Danaos (DAC)
NYSE:DAC
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Danaos
(NYSE:DAC)
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Rating:81Outperform
Price Target:
$134.00
â–²(33.77% Upside)
Action:ReiteratedDate:02/11/26
The score is driven primarily by strong financial performance and a positive earnings-call outlook with high contracted revenue visibility and conservative net leverage. Valuation is a major tailwind given the very low P/E and solid dividend yield. Technicals are supportive with price above key moving averages, while the main risks are cash flow variability, increased debt versus 2024, and cost/spot-exposure-driven volatility.
Positive Factors
High contracted backlog and multi-year coverage
A $4.3B contracted backlog with a 4.3-year average charter length and near-term coverage (100% for 2026) provides durable revenue visibility. This reduces short-term spot dependency, supports predictable cash flows for capital planning, and underpins dividend and buyback capacity over the medium term.
Negative Factors
Step-up in total debt in 2025
A material rise in total debt reduces headroom despite still-manageable leverage. Higher absolute indebtedness increases interest-cost sensitivity, limits covenant and acquisition flexibility, and could constrain capital returns if cash generation weakens or refinancing conditions tighten over the medium term.
Read all positive and negative factors
Positive Factors
Negative Factors
High contracted backlog and multi-year coverage
A $4.3B contracted backlog with a 4.3-year average charter length and near-term coverage (100% for 2026) provides durable revenue visibility. This reduces short-term spot dependency, supports predictable cash flows for capital planning, and underpins dividend and buyback capacity over the medium term.
Read all positive factors
Danaos (DAC) vs. SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY)
Market Cap
$2.12B
Dividend Yield3.64%
Average Volume (3M)90.61K
Price to Earnings (P/E)3.5
Beta (1Y)0.74
Revenue Growth3.82%
EPS Growth-13.73%
CountryUS
Employees4
SectorIndustrials
Sector Strength72
IndustryMarine Shipping
Share Statistics
EPS (TTM)7.14
Shares Outstanding18,203,476
10 Day Avg. Volume64,339
30 Day Avg. Volume90,605
Financial Highlights & Ratios
PEG Ratio1.35
Price to Book (P/B)0.46
Price to Sales (P/S)1.67
P/FCF Ratio5.39
Enterprise Value/Market Cap1.06
Enterprise Value/Revenue2.15
Enterprise Value/Gross Profit3.21
Enterprise Value/Ebitda3.09
Forecast
1Y Price TargetN/A
Price Target UpsideN/A
Rating ConsensusN/A
Number of Analyst Covering0
EPS Forecast (FY)25.2
Revenue Forecast (FY)$1.03B
Danaos Business Overview & Revenue Model
Company Description
Danaos Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, owns and operates containerships in Australia, Asia, Europe, and the United States. The company offers seaborne transportation services, such as chartering its vessels to liner companies. As of F...
How the Company Makes Money
Danaos primarily makes money by chartering its containerships to container liner operators under time-charter contracts. Under a time charter, the charterer pays Danaos a contracted daily hire rate for the use of the vessel over the charter period...
Danaos Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Danaos Earnings Call Summary
Earnings Call Date:Feb 09, 2026
(Q4-2025)
| % Change Since: |
Next Earnings Date:May 18, 2026
Earnings Call Sentiment Positive
Overall the call presents a positive strategic and financial position: the company strengthened its contracted backlog to $4.3 billion with strong contract coverage, executed attractive financing, maintained robust liquidity ($1.4 billion) and low net leverage (net debt / EBITDA 0.2x), and announced sizeable shareholder returns (a $90 per share dividend and buyback program). The primary negatives were modest year-over-year decline in adjusted net income (~1.6%), rising operating and G&A costs (G&A +30.9%), higher interest expense due to increased indebtedness, and only marginal EBITDA growth (+0.2%). Management’s decision to keep certain dry bulk vessels exposed to spot/index markets adds potential earnings volatility. On balance, the positives (backlog, liquidity, financing, fleet orders, and shareholder returns) outweigh the operational and cost-related headwinds.Positive Updates
Contract Backlog and Coverage Expansion
Total contract revenue/backlog increased to $4.3 billion with a 4.3-year average charter duration. Contract coverage stood at 100% for 2026, 87% for 2027 and 64% for 2028 (in terms of operating days), improving forward revenue visibility.
