Oceaneering International (OII) Telefonkonferenz zu den Ergebnissen des 3. Quartals 2026: EBITDA erreicht 119 Mio. USD, Ausblick für 2027 gegeben

Oceaneering International (NYSE: OII) verzeichnete für das dritte Quartal 2026 einen höheren Umsatz sowie ein gestiegenes bereinigtes EBITDA, unterstützt durch die Preisgestaltung im Bereich Subsea Robotics, Vermessungsaktivitäten und einen vorteilhaften Offshore-Projektmix. Ein Verlust im Zusammenhang mit einer Refinanzierung schmälerte den ausgewiesenen Nettogewinn, während ein starker operativer Cashflow und verschobene Investitionsausgaben den freien Cashflow des Quartals anhob.

Wichtigste Erkenntnisse

• Der Umsatz im dritten Quartal stieg im Jahresvergleich um 6 % auf 785 Mio. US-Dollar, das Betriebsergebnis legte um 7 % auf 92 Mio. US-Dollar zu und das bereinigte EBITDA wuchs um 7 % auf 119 Mio. US-Dollar – der höchste Quartalswert seit Q4 2015.
• Der auf Oceaneering entfallende Nettogewinn ging um 26 % auf 52,6 Mio. US-Dollar bzw. 0,52 US-Dollar je Aktie zurück, was in erster Linie auf einen einmaligen Verlust im Zusammenhang mit der Refinanzierung langfristiger Verbindlichkeiten zurückzuführen ist.
• Der Bereich Subsea Robotics erwirtschaftete einen Umsatz von 233 Mio. US-Dollar und ein Betriebsergebnis von 75,4 Mio. US-Dollar. Die EBITDA-Marge erreichte 39 % – der höchste Wert seit der Neugliederung der Geschäftsbereiche von Oceaneering im Jahr 2020.
• Der operative Cashflow belief sich auf 163 Mio. US-Dollar und der freie Cashflow erreichte 142 Mio. US-Dollar. Oceaneering schloss das Quartal mit liquiden Mitteln von 735 Mio. US-Dollar, einer Gesamtliquidität von mehr als 1 Mrd. US-Dollar und ohne Inanspruchnahme von revolvierenden Kreditfazilitäten ab.
• Das Management erwartet für Q4 2026 ein konsolidiertes EBITDA von 85 Mio. bis 95 Mio. US-Dollar, wobei höhere Ertragsteuerzahlungen und Investitionsausgaben den freien Cashflow dämpfen dürften.
• Die erste Prognose für 2027 sieht ein konsolidiertes EBITDA von 430 Mio. bis 480 Mio. US-Dollar und einen freien Cashflow über dem erwarteten Niveau von 2026 vor. Das Management gab an, dass die Spanne in erster Linie zeitliche Unsicherheiten bei den Aktivitäten in den Bereichen Subsea Robotics, AdTech und der Offshore Projects Group widerspiegelt.

Wichtige Finanzdaten

Geschäfts- und operative Entwicklung

Subsea Robotics

Der Bereich Subsea Robotics (SSR) erzielte einen höheren Umsatz und ein höheres Betriebsergebnis. Der Umsatz lag bei 233 Mio. US-Dollar und das Betriebsergebnis bei 75,4 Mio. US-Dollar. Der durchschnittliche ROV-Umsatz pro Auslastungstag stieg von 11.254 US-Dollar auf 11.781 US-Dollar, während die Flottenauslastung unverändert bei 65 % lag.

Die EBITDA-Marge von 39 % spiegelte eine bessere ROV-Preisgestaltung in Europa, Westafrika und Norwegen, eine erhöhte Vermessungsaktivität sowie eine einmalige vertragliche Kostenerstattung im Zusammenhang mit Aktivitäten im US-Golf wider. Höhere Aktivitäten in Europa, Guyana und Westafrika glichen die geringere Aktivität im US-Golf aus.

Oceaneering sicherte sich ROV- und Vermessungsaufträge im Wert von rund 180 Mio. US-Dollar in mehreren Regionen mit Laufzeiten bis ins Jahr 2031. Zum Quartalsende verfügte das Unternehmen über ROV-Verträge auf 80 von 136 unter Vertrag stehenden schwimmenden Bohranlagen, was einem Marktanteil von 59 % entspricht. Die Flotte verblieb unverändert bei 250 ROV-Systemen.

