Transocean (NYSE:RIG), an offshore drilling contractor, closed Monday at $5.71, up 5.94%. The stock climbed during Monday’s regular session as investors reacted to the announced all-stock acquisition of Valaris and are now watching execution on cost synergies and backlog growth. Trading volume reached 179 million shares, about 391% above its three-month average of 36.5 million shares. Transocean IPO’d in 1993 and has fallen 48% since going public.
How the markets moved today
The S&P 500 added 0.45% to finish Monday at 6,963, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.90% to close at 23,239. Within oil & gas drilling, industry peers Noble closed at $41.86 (+6.79%) and Seadrill finished at $41.18 (+3.21%) as investors weighed offshore demand and fleet positioning.
What this means for investors
Leading offshore driller Transocean announced its intent to acquire Valaris in an all-stock, $5.8 billion acquisition today. Transocean shares rose 6% on the news, while Valaris stock spiked 34%. By adding Valaris, Transocean’s drillship count grows from 20 to 33, its semi-submergible total increases from 7 to 9, and it adds 31 jackups — it previously had zero.
This diversifies the company’s fleet geographically, while the jackups give it new shallow-water exposure, creating a well-rounded drilling enterprise. Management expects $200 million in synergies from this deal, but investors will want to monitor. Combined, the companies will have an enterprise value of roughly $17 billion, EBITDA of roughly $2 billion, and a $10 billion backlog, making this an intriguing acquisition to note if nothing else.
Should you buy stock in Transocean right now?
Before you buy stock in Transocean, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Transocean wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004… if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $443,299!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005… if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,136,601!*
Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 914% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 195% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors.
See the 10 stocks »
*Stock Advisor returns as of February 9, 2026.
Josh Kohn-Lindquist has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Noble Plc and Transocean. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