Negative Updates
Small Decline in Adjusted Net Income
Adjusted net income decreased to $131.2 million from $133.3 million, a decline of $2.1 million (≈1.6%) year-over-year despite higher EPS (driven by share count/other adjustments).
Read all updates
Q4-2025 Updates
Positive
Negative
Contract Backlog and Coverage Expansion
Total contract revenue/backlog increased to $4.3 billion with a 4.3-year average charter duration. Contract coverage stood at 100% for 2026, 87% for 2027 and 64% for 2028 (in terms of operating days), improving forward revenue visibility.
Read all positive updates
Company Guidance
Management's guidance emphasized strong forward visibility and measurable commitments: total contract revenue rose to $4.3 billion with a 4.3‑year average charter duration and contract coverage of 100% for 2026, 87% for 2027 and 64% for 2028 (having added $428 million to the contracted backlog since the last release); the company has ordered six 1,800 TEU and four 5,300 TEU container newbuilds plus two 211,000 dwt Newcastle MAX dry bulk newbuilds for 2028–29 (four of those secured on ten‑year charters), is pursuing LNG opportunities tied to an Alaska LNG project targeting 2030 completion with 6–10 ships and ~20‑year employment, completed a seven‑year €500 million unsecured bond at a 6.875% coupon, ended the period with $1.0 billion cash and $1.4 billion total liquidity, net debt of $141 million (net debt / adjusted EBITDA 0.2x), an 85‑vessel fleet with 61 unencumbered vessels (plus 16 encumbered under the RCF but undrawn), and continues shareholder returns with a $90 per‑share dividend and a $300 million buyback program with $65 million remaining; reported operating metrics included adjusted EPS of $7.14 and adjusted net income of $131.2 million, adjusted EBITDA of $190 million, vessel opex of $6,377 per vessel per day, G&A of $28.4 million, interest expense (ex amortization) of $13.4 million and interest income of $8.5 million.Danaos Financial Statement Overview
Summary
Income Statement
82
Very Positive
Balance Sheet
78
Positive
Cash Flow
66
Positive
| Breakdown | Dec 2025 | Dec 2024 | Dec 2023 | Dec 2022 | Dec 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Income Statement | |||||
| Total Revenue | 1.04B | 1.01B | 973.58M | 993.34M | 689.50M |
| Gross Profit | 833.68M | 615.94M | 641.17M | 664.96M | 412.39M |
| EBITDA | 748.62M | 675.07M | 704.83M | 717.17M | 1.22B |
| Net Income | 494.61M | 505.07M | 576.30M | 559.21M | 1.05B |
Balance Sheet | |||||
| Total Assets | 5.11B | 4.34B | 3.66B | 3.40B | 3.63B |
| Cash, Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments | 1.04B | 514.23M | 357.84M | 267.67M | 552.43M |
| Total Debt | 1.16B | 734.78M | 404.17M | 529.42M | 1.34B |
| Total Liabilities | 1.32B | 918.85M | 644.82M | 839.81M | 1.54B |
| Stockholders Equity | 3.80B | 3.42B | 3.02B | 2.56B | 2.09B |
Cash Flow | |||||
| Free Cash Flow | 322.29M | -37.59M | 308.26M | 735.61M | 72.39M |
| Operating Cash Flow | 618.98M | 621.75M | 576.29M | 934.74M | 428.11M |
| Investing Cash Flow | -325.70M | -650.79M | -338.53M | 176.57M | -143.15M |
| Financing Cash Flow | 290.62M | 210.61M | -233.62M | -973.40M | -220.87M |
Danaos Technical Analysis
Positive
100.17
Price Trends
108.80
Positive
101.93
Positive
95.27
Positive
Market Momentum
1.20
Positive
58.48
Neutral
66.19
Neutral
Evaluating momentum and price trends is crucial in stock analysis to make informed investment decisions. For DAC, the sentiment is Positive. The current price of 100.17 is below the 20-day moving average (MA) of 112.23, below the 50-day MA of 108.80, and above the 200-day MA of 95.27, indicating a bullish trend. The MACD of 1.20 indicates Positive momentum. The RSI at 58.48 is Neutral, neither overbought nor oversold. The STOCH value of 66.19 is Neutral, not indicating any strong overbought or oversold conditions. Overall, these indicators collectively point to a Positive sentiment for DAC.