Manufactured Products

Der Umsatz im Bereich Manufactured Products stieg um 8 %, während das Betriebsergebnis mit 25,1 Mio. US-Dollar nahezu unverändert blieb. Die operative Marge ging leicht auf 15 % zurück, was in erster Linie auf eine geringere Aktivität und Rentabilität bei Grayloc-Produkten im Vergleich zu einem besonders starken Vorjahresquartal zurückzuführen ist.

Der Auftragsbestand zum Quartalsende belief sich auf 435 Mio. US-Dollar, unterstützt durch Neuaufträge im Wert von rund 160 Mio. US-Dollar. Das Book-to-Bill-Verhältnis der letzten 12 Monate lag bei 0,77. Das Management hielt an seiner Erwartung für ein Ganzjahresverhältnis von 0,9 bis 1,0 fest, basierend auf den jüngsten Auftragseingängen und der Vertriebspipeline.

Offshore Projects Group und IMDS

Umsatz, Betriebsergebnis und Marge der Offshore Projects Group blieben nahezu unverändert. Im Laufe des Quartals abgeschlossene internationale Installationsarbeiten glichen die geringere Aktivität in Westafrika und einen weniger vorteilhaften Projektmix im US-Golf aus.

Der Umsatz von Integrity Management and Digital Solutions stieg um 7 %, während Betriebsergebnis und Marge nahezu unverändert blieben. Höhere Aktivitäten im Nahen Osten, in Europa und im US-Golf wurden teilweise durch schwächere Aktivitäten in Westafrika, Veränderungen im Projektmix und gestiegene Kosten im Nahen Osten ausgeglichen.

Aerospace and Defense Technologies

Der AdTech-Umsatz stieg um 7 % auf 135 Mio. US-Dollar, da ein zuvor angekündigtes Großprogramm den vollständigen Personalbestand für seine aktuelle Phase erreichte. Das Betriebsergebnis sank um 11 % auf 14,7 Mio. US-Dollar und die operative Marge fiel auf 11 %, was teilweise auf gestiegene durchlaufende Posten zurückzuführen ist.

Das Segment sicherte sich Folgeaufträge für zwei Programme der U.S. Navy. Das Dry-Dock-Shelter-Programm hat einen potenziellen Wert von 154 Mio. US-Dollar über fünf Jahre, während der Vertrag für das U-Boot-Rettungssystem einen potenziellen Wert von 67 Mio. US-Dollar über 18 Monate aufweist.

Prognose des Managements

Für Q4 2026 erwartet das Management einen Anstieg des konsolidierten Umsatzes im Jahresvergleich und ein bereinigtes EBITDA in einer Spanne von 85 Mio. bis 95 Mio. US-Dollar. Die nicht zugewiesenen Aufwendungen werden auf rund 50 Mio. US-Dollar geschätzt.

Nach Segmenten erwartet das Management:

• SSR: Höherer Umsatz durch verbesserte ROV-Erlöse pro Auslastungstag und gesteigerte Vermessungsaktivitäten, jedoch ein geringeres Betriebsergebnis aufgrund des geografischen Mixes, Mobilisierungskosten durch die Verlegung von Bohranlagen aus dem US-Golf und einen höheren Anteil an Vermessungsarbeiten mit geringerer Marge.
• Manufactured Products: Höherer Umsatz und höheres Betriebsergebnis.
• OPG: Nahezu unveränderter Umsatz und geringeres Betriebsergebnis aufgrund des Projektmixes, des Abschlusses eines internationalen Interventionsprojekts aus dem Vorjahr und Arbeiten im US-Golf mit geringerer Marge.
• IMDS: Höherer Umsatz und höheres Betriebsergebnis.
• AdTech: Höherer Umsatz und höheres Betriebsergebnis.

Für 2027 gab Oceaneering eine erste Prognose für das konsolidierte EBITDA von 430 Mio. bis 480 Mio. US-Dollar ab. Der freie Cashflow soll das für 2026 erwartete Niveau übertreffen.

