President and Chief Executive Officer, commented.
"Revenue for the quarter came in at US$326.2 million and we generated a gross margin of 48.8 per cent, a slight improvement over the fourth quarter of 2025. We continued to benefit from stronger than anticipated vessel up-time, which is a continued testament to our company-wide focus on operational excellence and a product of the significant investments we’ve made over the last few years into the fleet."
Day rate increased in the first quarter, improving nearly $240 per day, bolstered by a particularly tight AHTS market in the North Sea. Kneen said this is notable as the first quarter typically represents the slowest quarter of the year due to seasonality with activity typically picking up in the second and third quarter, particularly in regions like the North Sea.
"We view this dynamic as indicative of a market that has tightened earlier than normal as rigs mobilise to pursue new projects and tightening offshore vessel supply. Further, term contract fixtures appear to have reached an inflection point in the first quarter with our weighted average term contract day rate increasing for the first time since the second quarter of 2025."
Kneen remarked that, during the first quarter, Operation Epic Fury commenced in the Middle East, one of Tidewater's principal operating regions.
"To date, we have not experienced any disruptions in activity due to the conflict; in fact we experienced higher than anticipated utilisation during the first quarter. However, late in the quarter, after the conflict commenced, we did experience higher than anticipated costs associated with the conflict, particularly as it relates to insurance and the costs of our crews in the region.
"We anticipate that this elevated level of operating expense to persist until such time the conflict is resolved."
Kneen remarked that uncertainty remains at a macro level as to how the conflict in the Middle East is ultimately resolved.
"However, we believe that the outlook for offshore vessel activity has fundamentally improved over the past quarter. In addition to prior expectations of offshore demand building into the back half of 2026 and into 2027, the global energy equation is being reshaped through the conflict in the Middle East and is likely to have long-term implications.
"We anticipate that energy security, particularly access to localised sources of energy, along with the need to replace existing production and depleted inventories, should drive incremental activity beyond what was anticipated prior to the conflict in the Middle East. It is clear that commodity prices will likely remain at a more constructive level to provide support for this activity."