MeritValue

SEADRILL Ltd

SDRLdata completeness 88%7 fiscal years on file
The thesis, from the filings

SEADRILL Ltd earns about -5% on invested capital, and has bought back 35% of its shares over 5 years. The cash-flow models don't apply cleanly here — the ledger says why below.Whether it’s worth owning at today’s price is the last question — and yours to answer, below.

i. The business — what you’d actually own
FigureFY 2020FY 2021FY 2023FY 2024FY 2025
Revenue$605M1$663M2$1.15B3$1.01B3$1.09B3
Net income−$4.66B4−$587M4$300M5$446M5−$77M5
Operating cash flow−$420M6−$154M7$287M8$88M8−$28M8
Capital expenditure$137M9$84M9———
Free cash flow (derived)−$557M6−$238M7———
Total debt$11.3B10$011$1.22B12$1.22B13$1.23B13
Cash & equivalents$491M14$293M15$697M16$478M17$339M17
Diluted shares100.0M100.0M74.0M71.0M65.0M

Superscripts are receipts. Each links to the SEC filing the number came from (full list at the bottom).

ii. Your slice — ownership made literal
If you owned
shares
Net assets behind them
$439.69
your share of equity
Profit it earned you last year
−$11.85
Free cash flow it threw off
—
Debt you’d be carrying
$188.62

10 shares is a claim on $439.69 of net worth that earned you −$11.85 last year, against $188.62 of debt.

iii. Is this a good business?
Moat signal · return on invested capital
-5% avg · 5y
FY20 -41%FY21 —FY23 10%FY24 11%FY25 0%

It earned an average -5% on invested capital over 5 years. Compare that to what it costs to fund the business.

seeing a moat in the numbers →
Management signal · capital allocation
−35% shares · 5y

Share count is down 35% over 5 years — management has been buying back stock, quietly handing owners a bigger slice. Total debt has fallen 89% — deleveraging.

reading capital allocation →

Signals, not verdicts — read from the filings above. Numbers don’t prove a moat; they show its footprint. You decide.

iv. What it’s worth — engine v0.1.0
DCF · Growth Exit 10Y
not applicable
3y-median FCF non-positive — growth-exit DCF not applicable (see EPV)
DCF · Growth Exit 5Y
not applicable
3y-median FCF non-positive — growth-exit DCF not applicable (see EPV)
Earnings Power Value
not applicable
normalized (5y-median) earnings non-positive — EPV undefined
Graham Number
not applicable
diluted EPS missing or non-positive — Graham Number undefined

Different models answer different questions — which to trust when →

Sources — the receipts
  1. 20-F · period ending 2020-12-31 · accession 0001628280-23-011980 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  2. 20-F · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001628280-24-013140 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  3. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001737706-26-000010 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  4. 20-F · period ending 2020-12-31 · accession 0001628280-23-011980 (NetIncomeLoss)
  5. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001737706-26-000010 (NetIncomeLoss)
  6. 20-F · period ending 2020-12-31 · accession 0001628280-23-011980 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  7. 20-F · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001628280-24-013140 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  8. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001737706-26-000010 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  9. 20-F · period ending 2020-12-31 · accession 0001628280-23-011980 (PaymentsToAcquireProductiveAssets)
  10. 20-F · period ending 2020-12-31 · accession 0001628280-21-005121 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  11. 20-F · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001628280-23-011980 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  12. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001628280-25-008662 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  13. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001737706-26-000010 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  14. 20-F · period ending 2020-12-31 · accession 0001628280-22-011225 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  15. 20-F · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001628280-24-013140 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  16. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001628280-25-008662 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  17. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001737706-26-000010 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)