Das Management erwartet höhere Umsätze und Betriebsergebnisse bei SSR bei stabilen EBITDA-Margen, unterstützt durch eine höhere ROV-Auslastung, eine ähnliche Preisgestaltung und verbesserte Ergebnisse bei Vermessungen und Werkzeugen. Für Manufactured Products wird eine weitgehend unveränderte Entwicklung prognostiziert. Der OPG-Umsatz dürfte sinken, während das Betriebsergebnis unverändert bleibt und sich die Marge verbessert. Für IMDS und AdTech wird jeweils ein höherer Umsatz, ein deutlich höheres Betriebsergebnis und eine verbesserte Marge erwartet.

Das Unternehmen plant zudem, die Aktienrückkäufe im Jahr 2027 fortzusetzen, wobei aus der bestehenden Ermächtigung noch rund 5 Millionen Aktien verbleiben.

Risiken und Beobachtungspunkte

• Laut Management liegt die Hauptunsicherheit beim Ausblick für 2027 im zeitlichen Verlauf. Die Verlegung von Bohranlagen, die Investitionsbudgets der Kunden und die Terminierung von OPG-Projekten könnten die erwarteten Aktivitätssteigerungen verzögern.
• Eine Vorläufige Haushaltsführung (Continuing Resolution) und Unsicherheiten bezüglich der US-Haushaltsmittel könnten den Start neuer AdTech-Programme verlangsamen, obwohl das Management darauf hinwies, dass bestehende Arbeiten im Allgemeinen besser abgesichert sind.
• Es wird erwartet, dass sich der freie Cashflow in Q4 abschwächt, da die Ertragsteuerzahlungen und Investitionsausgaben steigen.
• SSR sieht sich kurzfristig mit Mobilisierungskosten und Druck durch den geografischen Mix konfrontiert, da Bohranlagen vom US-Golf in andere Regionen verlegt werden.
• Das Management bezeichnete die rückläufige Aktivität im US-Golf als zu beobachtenden Bereich, während Wachstumschancen in Brasilien, Guyana, Mosambik und anderen Teilen Afrikas erwartet werden.

Wichtigste Erkenntnisse aus der Fragerunde für Analysten

Das Management gab an, dass die zeitliche Abfolge bei SSR, die Starts von AdTech-Programmen und internationale Chancen bei OPG den Großteil der Spanne von 50 Mio. US-Dollar in der EBITDA-Prognose für 2027 ausmachen. Das untere Ende spiegelt keine Änderung der positiven Einschätzung des Managements für den Tiefwasserbereich wider; es zeigt hauptsächlich Vorsicht hinsichtlich des Zeitpunkts wider, zu dem die Ausgaben der Kunden und die Bohraktivitäten einsetzen.

Bei der Kapitalallokation beabsichtigt Oceaneering, weiterhin in seine Kerngeschäfte im Energiebereich zu investieren, einschließlich Fernsteuerungsoperationen, Unterwasserinspektionen und Digital-Twin-Technologie. Im Bereich AdTech würde das Management Übernahmen in Erwägung ziehen, die Bearbeitungskapazitäten, Fachkräfte, Elektronik- oder Sensortechnologien umfassen, die bestehende Rüstungsprogramme ergänzen. Das Zahlen überhöhter Multiplikatoren lediglich zum Erwerb von Glaubwürdigkeit am Markt schloss das Management aus.

Das Management identifizierte Brasilien, Guyana und Afrika – einschließlich Mosambik und Westafrika – als wesentliche potenzielle Wachstumsregionen. Es nannte zudem Chancen im östlichen Mittelmeer, vor der Küste Ägyptens und in Norwegen, insbesondere für Unterwasser-Anbindungen (Subsea Tiebacks) und Installationsarbeiten.

Die Inflation wurde nicht als wesentlicher aktueller Hemmschuh beschrieben. Das Management erklärte, dass vertragliche Wertsicherungsklauseln, Preisanpassungen, operative Effizienzsteigerungen und Fernsteuerungsoperationen dazu beigetragen haben, den Druck bei Komponenten- und Personalkosten zu mildern.