Danaos Risk Analysis
Danaos disclosed 67 risk factors in its most recent earnings report. Danaos reported the most risks in the "Finance & Corporate" category.
Finance & Corporate - Financial and accounting risks. Risks related to the execution of corporate activity and strategy
Latest Risks Added 0 New Risks
Danaos Peers Comparison
UnderperformOutperform
Sector (63)
Name | Overall Rating | Market Cap | P/E Ratio | ROE | Dividend Yield | Revenue Growth | EPS Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
83 Outperform | $1.40B | 3.00 | 24.76% | 6.16% | 7.13% | 23.37% | |
81 Outperform | $2.12B | 3.51 | 13.56% | 3.64% | 3.82% | -13.73% | |
72 Outperform | $2.12B | 5.21 | 16.86% | 2.94% | -29.82% | -16.77% | |
70 Outperform | $1.98B | 3.29 | 8.85% | 0.39% | -1.33% | -33.66% | |
69 Neutral | $3.17B | 5.34 | 12.06% | 20.35% | 1.63% | -30.30% | |
63 Neutral | $10.79B | 15.43 | 7.44% | 2.01% | 2.89% | -14.66% | |
59 Neutral | $1.59B | -39.32 | -2.63% | 12.24% | -11.10% | -101.57% |
* Industrials Sector Average
DAC
Danaos
116.65
50.19
75.53%
CMRE
Costamare
17.55
11.31
181.20%
GSL
Global Ship Lease
38.93
21.25
120.18%
NMM
Navios Maritime Partners
70.99
39.78
127.44%
SFL
SFL Corporation
10.97
4.21
62.21%
ZIM
ZIM
26.30
14.67
126.06%
Danaos Corporate Events
Danaos Joins Glenfarne in $50 Million Alaska LNG Partnership and LNG Carrier Build-Out
Jan 20, 2026
On January 20, 2026, Danaos Corporation announced a strategic partnership with Glenfarne Group to support the development of the Alaska LNG Project, marking a significant expansion of Danaos’s presence in LNG and broader energy shipping. Und...
Glossary
BuyA stock rated as a "Buy" is expected to perform better than the overall market or a specific benchmark over the near-to-medium term. This rating suggests the stock is likely to deliver higher returns compared to other stocks in the same sector or market index. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
HoldA stock rated as a "Hold" is expected to perform in line with the overall market or a specific benchmark. This rating indicates that the stock is neither particularly compelling nor unfavorable for investment. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
SellA stock rated as a "Sell" is expected to perform worse than the overall market or a specific benchmark over the near-to-medium term. This rating suggests the stock may deliver lower returns compared to other stocks in the same sector or market index. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
Disclaimer
This AI Analyst Stock Report is automatically generated by our AI systems using advanced algorithms and publicly available financial, technical, and market data. While the information provided aims to be accurate and insightful, it is intended for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. Any content created by an AI (Artificial Intelligence) system may contain inaccuracies and/or contain errors. Investing in stocks carries inherent risks, and past performance is not indicative of future results. This report does not account for your personal financial circumstances, objectives, or risk tolerance. Always conduct your own research or consult with a qualified financial advisor before making investment decisions. The analysis and recommendations provided are based on historical and current data and may not fully reflect future market conditions or unexpected developments. Neither the creators of this report nor its affiliated entities guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of the information presented. Use this report at your own discretion and risk.