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Owner of a large fleet of containerships chartered out to major container shipping lines worldwide.
Owner of a large fleet of containerships chartered out to major container shipping lines worldwide.
Leases ships to container lines on fixed daily hire for set periods, so income is steady while vessels stay on charter and the main exposure is what happens when charters expire and must be renewed at then-current rates. The Coustas family, who founded it, remain the controlling shareholder.
In one line: A containership leasing/chartering company.
Moat: narrow (scale, installed base). Large, diversified containership fleet on long-term charters gives revenue visibility over smaller lessors.
Headquarters: Athens, Greece · Founded: 1972 · Employees: 4,398
Size Danaos (DAC) is a United States Industrials company (Marine Shipping) with a market value of $2.70B, the 1605th largest of 3,117 United States companies the cockpit tracks. Shares closed at $148.11 on 6 Nov 2026.
Performance Over six months the shares gained 10.0%, against +4.5% for the median peer and -1.1% for the United States market (cap-weighted) — 8th highest of 21 in its peer set.
Growth Revenue grew 2.5% over the last twelve months (peer median +10.3%); the operating margin is 48.4% (peer median 21.5%).
Valuation It trades at 5.3× forward earnings against a peer median of 8.7× (6th cheapest of 21).
Price implies For today's price to make sense, revenue must grow about -9% a year for seven years (Req g). Recent delivered growth is +18%, so the hurdle is -26 pp: the price already allows for a slowdown.
Capital Return on invested capital runs 1.7 points above its cost of capital (8.3% WACC).
Credit Danaos has 1 bond outstanding ($500M), rated BB+ by the agencies and trading like BB at a weighted spread of 186 bp.
Short interest Short interest is 9.1% of the free float (15 Oct 2026).
Next results Next results expected around 9 Nov 2026 (exchange calendar; dates can move).
| TTM | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $1.06B | $1.04B | $1.01B | $952M | $993M |
| Revenue growth | — | +3% | +6% | -4% | — |
| Gross profit | $581M | $563M | $587M | $623M | $653M |
| EBITDA | $721M | $706M | $706M | $706M | $763M |
| Net income | $541M | $495M | $505M | $576M | $559M |
| Free cash flow | $172M | $322M | -$44.9M | $306M | $716M |
| Capital expenditure | $523M | $297M | $659M | $268M | $199M |
| Total debt | $1.21B | $1.16B | $735M | $404M | $502M |
The default views of Competitor Analysis ▸ Charts, drawn from the same data. Open them in the cockpit to change the axes, pin companies and read every value.
| Company | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | Op. margin | Forward P/E | Req g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Danaos DAC | $2.70B | +10% | +2% | 48% | 5.3× | -8.7% |
| Costamare CMRE | $1.54B | -28% | -42% | 44% | 5.2× | -6.9% |
| Global Ship Lease GSL | $1.41B | -8% | +6% | 48% | 4.1× | -15.2% |
| Navios Maritime Partners LP NMM | $2.42B | +14% | +19% | 39% | 3.9× | n/a |
| Euroseas ESEA | $417M | -13% | +3% | 59% | 3.4× | n/a |
Peer set: Industry: the same industry and sector in any market, nearest in size. This is the same default set the interactive Competitor Analysis opens with.