Vollständiges Transkript der Telefonkonferenz zu den Quartalszahlen

Vollständiges Transkript der Telefonkonferenz

Ausführungen des Managements

Operator

Welcome to Oceaneering International 2026 Results Conference Call. Today's call is being webcast, and a replay will be available on our website. With me today are Rod Larson, President and Chief Executive Officer, who will provide our prepared comments; and Mike Sumruld, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. After Rob's remarks, we will open the call up to your questions. Before we begin, please note that statements made on this call about our future financial performance, business strategy, plans for future operations and industry conditions are forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Our remarks also include non-GAAP financial measures. Additional details and reconciliations to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures are included in our third quarter press release, which is available on our website. With that, I'll turn the call over to Rod.

Roderick Larson

Good morning, everybody, and thanks for joining the call today. As Hilary mentioned, I'm going to be handling all of our prepared remarks today, so Mike is saving his voice for all of your math questions, so be ready. Our third quarter performance demonstrates the earnings potential of our portfolio and favorable pricing activity and project mix alone. Consolidated adjusted EBITDA was $119 million, in line with our guidance and our highest quarterly level since the fourth quarter of 2015. These results reflect solid performance in Subsea Robotics or SSR; resilience in the offshore projects group for OPG; and improvement in integrity management and digital solutions, IMDS. Highlights from the quarter include: SSR delivered increased revenue, operating income and EBITDA margin with the latter reaching its highest level since we resegmented our businesses in 2020.

We also won approximately $180 million of RM and survey contracts across multiple regions with contract terms extending into 2031. OPG saw sustained demand for its higher revenue services with a favorable mix of installation projects contributing to third quarter performance. Manufactured products secured awards of approximately $160 million during the quarter, supporting our expectation for stronger order intake in the second half of the year. And Aerospace and Defense Technologies or AdTech, secured follow-on contracts for 2 strategically important U.S. Navy programs. Drydock shelters and submarine rescue systems. The drydock shelter contract and program we have supported for over 20 years has a total potential value of $154 million over 5 years. While the summary and rescue system contract has a potential value of $67 million over 18 months.

Today, I'll focus my comments on our third quarter 2020 results, our outlook for the fourth quarter of 2026 and our initial guidance for 2027. Starting with our consolidated results for the third quarter of 2026 compared to the third quarter of 2025. We delivered revenue of $785 million, a 6% increase with growth across every operating segment, operating income of $92 million, a 7% increase and adjusted EBITDA of $119 million, also a 7% improvement. Net income attributable to Oceaneering was $52.6 million or $0.52 per share a decrease of 26%. The decrease was primarily attributable to a onetime loss related to the refinancing of our long-term debt completed during the third quarter. Adjusted EBITDA increased 7% to $119 million.

Turning to our cash flow and liquidity. We generated $163 million of cash from operating activities. Capital expenditures were $21.1 million with approximately 31% allocated to growth and 69% allocated to maintenance. This investment was less than anticipated largely due to timing with most of the deferred spending now expected in the fourth quarter. Free cash flow was $142 million, reflecting strong third quarter results as well as lower cash taxes and deferred capital expenditures. We expect both cash taxes and the capital expenditures to increase in the fourth quarter, resulting in more moderate free cash flow generation to close the year. During the quarter, we also repurchased shares of approximately $5 million with a focus on mitigating dilution associated with employee equity rates. And we ended the quarter with a cash balance of $735 million, total liquidity of more than $1 billion and no borrowings under our revolving credit facility.

Now let's look at our business operations by segment for the third quarter of 2026 also compared to the third quarter of 2025. SSR delivered revenue of $233 million and operating income of $75.4 million, both higher year-over-year. These results benefited from improved ROV pricing with average revenue per day utilized decreasing to $11,781 from $11,254 as well as higher survey activity. SSR EBITDA margin improved to 39%, primarily driven by ROV pricing improvements in Europe, West Africa and Norway. Increased survey activity and a onetime contractual cost recovery related to U.S. golf operations also contributed to higher margins. ROV fleet utilization remained stable at 65% as higher activity levels in Europe, Guyana and West Africa largely offset lower activity in the U.S. Gulf.

