SM Energy, Transocean, and Valaris Shares Are Falling, What You Need To Know

Barchart·05/21/2026 15:18:24

What Happened?

A number of stocks fell in the afternoon session after crude oil edged lower on reports that the U.S. and Iran were nearing a draft peace resolution. 

Adding to the weakness, Borr Drilling (BORR) dropped 16% after missing revenue expectations, leading the sector decline. The Iran conflict embedded roughly $15-20/barrel of "Hormuz risk" premium in crude since April. 

Peace headlines unwind that premium instantly and energy equities, priced as leveraged plays on oil, fall faster than the underlying. Borr Drilling's miss compounded the damage at the high-beta end: offshore drillers carry the highest operational leverage to crude and the largest downside when sentiment shifts.

The stock market overreacts to news, and big price drops can present good opportunities to buy high-quality stocks.

Among others, the following stocks were impacted:

• Mixed or Offshore Upstream E&P company SM Energy (NYSE:SM) fell 5%. Is now the time to buy SM Energy? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
• Oilfield Services company Transocean (NYSE:RIG) fell 5.6%. Is now the time to buy Transocean? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
• Oilfield Services company Valaris (NYSE:VAL) fell 5.8%. Is now the time to buy Valaris? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.

Zooming In On Valaris (VAL)

Valaris’s shares are very volatile and have had 26 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.

The previous big move we wrote about was 3 days ago when the stock gained 6.6% on the news that crude oil pushed back above $100 a barrel, with Brent near $111 and WTI close to $108. 

The move followed fresh comments from President Trump that "the Clock is Ticking" for Iran, a drone attack on the UAE's Barakah nuclear plant over the weekend, and the continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint that normally carries about 20% of the world's oil. The Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) gained roughly 2.4%, with Exxon, Chevron and ConocoPhillips leading. 

Supply data added to the squeeze: U.S. crude inventories fell 4.3 million barrels in early May, dropping below the five-year average, while natural gas futures jumped. The risk for investors remained symmetrical as any de-escalation could reverse the move just as quickly.

Valaris is up 94.5% since the beginning of the year, but at $101.41 per share, it is still trading 10.6% below its 52-week high of $113.42 from May 2026. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Valaris’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $4,843.

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