| Measure | DAC | Peer median | Rank in peer set |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-month return | -13.0% | -8.2% | 4th lowest of 21 |
| 6-month return | +10.0% | +4.5% | 8th highest of 21 |
| Distance from 52-week high | -14.3% | -16.2% | 9th highest of 21 |
| Revenue growth (TTM) | +2.5% | +10.3% | 9th lowest of 20 |
| Operating margin | 48.4% | 21.5% | 2nd highest of 21 |
| Forward P/E | 5.3× | 8.7× | 6th cheapest of 21 |
| Growth the price implies (Req g, 7 yrs) | -8.7% | -0.9% | 3rd least demanding of 17 |
| Growth delivered (Del g) | +17.7% | +10.1% | 2nd highest of 17 |
| Hurdle (Req g minus delivered) | -26.4 pp | -11.5 pp | 3rd least demanding of 17 |
| ROIC minus cost of capital | +1.7 pp | +0.7 pp | 10th highest of 21 |
| EV / EBITDA | 3.7× | 7.2× | cheapest of 15 |
| Net debt / EBITDA | -0.0× | 1.9× | 5th least indebted of 16 |
| Bond spread | 186 bp | n/a | — |
| Company | Market | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | Op. margin | Forward P/E | Req g | Delivered g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Danaos DAC | United States | $2.70B | +10% | +2% | 48% | 5.3× | -8.7% | +17.7% |
| Shanghai Jinjiang Shipping (Group) 601083.SS | China | $2.75B | +17% | +11% | 24% | 11.3× | -18.7% | +15.2% |
| Capital Tankers CAPT.OL | Norway | $2.57B | +45% | n/a | 37% | 7.3× | n/a | n/a |
| Nanjing Tanker 601975.SS | China | $2.50B | -21% | +12% | 26% | 9.0× | -8.4% | +7.6% |
| T.S. Lines 2510.HK | Hong Kong | $2.48B | +38% | -4% | 19% | 5.8× | -6.9% | +9.8% |
| Shenzhen Yan Tian Port 000088.SZ | China | $2.97B | +2% | +19% | 12% | 16.5× | 21.8% | +10.1% |
| Star Bulk Carriers SBLK | United States | $2.99B | 0% | +6% | 28% | 5.7× | -0.1% | +8.5% |
| Navios Maritime Partners LP NMM | United States | $2.42B | +14% | +19% | 39% | 3.9× | n/a | n/a |
| Pacific Basin Shipping 2343.HK | Hong Kong | $2.22B | +6% | -6% | 6% | 9.0× | 7.9% | +7.3% |
| Great Eastern Shipping GESHIP.NS | India | $2.16B | -8% | +24% | 42% | 5.1× | 8.2% | +10.1% |
| ZIM Integrated Shipping Services ZIM | United States | $3.37B | +5% | -25% | 6% | 3.7× | 2.7% | +11.6% |
| Wisdom Marine Lines 2637.TW | Taiwan | $2.13B | +28% | +10% | 33% | 9.1× | -1.8% | +7.2% |
| Hoegh Autoliners HAUTO.OL | Norway | $3.64B | +20% | -4% | 30% | 9.6× | -0.1% | +16.4% |
| PanOcean 028670.KS | South Korea | $1.91B | -12% | +24% | 9% | 5.0× | n/a | n/a |
| Clarkson CKN.L | United Kingdom | $1.90B | -5% | +15% | 14% | 13.9× | 5.2% | +12.0% |
| COSCO SHIPPING Development 2866.HK | Hong Kong | $3.84B | -22% | -2% | 13% | 3.6× | n/a | n/a |
| Sumitomo Warehouse 9303.T | Japan | $1.87B | +4% | +2% | 6% | 16.3× | 11.3% | +0.4% |
| CSSC (Hong Kong) Shipping 3877.HK | Hong Kong | $1.85B | -4% | -10% | 60% | 7.2× | -3.2% | +14.9% |
| Stolt-Nielsen SNI.OL | Norway | $1.82B | +4% | -5% | 11% | 8.8× | -4.5% | +9.5% |
| U-Ming Marine Transport 2606.TW | Taiwan | $1.70B | +6% | +13% | 29% | 8.7× | -3.8% | +12.8% |
| COSCO Shipping Specialized Carriers 600428.SS | China | $4.40B | +25% | +37% | 19% | 8.9× | -17.9% | +27.0% |
Danaos has 1 bond outstanding with $500M face value. The agencies rate it BB+; its bonds trade like BB. Weighted yield 6.55%, a spread of 186 bp over government bonds.