For the quarter, the revenue split between our ROV business and our combined tooling and survey businesses as a percentage of our total SSR revenue was 75% and 25% and compared to 77% and 23% in the third quarter of 2025. ROV days utilized grew 62%, while vessel-based services were 38% compared to 63% and 37%, respectively, in the prior year quarter. As of September 30, 2026, we had ROV contracts on 80 of the 136 floating rigs under contract or 59% market share. We maintained our fleet count of 250 ROV systems. Manufactured Products generated operating income of $25.1 million, relatively flat with the prior year quarter, while operating income margin decreased slightly to 15% on an 8% increase in revenue. These results were impacted by the final resolution of a legacy mobility solutions contract including recognition of the previously unresolved contract value.

The decline in operating income margin was primarily due to lower gray lock products activity and profitability following a particularly profitable quarter in the prior year quarter. Our backlog as of September 30, 2026, was $435 million and was largely sustained by order intake during the quarter of $160 million. Our book-to-bill ratio was 0.77 for the trailing 12-month period. Based on these recent bookings, together with our sales funnel, we remain confident in our ability to achieve a full year book-to-bill ratio of 0.9 to 1.0.

OPG revenue, operating income and operating income margin were relatively flat. Results benefited from international installation projects they concluded during the quarter, which more than offset lower activity in West Africa and a less favorable project mix in the U.S. Gulf. IMDS revenue increased 7%, while operating income and operating income margin were relatively flat, reflecting increased activity in the Middle East, Europe and the U.S. Gulf, which was partially offset by lower activity in West Africa, the changing project mix and increased costs for the Middle East. AdTech revenue increased 7% to $135 million as our previously announced large-scale program reached its full staffing levels for its current phase. Operating income decreased by 11% to $14.7 million, and operating income margin decreased to 11% due to increases in pass-through activities during the quarter and increases in [indiscernible] Unallocated expenses of $50 million were consistent with our guidance for the quarter.

Turning to our outlook for the fourth quarter of 2026 compared to the fourth quarter of 2025. We expect consolidated revenue to increase year-over-year and consolidated EBITDA to be in the range of $85 million to $95 million. By segment, for SSR, we expect revenue to increase, supported by higher ROV revenue per day utilized and increased survey activity. Operating income is expected to decrease due to changes in ROV geographic mix, additional mobilization costs as rigs relocate from the U.S. Gulf to other regions and a greater mix of lower-margin survey activity. For Manufactured Products, we anticipate higher revenue and operating income. For OPG, we expect revenue to remain relatively flat and operating income to decrease due to changes in product mix, including the completion of an international intervention project that benefited the prior year quarter and a shift to lower margin work in the U.S. Gulf. For IMDS, we anticipate higher revenue and operating income. For AdTech, we expect both revenue and operating income to be higher. We project unallocated expenses to be in the $50 million range.

Now I'll discuss our initial outlook for 2027. Looking ahead to 2027, the outlook for global deepwater markets remains constructive, with industry forecasts pointing to higher spending and activity. Floating rate activity is expected to strengthen over the course of the year as rigs complete transit to new regions and begin drilling programs. These trends provide a favorable backdrop as we established in our initial 2027 guidance. The U.S. defense environment also remains supportive, particularly across subsea programs. However, the continuing resolution and uncertain timing of appropriations process could affect the timing of program activity within AdTech. These industry conditions support our expectations for improved performance in 2027. As we announced yesterday, we are initiating consolidated EBITDA guidance in the range of $430 million to $480 million, with free cash flow expected to exceed our anticipated 2026 level.

At the segment level compared to the full year of 2026, for SSR, we expect that higher ROV utilization levels and similar pricing levels, together with improved results in survey and tooling while generating increases in revenue and operating income and stable EBITDA margins. For Manufacturing Products, revenue, operating income and operating margin are projected to be relatively flat. For OPG, we expect revenue to decrease operating income to be flat and operating margin to improve due to changes in project mix and similar utilization levels in the U.S. Gulf. For IMDS, we expect increased revenue to significantly increase operating income and improved operating margin. For AdTech, we expect significantly higher revenue and operating income and improved operating margin. We expect a slight increase in unallocated expenses.

