Danaos Q1 2026 Earnings Report

Danaos EPS Results

• Actual EPS: $6.72
• Consensus EPS: $5.86
• Beat/Miss: Beat by +$0.86
• One Year Ago EPS: N/A

Danaos Revenue Results

• Actual Revenue: $253.70 million
• Expected Revenue: $242.20 million
• Beat/Miss: Beat by +$11.50 million
• YoY Revenue Growth: N/A

Danaos Announcement Details

• Quarter: Q1 2026
• Date: 5/11/2026
• Time: After Market Closes
• Conference Call Date: Tuesday, May 12, 2026
• Conference Call Time: 9:00AM ET

Danaos (NYSE:DAC) (NYSE: DAC) is a Greek-based owner and operator of containerships. The company provides marine transportation services by chartering its vessels to major container-shipping companies, which use them to transport manufactured goods, commodities and other cargo on international trade routes.

Founded in 1972, Danaos has developed a globally deployed fleet serving the liner shipping industry. Its vessels operate across major maritime regions and support container trade between Asia, Europe, North America and other international markets. The company’s activities are focused primarily on vessel ownership, chartering and related ship-management operations.

Danaos is headquartered in Piraeus, Greece, one of the world’s leading maritime centers. The company is led by Chief Executive Officer and Chairman Dr. John Coustas, who has been associated with Danaos and the broader shipping industry for decades.

Danaos Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

Key Takeaways

• Positive Sentiment: Danaos delivered stronger first-quarter results, with adjusted EPS rising to $6.72 from $6.04 a year ago and adjusted EBITDA increasing 5.2% to $180.6 million. Management said the improvement was driven by higher dry bulk earnings, lower operating expenses, and stronger interest income.
• Positive Sentiment: The dry bulk business improved sharply, with spot-market time charter equivalent earnings averaging about $24,825 per day versus roughly $10,500 per day in the prior-year quarter. Management also said the dry bulk market has continued to strengthen, supporting a more optimistic outlook.
• Positive Sentiment: The company expanded its fleet and backlog, ordering four Newcastlemax vessels for 2028 delivery and two 5,000 TEU containerships for 2027 delivery, both backed by three-year charters. Danaos said its pro forma fleet and chartered assets now support a $4.1 billion contracted revenue backlog.
• Neutral Sentiment: Balance sheet liquidity remains strong, with $0.9 billion of cash and $1.3 billion of total liquidity, while net debt was only $170 million and net debt-to-EBITDA was 0.2x. The company also noted that 67 of 86 vessels are unencumbered and debt-free.
• Neutral Sentiment: Capital return remains active but more cautious, as Danaos declared a $0.09 per share dividend and still has $65 million remaining under its buyback authorization. Management said it remains constructive on the stock but is being more cautious about repurchases after the share price’s strong run.

Presentation

[Operator]

Good day, welcome to Danaos Corporation Conference Call to discuss the financial results for the three-month ended March 31st, 2026. As a reminder, today's call is being recorded. Hosting the call today is Dr. John Coustas, Chief Executive Officer of Danaos Corporation, and Mr. Evangelos Chatzis, Chief Financial Officer of Danaos Corporation. Dr. Coustas and Mr. Chatzis will be making some introductory comments, and we will be open the call for question and answer session.

[Evangelos Chatzis, CFO at Danaos Corporation]

Thank you, operator. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. Before we begin, I quickly want to remind everyone that management remarks this morning may contain certain forward-looking statements and that actual results could differ materially from those projected today. These forward-looking statements are made as of today, and we undertake no obligation to update them. Factors that might affect future results are discussed in our filings with the SEC, and we encourage you to review these detailed safe harbor and risk factor disclosures. Please also note that where we feel appropriate, we will continue to refer to non-GAAP financial measures such as EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Net Income, time charter equivalent revenues, and time charter equivalent dollars per day to evaluate our business. The reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures to GAAP financial measures are included in our earnings release and accompanying materials.

[Evangelos Chatzis, CFO at Danaos Corporation]

With that, let me now turn over the call to Dr. John Coustas, who will provide the broad overview of the quarter. John.

