Hornbeck Offshore Services
HOS on NYSE. Helix Energy Solutions sells well intervention, robotics and decommissioning services to offshore energy companies. Market value $1.2bn.
Price checks use the past 12 months to June 2026. Some use the latest annual report instead, as marked. Quality checks use five annual reports, the latest for the year to December 2025.
Capital spending looks too small to be complete, so we leave free cash flow out.
Should I look at this?
Not a fit for our list right now
Why it could be worth it
See Energy stocks that passed both tests
This is not advice. Check the numbers below.
We could not compute this from the filings.
You pay 12.4 years of operating profit for the business. The average large US company costs around 18.
Each dollar kept in the business earns 3 cents a year. Above 10 is good.
Quality score: 60 of 100. Price score: 68 of 100. Our list needs 70 on quality and 60 on price.
$7.85 a share, 28% above its 1-year low
Over the past year the price has ranged from $6.11 to $11.13.
Pays no dividend
Prices from Monday’s close (5 October).
Five years of cash, in billions
| Revenue | |||||
| Revenue | $675m | $873m | $1.3bn | $1.4bn | $1.3bn |
| Operating margin | |||||
| Operating margin | -7.2% | -5.1% | 4.9% | 9.4% | 5.0% |
| Debt to equity | |||||
| Debt to equity | 0.19 | 0.17 | 0.24 | 0.21 | 0.19 |
| Shares outstanding | |||||
| Shares outstanding | 0.15bn | 0.15bn | 0.15bn | 0.15bn | 0.15bn |
Health checks
- Free cash flow positive1 of 1 years
- Accounting looks honest (Beneish)Nothing unusual
- Financial strength (Piotroski)6 of 8 checks we could run
- Profit backed by cash (accruals)Yes
- Debt0.19× equity
- Revenue growth, five yearsStrong, 12.0% a year
- Buying back its own sharesYes, 3% fewer since 2021
The quarter to June 2026
How the business did, compared with the same quarter a year earlier.
- Sales: $304 million last quarter, up 21% on a year ago.
- Profit: $23 million, after a loss of $3 million a year ago.
- About the same number of shares as a year ago.
- It has $348 million more cash than debt, up from $8 million a year ago.
- Sales grew on a year ago in 3 of the last 4 quarters.
| Quarter to | Amount |
|---|---|
| September 2024 | $342m |
| December 2024 | $355m |
| March 2025 | $278m |
| June 2025 | $252m |
| September 2025 | $377m |
| December 2025 | $334m |
| March 2026 | $288m |
| June 2026 | $304m |
| Quarter to | Amount |
|---|---|
| September 2024 | $30m |
| December 2024 | $20m |
| March 2025 | $3m |
| June 2025 | -$3m |
| September 2025 | $22m |
| December 2025 | $8m |
| March 2026 | -$13m |
| June 2026 | $23m |
From the company's quarterly reports to the SEC.
Dates
- Next results (estimated)
- n/a
- Last annual report (10-K)
- 26 February 2026
- Next quarterly (estimated, 10-Q)
- 5 November 2026
Who owns it
7 long-term investors we follow own it, up from 5 last quarter. 285 funds in all.
| Fund | Value | Share of that fund | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boston PartnersBoston Partners team | $22m | <0.1% | Cut |
| Hotchkis & WileyHotchkis & Wiley team | $9m | <0.1% | Added |
| First Eagle Investment ManagementMatthew McLennan | $8m | <0.1% | Added |
| Tensile Capital ManagementTensile Capital team | $4m | 0.6% | Cut |
| ValueWorksCharles Lemonides | $4m | 0.9% | New |
| Royce & AssociatesChuck Royce | $2m | <0.1% | Cut |
| Gotham Asset ManagementJoel Greenblatt | $2m | <0.1% | New |
Largest holders overall
- BlackRock$199mAdded
- Dimensional Fund Advisors LP$79m
- State Street$63mAdded
- Invesco$61mAdded
- Vanguard Portfolio Management$56mAdded
- Vanguard Capital Management$54mAdded
- American Century Companies$48mAdded
- Principal Financial Group$38mCut
- Goldman Sachs Group$32mAdded
- Geode Capital Management$31mAdded
From 13F filings for the quarter ended 30 June 2026.
Big holders and activists
5 investors own more than 5%.
- ASOF HOS GP, LLCat least 23.7%(filed with 18 related holders)Since 1 September 2026
What they said
Merger On April 22, 2026, Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc., a Minnesota corporation ("Helix"), Hornbeck Offshore Services, Inc., a Delaware corporation ("Legacy Hornbeck"), and certain subsidiaries of Helix entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (as it may be amended…
Read the filing - WHITEBOX ADVISORS LLCPassive investorat least 15.0%(filed with 2 related holders)Since 1 September 2026
- BlackRock, Inc.Passive investor14.0%Since 30 June 2025
- Dimensional Fund Advisors LPPassive investor6.0%Since 30 September 2025
- Merced Capital, L.P.Passive investorat least 5.3%(filed with 4 related holders)Since 1 September 2026
- The Vanguard GroupPassive investorSold down below 5%Since 13 March 2026
| Holder | Stake | Since | |
|---|---|---|---|
ASOF HOS GP, LLC | at least 23.7% (filed with 18 related holders) | 1 September 2026 | What they saidMerger On April 22, 2026, Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc., a Minnesota corporation ("Helix"), Hornbeck Offshore Services, Inc., a Delaware corporation ("Legacy Hornbeck"), and certain subsidiaries of Helix entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (as it may be amended… Read the filing |
WHITEBOX ADVISORS LLC Passive investor | at least 15.0% (filed with 2 related holders) | 1 September 2026 | |
BlackRock, Inc. Passive investor | 14.0% | 30 June 2025 | |
Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Passive investor | 6.0% | 30 September 2025 | |
Merced Capital, L.P. Passive investor | at least 5.3% (filed with 4 related holders) | 1 September 2026 | |
The Vanguard Group Passive investor | Sold down below 5% | 13 March 2026 |
From Schedule 13D and 13G filings: anyone owning more than 5% must file one.
What insiders did
No insider bought shares on the open market in the last 12 months. 1 sold $275,200.
- Sparks Scott AndrewEVP & COOSold
- Date
- 3 November 2025
- Shares
- 40,000
- Price
- $6.88
- Value
- $275,200
| Date | Who | Did | Shares | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 November 2025 | Sparks Scott Andrew EVP & COO | Sold | 40,000 | $6.88 | $275,200 |
From Form 4 filings: insiders must report trades in their own company's shares within two days.
What could go wrong
Cheap for a reason is the question the numbers cannot answer.
Whether the price already reflects the risks is what the deep dive is for.
The deep dive
Everything above is arithmetic on public filings. The deep dive reads the last ten years of annual reports, the proxy statements, and the earnings calls, then argues the case the way Buffett, Klarman, and Hohn would, and checks every claim against the source.
- What the business is worth, as a range, and the margin of safety at today’s price
- Prices to start buying, buy, and buy hard
- The three things that would make this a mistake
- Every number footnoted to the filing it came from
Your first deep dive is free.
Not advice. Numbers on this page come from SEC filings and are updated each night; prices are updated again after the US market closes. The five-year figures are rounded.