We also plan to continue share repurchases in 2027 with approximately 5 million shares remaining under our existing repurchase authorization. As we move through the planning cycle and our customers finalize their 2027 budgets, we expect to gain greater visibility into activity levels and the timing of opportunities across our businesses. We will provide more detailed guidance for 2027 during the year-end reporting process.

In summary, we remain focused on executing through the remainder of 2026, while positioning the business for opportunities we see developing in 2027. Our priorities remain disciplined execution, cash generation, and maintaining financial flexibility to support our longer-term objectives. Thanks for your continued interest in Oceaneering we'll now be happy to take your questions.

Operator

[Operator Instructions] Your first question comes from the line of Eddie Kim with Barclays.

Fragen und Antworten

Eddie Kim

Just wanted to touch on the preliminary 2027 EBITDA guidance of $430 million to $480 million, which spans a fairly wide range there. Just curious which 2 or 3 of the -- are the largest operational assumptions separating the low end from the high end there? And which segments account for most of that $50 million spread?

Roderick Larson

I think it's the normal. The normal character, Eddie. I mean, we've got as always, SSR has got some of that based on like we've got the rate moves this year and we've got some of those things that are a little bit timing based. I think that's a part of it. Some of them will be AdTech, like we said, because we talked about some of these programs, when do the programs kick off, how does appropriations work out in some of the continuing resolutions, so if it gets resolved sooner, that brings things forward in the area, and it gives us more opportunity in the area, could push us back a little bit. It brings us to the lower end of the range. And then finally, OPG. OPG has got room to pick up more international opportunities. And I think actually, probably, if I think about OPG, it drives us to the higher end of the range. If we can put more things in that bucket, which we don't resolve some of that between now and when we report next month. I think OPG could bring more goodness to the mix as well. So I think those are the typical ones. I don't expect a big change in manufactured products because that's long lead-time stuff. And I wouldn't expect a whole lot of change in IMDS just because of the relative scale.

Edward Kim

Got it. Understood. I just wanted to touch on -- I mean, the low end of that range, $430 million doesn't represent that big of an increase over 2026, which is surprising just in light of the strong growth you're expecting to see in ad tech next year, it almost implies sort of a flattish trajectory in the energy segment, which is almost counter to kind of the constructive outlook in the offshore inflection that's expected next year. So just -- I mean does the low end of that guidance imply spending slowing down? Is that based on customer conversations you're having? Or an assumption that oil prices are going to be substantially less next year than they are now. Just any more color on kind of that low end of the guidance would be great.

Roderick Larson

I think it's mostly timing, Eddie. I mean, I think everybody thinks that things are constructive, they expect some of these pickups throughout the year next year. We just have to -- we have to make sure that we're not overstating when it starts. I think that's always the trick here is a lot of times we get the story right, but we get the timing wrong. And so we're a little bit cautious on how fast some of these things will come to fruition when they start spending. It's more about that. I think we really we truly believe that the thesis is right. The expectation for the macros is right. We're just being a little bit cautious because like I said, rigs will be moving. Some of the other projects for OPG are being contemplated, but they haven't been hard scheduled, so some of that stuff. Some of that stuff is what we're -- I think it's more of the timing.

Mike, would you add anything?

Michael Sumruld

Yes, I think it's early days, too, right? I mean this is only October. I think as we start to wrap up the year or talk to our customers, they solidify their CapEx budgets, and we start to see what's happening with the rate movement, that could change. It's just -- it's a little early.

Operator

Your next question comes from the line of Keith Beckmann with Pickering Energy Partners.

Keith Beckmann

Obviously, we had -- with the refinancing that's completed kind of during the summer and maybe the significant net cash position you guys have here, right? I mean how are you guys thinking about capital deployment heading into 2027? And maybe more specifically within ad tech, I mean, what are what's maybe an example of kind of a business that could make sense from an M&A perspective versus something that doesn't if you guys went that route? And then maybe how are you weighing that against buybacks.