[John Coustas, CEO at Danaos Corporation]

Thank you, Evangelos. Good morning, and thank you all for joining today's call to discuss our results for the first quarter of 2026. This quarter was shaped by the unprecedented events in the Gulf and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a situation that is still unfolding, but which we hope will be resolved in the coming weeks. The disruption has primarily benefited the tanker sector, where rates spiked sharply before quickly normalizing. In the container sector, the disruption helped stabilize and lift certain box rates. However, it did not have a significant effect. Two of our vessels currently remain in the Gulf, but this does not affect our earnings as both vessels continue to be on charter. The dry bulk market has improved considerably and continues to strengthen.

[John Coustas, CEO at Danaos Corporation]

Our optimistic outlook for this market prompted us to expand our order book to four Newcastlemaxes for 2028 delivery. We also ordered two 5,000 TEU containerships for 2027 delivery, both of which are backed by three-year charters. Together with charter arrangements for our existing fleet, these additions position us with a pro forma fleet of 104 containerships and 15 Capesize and Newcastlemax vessels with a $4.1 billion contracted revenue backlog. Combined with $1.3 billion of liquidity, this positions us to continue pursuing accretive opportunities as they arise. Resolution of the conflicts in the Gulf and Ukraine should bring meaningful stability for years to come, absent new initiatives by the major global powers. Last year's developments demonstrated that globalization remains resilient and that protectionism is likely to be the exception rather than the rule going forward.

[John Coustas, CEO at Danaos Corporation]

Trade is becoming increasingly multilateral, which benefits the mid-sized containership segment in which we are actively investing. Together with a disciplined expansion strategy, we believe these dynamics will continue to drive improved profitability and create value for our shareholders. With that, I hand over the call back to Evangelos, who will take you through the financials for the quarter. Evangelos.

[Evangelos Chatzis, CFO at Danaos Corporation]

Thank you, John, and good morning again to everyone. I will briefly review the results for the quarter and then open the call to Q&A. We are reporting Adjusted EPS for this quarter of $6.72 per share or adjusted net income of $122.5 million, compared to Adjusted EPS of $6.04 per share or adjusted net income of $113.4 million for the corresponding first quarter of 2025.

[Evangelos Chatzis, CFO at Danaos Corporation]

This $9.1 million increase in adjusted net income between the two quarters is the combined result of a $0.4 million increase in operating revenues, a $4.4 million improvement in total operating expenses, a $2.4 million improvement in net finance expenses, combined with a $2 million increase in dividend income, partially offset by a $0.1 million increase in loss on equity investments. Operating revenues of our containership fleet decreased by $6.6 million as a result of a $6.9 million decrease in revenues due to lower contracted charter rates and the $7.2 million decrease due to lower non-cash US GAAP revenue recognition accounting.

[Evangelos Chatzis, CFO at Danaos Corporation]

These were partially offset by a 3.9 million increase in revenues as a result of new building containership vessel additions and 3.6 million of incremental revenues as a result of improved container fleet utilization between the two quarters. Operating revenues of our dry bulk fleet that is deployed in the spot market increased by $7 million, primarily due to a significant improvement in time charter equivalent earnings that averaged $24,825 per day during this quarter compared to $10,500 approximately per day for the first quarter of 2025. Vessel operating expenses dropped by $1.7 million to 50 million in the current quarter from $51.7 million in the first quarter of 2025, despite the increase in the average number of vessels in our fleet.

[Evangelos Chatzis, CFO at Danaos Corporation]

This improvement was mainly driven by lower repairs and maintenance expenses, with our daily operating costs declining to $6,680 per vessel per day for this quarter compared to $7,028 per vessel per day in the first quarter of 2025. Our operating costs continue to remain among the most competitive in the industry. G&A expenses increased by $2.4 million to $14.6 million in the current quarter compared to $12.2 million in the corresponding first quarter of 2025. This is mainly attributable to $1.3 million in higher management fees driven by the increase in the average number of vessels in our fleet, as well as a $1.1 million increase in corporate G&A.

