RIG vs SDRL: Which Is the Better Buy in 2026?

Same yardstick, side by side (as of November 2026). Valuation lined up like this is most meaningful for two names in the same corner of the market, which these are. Figures are approximate; verify before investing.

Reading it: SDRL is the cheaper of the two on forward earnings, but cheaper is not the same as better. Pair the valuation with growth (how far the forward P/E sits below the trailing P/E) and risk (beta) before you decide.

The metrics above tell you which is the marginally better business. The bigger risk for most people is not picking the slightly worse stock, it is over-concentrating. RIG and SDRL share themes, so owning both, or adding either to what you already hold, can quietly push a large share of your portfolio into one bet.

This is the part a generic comparison page cannot answer, because it depends on what you own. Connect your brokerage and Walnut shows your real, combined RIG and SDRL exposure, flags overlap with your existing positions, and tells you if adding one would tip you past a concentration you are comfortable with, read-only by default, with your login staying at your broker. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

Transocean Ltd. (NYSE: RIG) is a leading international provider of offshore contract drilling services, operating one of the highest-specification floating rig fleets in the world. Its fleet of roughly 27 mobile offshore drilling units is concentrated in ultra-deepwater drillships and harsh-environment semisubmersibles, and it contracts these rigs to major oil and gas operators in regions such as Brazil, the US Gulf, Norway, Australia, and the Eastern Mediterranean. Revenue is driven by dayrates (the price per day a rig earns) and utilization, both of which have recovered sharply from the last downcycle as leading-edge ultra-deepwater dayrates have pushed toward and above $500,000 per day.

Full RIG guide

Seadrill owns and operates offshore drilling rigs and hires them out to exploration and production companies under multi-well or multi-year contracts. The fleet is concentrated in the high-specification end of the market: seventh-generation ultra-deepwater drillships plus harsh-environment semi-submersibles, working mainly in Brazil, the US Gulf, and West Africa, with Petrobras, ExxonMobil, and other majors as the counterparties, plus a growing presence in Southeast Asia. Seadrill does not own the oil it helps find. It sells rig days, so a contract states a dayrate (the fee per day the rig is under contract) and a duration, and revenue is essentially dayrate times contracted days times how much of that time the rig actually operates. Economic utilization ran around 94.6% in early 2026, which is the operational half of the equation. The company also manages rigs for third parties and has periodically bought and sold units rather than building new ones, since a newbuild drillship costs several hundred million dollars and takes years to deliver.

Full SDRL guide

Both fit overlapping themes, but they are not interchangeable. The useful comparison is which set of drivers and risks you want exposure to.

• RIG drivers: Offshore drilling upcycle and dayrates; Backlog conversion and rising visibility.
• SDRL drivers: Backlog conversion and replacement; Ultra-deepwater dayrates.

A faster-growing, richer-valued name usually swings harder, so it suits a longer horizon and a higher tolerance for volatility; a steadier, more cash-generative business suits a more conservative or income-minded investor. The honest test is which set of risks you could hold through a drawdown: Transocean is a high-beta, capital-intensive cyclical whose fortunes track oil prices and offshore capex, both of which can reverse quickly. For SDRL, offshore drilling is one of the most cyclical businesses in energy, and customer capital budgets are set annually, so a soft oil strip can push a tender out by quarters.

Growth-minded investors who believe the theme has years to run tend to accept the richer multiple for more upside; value-minded investors lean toward the cheaper forward earnings and steadier profile. Pick RIG if you believe its drivers more; SDRL if you believe its. Many investors hold both, but since they share themes, that is a concentrated bet, not diversification. Decide deliberately and check overlap. For the full detail, see the RIG and SDRL guides.

RIG. As of October 16, 2026, Transocean's ~$6.25 billion equity value sits on top of ~$5.1 billion of debt, so enterprise value is far larger than the market cap; on that basis the stock trades near 6.9x trailing EBITDA of ~$1.57 billion and about 0.75x book value. Trailing P/E is not meaningful because of the Q3 2025 loss, and consensus EPS of ~$0.16 for 2026 and ~$0.29 for 2027 puts the forward P/E near 19x. The pending Valaris combination will reshape all of these figures once it closes.

SDRL. Seadrill screens on EV/EBITDA rather than trailing earnings, because heavy depreciation on a drillship fleet kept GAAP net income near zero over the past year; at about 8x trailing EBITDA and roughly 1.0x book, the market is paying for the 2027 contract coverage rather than for current profit. Analysts expect about $3.39 of EPS in 2027, which is where the ~13.8x forward P/E comes from, and the nine-analyst mean target is about $54 against a $46.74 close. Third-quarter results are due November 3, 2026, with consensus at about $0.12 of EPS on roughly $381 million of revenue.

Headline figures (approximate, October 2026): RIG shows share price ~$5.59 (Oct 16, 2026), market cap ~$6.25 billion, revenue (ttm) ~$4.12 billion, q2 2026 net income ~$170 million (adj. EPS $0.03 vs ~$0.01 est.); SDRL shows revenue (ttm) ~$1.48 billion; Q2 2026 ~$449 million, up ~19% year on year, net income ~$29 million in Q2 2026; ~$1 million TTM, eps (q2 2026) $0.47 vs ~$0.28 consensus, margins (ttm) ~35% gross, ~17% operating.

RIG and SDRL are related but distinct: same themes, different businesses and risks. Neither wins in the abstract; the right pick is whichever thesis you actually believe, sized so you are not over-concentrated in one theme. Walnut can show your combined RIG and SDRL exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.