Roderick Larson

Sure. Keith, I appreciate that question. I mean, you led into that. I think capital deployment. We expect to continue to make investments in our core energy businesses. There may be even some opportunity to bolt on some technology some things that we can be a little disruptive with in the energy side on that side of the business. But on the AdTech side, it is a lot of focus around, are there some inorganic Opportunities, some acquisitions that make sense. I would say the things that make sense are things that are normally valued, right? Things like machining capacity or workforce capacity that we can bring to bear on the sub safe programs we work on, the new submarine build, things like that, that we could say we can use our certifications to bring them up to government specs faster.

And so that these are things that you would pay sort of normal amounts for and then be able to add value through our competencies. So I think those things make sense. I think when we're working on some of the more highly technical vehicle tank programs, we could be looking at some of our partners, some of the people that work as subcontractors for us or bring a unique piece of technology to the mix, whether that's more electronics or a different type of sensor technology or something like that. I think those are things that are kind of nichey maybe or a little bit bigger than nichey that make sense. What doesn't make sense is us -- I mean we've got an established brand. I don't think we need to go buy one of the big super -- what I consider overvalued flashy names just to try to buy credibility with the customer.

I don't think we need to go into that ridiculous multiple range to try to get a foot in the door. We're already there. We've got one of the strongest operational reputations in the business. They know we've been here. I mean some people forget that we've been in that government business. We're a 60-year-old company. We've been on the government side more than 40 years, so it's not like we're new to the game. We don't need to buy presence.

Keith Beckmann

Okay. Perfect. And then my second question is maybe any more color we can get around kind of the ongoing continuing resolution going on, right, with the government spending. So I'm just trying to get a sense on the potential range of outcomes for 2027, like what could be more of the low end versus the high end? And I guess, more specifically, like those awards would still be there, it's more of a function of timing rather than actually things going away. Is that the right way to think about it, right? Just kind of when things start -- sorry, I'll turn it over.

Roderick Larson

Yes, that's exactly -- and it's really the sensitivity is more on new project starts, right, continuing resolution means if you you're doing, you get to continue doing it. So I think a lot of those things, we've got a pretty good support from nearly all the awards we're doing. Some of the newer things we've won could get slowed down. On the other hand, I will say, while there's always this risk. I mean right now, I feel better about what we're hearing coming off the hill and what we're hearing about a potential resolution for a defense spending bill, for example, it seems like even for an election year, people aren't really keen to get a defense bill in place, probably not surprising given the geopolitical climate, but I'm not as worried about the defense portion of that. I think there really is a lot of cooperation going on, so I remain quite optimistic that while it's an unknown out there, and we do think it's appropriate to call caution to it or call attention to it, I do feel like we've probably got better information coming back to us than we have in past years.

Operator

Your next question comes from the line of Colby Sasso with Daniel Energy Partners.

Colby Sasso

Just on thinking about '27. Could you talk about where you see the most growth from a geographical standpoint next year?

Roderick Larson

Sure. I think it's -- a lot of it is Brazil. Of course, we still see growing we see Guyana growing to Africa. I mean, we see opportunities in the rest of Africa. I think those are good. One of the things we call out is the Gulf of Mexico. It's just -- the Gulf of Mexico already is going down. We got to see how much resilience the Gulf of Mexico has -- and that's why that we'd be keeping around. Mike, what else would you call on? .

Michael Sumruld

I think what rest of Africa is a good one, Mozambique seeing a lot of activity, working back in, again, all across West Africa. It's a challenging base to learn, but we've done work there for years and years and got some more mind of there as well.

Roderick Larson

Yes. I mean, I don't know that everybody realizes, but could have as much drilling activity as Guyana within a year or 2, so.

Colby Sasso

And just another follow-up. How are you thinking about inflation across your supply chain? And this is dragging on margins at all today? And if so, how long will this take to ultimately push through your customer base? And could it potentially be a tailwind for margins in '27?

Roderick Larson

I don't -- I can't call that out as a huge factor. Colby. I mean, most of it -- where we see the biggest part of it, it's been manufactured products, obviously, and especially with some of the bigger components that go into an umbilical. Those things are almost always price adjusted or cost adjusted into the price. Those we are covered on the same product, I mean, same -- in the same bid. So that's not such a big one. It would be the biggest impact of it, if it weren't. And then the rest of it is within -- it's got within our reach. I mean we're able to mitigate a lot of it. For example, what shows up in R&M in the ROV business. We can mitigate that just by being more efficient, being more careful about where we're buying things, how we're sending them around the world. I think that's -- the mitigations have been pretty effective.