[Evangelos Chatzis, CFO at Danaos Corporation]

Interest expense, excluding finance costs and debt, finance cost amortization increased by $1.7 million to 10.9 million in the current quarter compared to $9.2 million in the first quarter of last year. This increase is a combined result of a four and a half million increase in interest expense due to higher average indebtedness between the two periods by $330 million, and that was partially offset by a reduction in the cost of debt service by approximately 50 basis points, mainly as a result of reduced SOFR rates. We also have a $2.8 million reduction in interest expense due to higher capitalized interest on vessels under construction between the two periods.

[Evangelos Chatzis, CFO at Danaos Corporation]

At the same time, interest income came in at $7.6 million versus 3.6 million in the corresponding first quarter of 2025, mainly due to higher average cash balances. Adjusted EBITDA increased by 5.2% or by $8.9 million to 180.6 million in the current quarter from $171.7 million in the first quarter of 2025 for the reasons that have already been outlined earlier on this call. We also encourage you to review our updated investor presentation that is posted on our website, as well as all subsequent events disclosures. Since the date of our last earnings release, we have added $120 million to our contracted revenue backlog.

[Evangelos Chatzis, CFO at Danaos Corporation]

Our contract revenue backlog for our containership fleet now stands at $4.1 billion, with a 4.2-year average charter duration. Contract coverage stands at 100% for this year or the remainder of this year, 88% for 2027, and 65% for 2028. Our investor presentation has analytical disclosure on our contracted charter book. As of March 31, 2026, our net debt stood at $170 million. That translates to a net debt to Adjusted EBITDA ratio of 0.2x, while 67 out of our 86 vessels are unencumbered and debt-free, while an extra 12 unencumbered vessels that secure our revolving credit facility are also debt-free.

[Evangelos Chatzis, CFO at Danaos Corporation]

We have declared a dividend of $0.09 per share for this quarter, and we currently have $65 million remaining authority to repurchase stock under our $300 million Share Repurchase Program. Finally, as of the end of the first quarter of 2026, cash stood at $0.9 billion, while total liquidity, including availability under our revolving credit facility and marketable securities, stood at $1.3 billion, giving us ample flexibility to pursue accretive capital deployment opportunities. With that, I would like to thank you for listening to this first part of our call. Operator, we are now ready to open the call to Q&A.

[Operator]

Thank you. We will now begin the question and answer session. To ask a question, you may press star one on your touch tone phone. If you're using a speakerphone, please pick up your handset before pressing the keys. If at any time your question has been addressed and you would like to withdraw your question, please press star two. At this time, we will pause momentarily to assemble our roster. Our first question comes from Omar Nokta with Clarksons. Please go ahead.

[Omar Nokta, Analyst at Clarksons]

Thank you. Hi, John and Evangelos. Good afternoon.

[Evangelos Chatzis, CFO at Danaos Corporation]

Hi.

[Omar Nokta, Analyst at Clarksons]

A couple of things.

[John Coustas, CEO at Danaos Corporation]

Welcome back.

[Omar Nokta, Analyst at Clarksons]

Thank you, sir. Thank you. Just a couple of things on my side. Just wanted to ask about investments from here, your last couple of investments outside of your core focus seem to be in LNG, both in, you know, the, in the stake in Yoda. You also invested in the Alaska LNG project earlier this year. Is this a concerted effort on your part to get a bit deeper into LNG? Should we be expecting more of this type of investment going forward?

[John Coustas, CEO at Danaos Corporation]

Yes. I think in general, the energy sector is, let's say, our next point of focus. As we see geopolitically, there are a lot of changes in that area. We are following it very closely, and we try to address it from every angle, both from the angle of transportation and also from the angle of LNG production itself, which is going to give us an access to the transportation as well.

[Omar Nokta, Analyst at Clarksons]

Okay, got it. Well, that's helpful. Thank you. Then just maybe in terms of what we're seeing in the container shipping market, your revenue backlog is at $4.1 billion, which is obviously, you know, very strong historically. It is a little bit down from where you were last quarter, which I think was $4.3 billion. In general, you know, it looks like backlog additions maybe have been a bit leaner this, you know, these past couple of months, even though we are seeing indexes for, you know, the time charter indexes being at all-time highs or near all-time highs. What are you seeing kind of at the moment or in terms of liner interest for more charter coverage from here?

