Danaos Corporation (NYSE:DAC ) Q2 2025 Earnings Conference Call August 5, 2025 9:00 AM ET Company Participants Evangelos Chatzis - VP, CFO, Treasurer & Secretary John Koustas - Chairman, President & CEO Conference Call Participants Climent Molins - Unidentified Company Value Investor's Edge - Unidentified Company Omar Mostafa Nokta - Jefferies LLC, Research Division Operator Good day, and welcome to the Danaos Corporation Conference Call to discuss the financial results for the 3 months ending June 30, 2025. As a reminder, today's call is being recorded.
Danaos (DAC) came out with quarterly earnings of $6.36 per share, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $6.52 per share. This compares to earnings of $6.78 per share a year ago.
Occidental Petroleum Corporation is heavily U.S. and Permian-focused, lacking both true diversification and pure-play shale status compared to peers. The company's main operational upside lies in Enhanced Oil Recovery, or EOR, using carbon capture, which benefits from lucrative tax credits. Direct Air Capture, or DAC, is a costly, inefficient carbon capture method; cheaper, scalable alternatives exist, making Oxy's heavy DAC investment questionable.
Danaos is well-positioned in a challenging shipping market due to its low leverage, strong balance sheet, and focus on sub-12,000 TEU vessels. Long-term charters and a diversified customer base insulate DAC from near-term market volatility and provide stable cash flows through at least 2027. Elevated scrapping activity, environmental regulations, and DAC's modern fleet should drive long-term competitive advantages as older ships exit the market.
Danaos trades at less than half of book value despite having minimal net debt, with strong earnings visibility through 2028 due to $3.7 billion of contracted revenues. Danaos has recently become more aggressive with share repurchases, buying back over $50 million through May 14th of this year, ~5% of the float! The containership market has strengthened significantly lately, providing Danaos a great opportunity to further contract out 2026 and 2027 when their newbuilds hit the water.
Danaos maintains a well-diversified fleet of vessels, with at most 23% of the vessels belonging to a single class. Hapag-Lloyd and PIL are Danaos' main clients, but they represent only 18% of contracts in each case. Danaos will embark on a fleet expansion that will increase capacity by 128,220 TEUs by 2028.
Danaos Corporation broke a six-quarter streak of missing EPS estimates, ending Q4 2024 with a 41 bps beat and a yield above 4.7%. Despite volatile trading and tariff uncertainties, DAC's fundamentals remain strong with significant revenue growth, fleet expansion, and a $3.4 billion charter backlog. DAC's financial strength, including $671 million in current assets against $169 million in short-term liabilities, makes it a safe-haven investment amidst potential trade disruptions.
Danaos trades at 2.8x forward PE ratio, mirroring broader industry challenges, but ignoring its contracted revenue business model that shields it from short-term maritime industry volatility. A strong balance sheet with low debt, and fleet expansion and modernization with eco-friendly vessels, secures DAC's future. DAC's low valuation, growth potential, dividends, and share buybacks present a compelling opportunity for different investment strategies.
Danaos Corporation (NYSE:DAC ) Q4 2024 Earnings Conference Call February 11, 2025 9:00 AM ET Company Participants Evangelos Chatzis - Chief Financial Officer John Coustas - Chief Executive Officer Conference Call Participants Omar Nokta - Jefferies Clement Mullins - Value Investors Edge Operator Good day and welcome to the Danaos Corporation Conference Call to discuss the Financial Results for the Three Months ended December 31, 2024. As a reminder today's call is being recorded.
Danaos (DAC) doesn't possess the right combination of the two key ingredients for a likely earnings beat in its upcoming report. Get prepared with the key expectations.
Danaos Corporation owns 73 containerships and is expanding with 16 more ships under construction. Danaos is diversifying into drybulk with 10 vessels and a position in SBLK. The stock is undervalued given strong free cash flow generation and minimal net debt.
Here is how Danaos (DAC) and Global Ship Lease (GSL) have performed compared to their sector so far this year.