Labor rates are always probably the thing that we're most sensitive to, and so I would say that the customers are pretty good about recovering labor rates because they value their crews. If they like the people who work for them, they are very well -- I think there they're very well aware of what's going on in the labor market because they have to deal with it to some degree as well. And so getting adjustments for labor rates has been pretty effective so far. So I can't hang a lot of things off on that, although the more efficient we get, the smarter we get operating the business, all of those things can help us get the cost reductions to make us more competitive.

Michael Sumruld

Yes, the escalation cost is under contracts really help on the labor side plus the more we do from a remote operating perspective, I think, also reduces our footprint and our cost. I think we just haven't had a major issue that I can tell from inflation right now so I don't not overly concerned about it.

Operator

[Operator Instructions] Your next question comes from the line of James West with Melius Research.

Unknown Analyst

Rod, you talked about Ghana growing other Africa growing was highlighted as well. What are you seeing outside of Brazil, Africa, maybe a little bit of Gulf of Mexico. What about Mediterranean offshore North Africa, what are you guys seeing in those regions of the world? Just this gas, heavy areas where gas is just becoming a much more important product these days. Just curious your thoughts there.

Roderick Larson

I think the Eastern man definitely is still a lot of opportunity kind of tempered a little bit by activity or by that geopolitical situation over there. But there's still a lot of a lot of interest. I mean you've got E&I working over there on the Chevron projects others. So I think that's one that's got a lot of upside potential to your point. One of our really good products was offshore Egypt. So we had a great installation project there this year, and I think we see opportunity for more of that kind of work. So yes, the Med's an interesting one. We don't call it out because it's a little more -- I would call it a little more sporadic, but it could be meaningful, for sure.

Yes. And then Norway is always an interesting one. Norway is persistent. And so as Equinor starts to find things, we see -- the other thing we see from Norway is the potential for a lot of subsea tiebacks. They've talked about improving seismic resolution through AI, and that can light up some spots and existing fields that make really good opportunities for subsea tiebacks. We love those because we can do a full installation project there and provide the umbilical and a lot of engineering. So I think the more we see tiebacks in the near future, which again, if we have a continued strong commodity price, tieback are one of those things that's easiest to get on the budget. So that could affect Norway for sure. But if that becomes sort of a greater interest, it definitely could affect the independence of the Gulf of American.

Unknown Analyst

Okay. Okay. Got it. Very helpful. And then maybe follow-up question, not necessarily related to that. But how are you thinking about capital allocation on your oil and gas business versus your military business, which has been growing because there's kind of capital cycles -- upside capital cycle was happening in both areas right now. And so you've got a, I would think kind of balance where you see the best returns, but I'm kind of curious how you're thinking about that.

Roderick Larson

I think there's still opportunities. When we talk about -- Mike mentioned earlier in one of the questions about more remote work, being able to do more remote work being able to do work differently, actually things that we could do that improve the efficiency of both the work we do and the customers' work. I mean there's a chance to be a little disruptive with technology. And so I think investments in the energy side are going to make sense. We're going to find things that make a lot of economic sense, both from their value stand-alone but also from the value they bring to protecting our core, right, things that we enhance RV operations with that make us even stronger within those pieces of the business are really makes sense.

Subsea inspection -- let me use that one as an example. Doing more and more digital twin modeling and building a digital twin from ROV video and then using that to devise a risk-based inspection program for subsea assets as we try to keep subsea assets going longer, tying back more things to existing infrastructure, stuff like that, keeping TMPs running longer. I mean all of these things require more inspection while in service. And the more of that we can do with technology. And of course, there's a lot of really cool technology out there that can be levered here. I think that's the kind of stuff that really does warrant continued investment inside the energy business.

Operator

There are no further questions at this time. I will now turn the call back to Rod Larson for closing remarks.

Roderick Larson

Well, since there are no more questions, I'll just wrap up by thanking everybody for joining the call. This concludes our third quarter 2026 conference call.

Operator

Thank you for attending. You may now disconnect.