[John Coustas, CEO at Danaos Corporation]

You know, from what you see from the profile, practically all 2026 and 2027 are almost fixed. We have very, very little, you know, going forward. Also for liner companies to start discussing from now about, you know, 2028, let's say ships might be a bit premature, especially for second-hand. You know, I don't think really it signifies anything else. Apart from that, we have been really fixing quite a lot in this period of time, and it's just circumstantial.

[Omar Nokta, Analyst at Clarksons]

Okay. Yeah, that certainly makes sense. There's just Nothing's available to be booked in the next several quarters. Okay, maybe just one final one. You know, thoughts on the share buyback. You've obviously historically been quite, you know, active on that front. You bought a bit during the first quarter, not at the same pace we've seen, at least in the fourth quarter. I guess that sort of makes sense given the shares have really been hitting, you know, 52-week highs seemingly every week. How are you thinking about the buyback from here? I guess in the context of maybe two things. One, you know, the shares are obviously at their highs. How do you think about the buyback from that perspective?

[Omar Nokta, Analyst at Clarksons]

Also from the perspective of, you know, asset value, on NAV basis, it's discounted, and then perhaps on a free cash flow yield, the yield is quite high. How are you thinking about those two things with respect to the buyback?

[John Coustas, CEO at Danaos Corporation]

Well, you know, we still have the authority for another.

[Evangelos Chatzis, CFO at Danaos Corporation]

$65 million.

[John Coustas, CEO at Danaos Corporation]

$65 million. We are keeping closely. I mean, the stock has done a terrific run, you know, in the last, you know, few months. We are at kind of all-time high. Although, you know, we still believe that, you know, the stock is deeply undervalued, we are kind of more cautious into, you know, continuing, you know, during this hype to continue the buyback.

[Omar Nokta, Analyst at Clarksons]

Okay. That's fair. Cool. Well, thank you for that color, John. Thanks, Evangelos. I'll pass it back.

[John Coustas, CEO at Danaos Corporation]

Thank you.

[Operator]

Thank you. Our next question come from Climent Molins with Value Investor. Please go ahead.

[Climent Molins, Analyst at Value Investor]

Hi, good afternoon, and thank you for taking my questions. Omar has already covered a lot of ground, but I wanted to ask about the utilization on the capesize side of the fleet. Could you talk a bit about the drivers behind the significant scheduled offhire for the quarter? Was it mostly drydockings? Secondly, could you remind us about the drydocking schedule on this side of the fleet for the remainder of the year?

[Evangelos Chatzis, CFO at Danaos Corporation]

Yes. It was two vessels that went to drydock in Q1. I don't have it offhand, but I don't think we have any more scheduled vessels on the dry side to head to the shipyard for the remainder of this year.

[Climent Molins, Analyst at Value Investor]

Okay, that's helpful. All the offhire days were attributable to these two vessels?

[Evangelos Chatzis, CFO at Danaos Corporation]

Sorry, say again?

[Climent Molins, Analyst at Value Investor]

I was asking if all the offhire days in Q1 were attributable to the drydocking you conducted?

[Evangelos Chatzis, CFO at Danaos Corporation]

Yes. Correct.

[Climent Molins, Analyst at Value Investor]

Okay. Okay, that's very helpful. Thank you. I'll turn it over. Thank you for taking my questions.

[Operator]

Thank you. It appears we have no further question at this time. I would like to turn the call back over to Dr. Coustas for any further comments or closing remarks.

[John Coustas, CEO at Danaos Corporation]

Thank you all for joining this conference call and your continued interest in our story. Look forward to hosting you on our next earnings call. Have a nice day.

[Operator]

Thank you. The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.

Participants

Executives

• Evangelos Chatzis, CFO
• John Coustas, CEO

Analysts

• Climent Molins, Analyst at Value Investor
• Omar Nokta, Analyst at Clarksons