Shares of Transocean Ltd. RIG have soared 52.8% since third-quarter 2020 earnings announcement on Nov 2. Alongside a better-than-expected bottom line, investors’ hopes are buoyed by the company’s encouraging guidance for 2021. In particular, the offshore driller anticipates its operations and maintenance expense for 2021 in the $1.4-$1.6 billion range, much lower than expected.Transoceanreported adjusted net loss per share of 11 cents, narrower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 17 cents as well as the year-ago loss of 38 cents. This outperformance is led by the company’s improving utilization.However, this offshore drilling powerhouse’s total revenues of $773 million missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $783 million and also the prior-year figure of $784 million, primarily on lower activity levels.Segmental Revenue Break-UpTransocean’s Ultra-deepwater floaters contributed to 63.4% of total contract drilling revenues while Harsh Environment floaters accounted for the remainder. In the quarter under review, revenues from Ultra-deepwater and Harsh Environment floaters totalled $490 million and $283 million each compared with the year-ago reported figures of $493 million and $281 million, respectively.Revenue efficiency was 96.6%, lower than 97.2% reported sequentially. The figure also declined from the year-ago value of 97%.Dayrates and UtilizationAverage dayrate in the quarter rose to $343,500 from the year-ago level of $314,500. The company witnessed strong year-over-year average revenues per day from Harsh environment floaters. Overall, fleet utilization was 65% during the quarter, up from the prior-year utilization rate of 58%.BacklogTransocean’s backlog record at $8.2 billion as of October reflects a decline of $2.6 billion from the year-ago figure.Transocean Ltd. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise Transocean Ltd. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Transocean Ltd. QuoteCosts, Capex & Balance SheetOperating and maintenance costs decreased to $470 million from $547 million a year ago. The company spent $65 million on capital investment in the third quarter. Cash provided by operating activities totalled $81 million. The company had cash and cash equivalents worth $1.38 billion on Sep 30, 2020. Long-term debt was $7.79 billion with debt-to-capitalization of 40.6% as of the same date, improving from the sequential quarter’s 43.6%.GuidanceFor the fourth quarter, the company expects adjusted contract drilling revenues to be $710 million with a revenue efficiency of 95%.Fourth-quarter operating and maintenance expense is projected to be approximately $445 million. Further, the company projects its G&A expense for the current quarter to be approximately $42 million.Meanwhile, capital spending for the fourth quarter comprising capitalized interest is predicted to be almost $55 million. Besides, the amount projects nearly $37 million for the newbuild drillships under construction and the remaining $18 million for maintenance. For 2021, Nabors forecasts adjusted contract drilling revenues in the $2.6-$2.8 billion band. The company anticipates its operations and maintenance expense for 2021 in the $1.4-$1.6 billion range while its G&A expense is estimated between $150 million and $160 million.Meanwhile, capital spending for 2021 comprising capitalized interest is expected to be $1.5 billion. The amount also assumes $1.4 billion for the newbuild drillships under construction and the remaining $100 billion for maintenance. Zacks Rank & Key PicksTransocean currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks in the energy space are Oasis Petroleum Inc. OASPQ, Antero Resources Corporation AR and Matador Resources Company MTDR, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.More Stock News: This Is Bigger than the iPhone!It could become the mother of all technological revolutions. Apple sold a mere 1 billion iPhones in 10 years but a new breakthrough is expected to generate more than 27 billion devices in just 3 years, creating a $1.7 trillion market.Zacks has just released a Special Report that spotlights this fast-emerging phenomenon and 6 tickers for taking advantage of it. If you don't buy now, you may kick yourself in 2021.Click here for the 6 trades >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Transocean Ltd. (RIG): Free Stock Analysis Report Matador Resources Company (MTDR): Free Stock Analysis Report Antero Resources Corporation (AR): Free Stock Analysis Report Oasis Petroleum Inc. (OASPQ): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research