Tidewater: “Third quarter came in above our expectations”
Written by Marine Log Staff
Tidewater president & CEO Quintin Kneen: “ “We are pleased with yet another quarter of robust earnings and cash flow generation.”[Photo: Tidewater]
The world’s largest operator of offshore service vessels, Houston-headquartered Tidewater Inc. (NYSE:TDW), reported revenue for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2025 of $341.1 million and $1,016.0 million, respectively, compared with $340.4 million and $1,000.8 million, respectively, for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024. However, the company reported a net loss for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2025, was $(0.8) million ($0.02 per common share) and $114.8 million ($2.27 per common share), respectively, compared with net income of $46.4 million ($0.87 per common share) and $143.8 million ($2.70 per common share), respectively, for the three and nine months endeed September 30, 2024. Net Income was adversely impacted by the $27.1 million loss on early extinguishment of debt associated with the company’s July 2025 refinancing.
“The third quarter of 2025 came in above our expectations as vessel up-time across the fleet exceeded our initial estimates, delivering revenue of $341.1 million and gross margin of 48.0%,” said Quintin Kneen, Tidewater’s president and CEO. “Average day rates for the quarter softened modestly driven by the North Sea and West Africa, consistent with our expectations, however, we did see meaningful day rate increases in our other reporting segments. Importantly, through a combination of better than anticipated vessel up-time and continued strength in production support, offshore construction and subsea and EPCI activities for offshore vessels, sequential active utilization increased in all but one of our operating segments, yielding our best active utilization since the second quarter of 2024. The increase in the active utilization of our vessels was driven by resilience in the broad-based set of support activities for our vessels and the benefits realized from the substantial investments made in the fleet over the past few years. We are pleased with yet another quarter of robust earnings and cash flow generation, with Adjusted EBITDA of $137.9 million and free cash flow of $82.7 million.
“We entered 2025 with a lack of clarity as to how the next phase of offshore activity would unfold, particularly as it related to the pace of offshore drilling. Global macroeconomic and geopolitical factors were prominent themes influencing the outlook. These factors and the associated uncertainty played out throughout the year, but we have been able to maintain the midpoint of our full-year revenue and margin guidance throughout the year, a testament to the resilience of our business. For the remainder of 2025, we are narrowing our 2025 revenue guidance to $1.33 to $1.35 billion and our full-year margin guidance to 49% to 50%. As of today, 99% of our full-year revenue guidance is covered by completed and contracted revenue.
“Looking forward to 2026, the factors that influenced the market in 2025 continue and provide a challenging backdrop to accurately anticipate the pace and order of magnitude of offshore drilling activity. Tidewater remains in an advantageous position in that we benefit from a range of activities that drive our business – production support, offshore construction support, subsea and EPCI support, and drilling support, along with renewable energy projects. We believe this broad-based set of demand drivers provides insulation from the uncertainty in drilling support activity, although drilling support remains a critical component to our ability to push day rates and utilization to their highest possible levels. Further, we fundamentally believe that the drivers for offshore activity remain compelling, as evidenced by the continued momentum in commercial activity for offshore drilling rigs. Accordingly, we are initiating full-year 2026 revenue guidance of $1.32 to $1.37 billion and full-year 2026 margin guidance of 48% to 50%. Although visibility into the timing of incremental drilling projects in the back half of 2026 remains somewhat unclear, we are comfortable initiating guidance given the visibility and confidence we have in the growing production, offshore construction, subsea and EPCI activities. To the extent that a more robust drilling recovery develops towards the end of the year, it would increase our full-year expectations.
“We have made great strides this year in our vessel up-time performance, enhancing our operational effectiveness and the earnings capability of our fleet. The impact of this is significant for both our customers and our shareholders. Best-in-class operational standards will continue to accrue benefits to Tidewater as we move forward, and I would like to thank our onshore and offshore staff for their continued focus on operational excellence. The dedication and diligence driving this outcome is what makes Tidewater the safest, most sustainable, most reliable, most profitable, highest specification offshore energy support vessel fleet in the world.”
