Overseas Shipholding Group, Inc. (OSG) stock prices were up by 0.48% as of the market closing on July 1st, 2021, bringing the price per share up to USD$2.10 at the end of the trading day. Subsequent pre-market fluctuations saw the stock surge by 33.81%, bringing it up to USD$2.81.
Net Loss Reports
Net loss for the first quarter of 2021 was reported at USD$15.9 million, representing a net loss of USD$0.18 per diluted share. This is a significant fall from the USD$25.1 million in net income reported in the same quarter of the prior year, representing net income of USD$0.28 per diluted share. A USD$19.2 million gain associated with the acquisition of the Alaska Tanker Company was a significant contributor to the year-over-year difference.
Sale of Overseas Gulf Coast
April 2021 saw the company enter into a contractual agreement that would see OSG sell Overseas Gulf Coast for USD$32.5 million. As per the negotiated sale terms, the transaction was recorded as a USD$5.4 million loss for the first quarter of 2021. The unencumbered asset was sold to general additional liquidity that the company plans to allocate to different areas of need.
Disheartening Financials
Shipping revenues for Q1 2021 were down 19.4% to USD$81.3 million from the USD$100.9 million reported in the first quarter of 2020. With the onset of the global pandemic having hit the company especially hard, its woes were compounded by Winter Storm Uri shutting down U.S refineries, thereby further reducing transportation demand. TCE revenues were down 32.5% million at USD$65.5 million for Q1 2021, as compared to Q1 2020. Q1 2021 Adjusted EBITDA was down 88.2% from USD$52.8 million in Q1 2020 to USD$6.2 million in Q1 2021.
Meme Stock Phenomenon
With no recent news coverage or significant change in fundamentals, OSG seems to find itself becoming the latest target of the meme stock phenomenon that has taken over the stock market as of late. Driven by retail investors who use the social media platform Reddit, underdog companies with high short interests find themselves being pumped in a coordinated short squeeze. In the absence of sound bases for investing in the company, this phenomenon carries a great level of inherent risk and volatility.
Future Outlook for OSG
Armed with the fortuitous expansion of their equity value, OSG finds itself at the cusp of new opportunities that it can capitalize on to usher in more organic growth. Investors are hopeful that management will continue to leverage the resources at their disposal to facilitate significant and sustained increases in shareholder value.
