Global Energy Demand And Decarbonization Will Transform Seismic Markets

Key Takeaways

• Merger synergies, tech advances, and operational discipline may drive stronger margins and cash flow than expected, surpassing current consensus.
  
• Strategic moves into new energy markets, advanced analytics, and high-equity projects could significantly boost long-term growth and recurring high-margin revenues.
  
• Long-term demand for TGS's seismic data is threatened by industry decarbonization, new technology, cyclicality, increased competition, and pricing pressures from digitalization and client consolidation.

Catalysts

Provides geoscience data services to the oil and gas industry in Norway and internationally.

• Analysts broadly agree the merger synergies between TGS and PGS will drive margin expansion, but the pace and scale could be significantly underestimated as TGS's accelerated vessel rationalization and technology harmonization enable synergy realization ahead of schedule, likely resulting in net margins and cash flows exceeding current consensus.
  
• While the analyst consensus points to cost and interest synergies from refinancing PGS debt, improved operational discipline and sharply reduced gross OpEx-down over 5% in a single quarter-could allow TGS to structurally lower its cost base faster than anticipated, unleashing upside for both earnings and free cash flow.
  
• TGS's growing willingness to take on higher equity in high-potential, underexplored multi-client projects-especially in prolific basins like Brazil and the Gulf of America-positions the company for disproportionate upside in future late sales and recurring high-margin revenues as global reserve replacement needs intensify.
  
• Rapid advances in imaging technology and scale in proprietary data analytics, combined with the company's leadership in AI-driven geophysical solutions, are laying the groundwork for premium pricing, accelerated revenue growth, and robust margin expansion as energy customers demand more sophisticated data services.
  
• As decarbonization policies and energy transition investments accelerate, TGS's early-mover advantage in CCS, offshore wind, and digital transformation for new energy verticals is set to open entirely new addressable markets, meaning long-term topline growth could far outpace traditional seismic cycles and consensus forecasts.

TGS Future Earnings and Revenue Growth

Assumptions

• This narrative explores a more optimistic perspective on TGS compared to the consensus, based on a Fair Value that aligns with the bullish cohort of analysts.
• The bullish analysts are assuming TGS's revenue will decrease by 1.2% annually over the next 3 years.
• The bullish analysts assume that profit margins will increase from 1.4% today to 16.4% in 3 years time.
• The bullish analysts expect earnings to reach $280.7 million (and earnings per share of $1.43) by about July 2028, up from $25.0 million today. The analysts are largely in agreement about this estimate.
• In order for the above numbers to justify the price target of the more bullish analyst cohort, the company would need to trade at a PE ratio of 37.9x on those 2028 earnings, down from 59.3x today. This future PE is greater than the current PE for the GB Energy Services industry at 8.2x.
• Analysts expect the number of shares outstanding to grow by 7.0% per year for the next 3 years.
• To value all of this in today's terms, we will use a discount rate of 7.83%, as per the Simply Wall St company report.

TGS Future Earnings Per Share Growth

Risks

• The accelerating shift toward renewables and the global decarbonization agenda present a long-term threat to oil and gas exploration, which could significantly reduce demand for TGS's seismic data services, pressuring revenues and leading to structural market contraction.
  
• The emergence of new seismic imaging technologies and evolving client needs risk rendering TGS's legacy data library less competitive, potentially resulting in revenue erosion and margin compression if clients favor alternative data solutions over TGS's offerings.
  
• Heavily cyclical, exploration-driven spending by energy companies introduces substantial earnings volatility for TGS, as highlighted by the sharp revenue decline and backlog reduction in this quarter, and prolonged industry downturns could lead to sustained periods of low revenue and weak profitability.
  
• The industry's trend toward consolidation among E&P companies and increased in-house data capabilities among national oil companies may create heightened competition and greater buyer power, resulting in downward pressure on net margins and limiting contract values for TGS.
  
• Increasing automation, digitalization, and commoditization of seismic data threaten TGS's ability to differentiate and maintain premium pricing, risking further erosion of revenue and net margins in a market characterized by volatile demand and persistent pricing pressures.

Valuation

• The assumed bullish price target for TGS is NOK361.37, which represents two standard deviations above the consensus price target of NOK136.51. This valuation is based on what can be assumed as the expectations of TGS's future earnings growth, profit margins and other risk factors from analysts on the bullish end of the spectrum.
  
• However, there is a degree of disagreement amongst analysts, with the most bullish reporting a price target of NOK407.22, and the most bearish reporting a price target of just NOK69.11.
  
• In order for you to agree with the bullish analysts, you'd need to believe that by 2028, revenues will be $1.7 billion, earnings will come to $280.7 million, and it would be trading on a PE ratio of 37.9x, assuming you use a discount rate of 7.8%.
  
• Given the current share price of NOK77.15, the bullish analyst price target of NOK361.37 is 78.7% higher.
  
• We always encourage you to reach your own conclusions though. So sense check these analyst numbers against your own assumptions and expectations based on your understanding of the business and what you believe is probable.