On Tuesday, Heidmar Maritime Holdings (NASDAQ:HMR) discussed second-quarter financial results during its earnings call. The full transcript is provided below.

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View the webcast at https://heidmar.irwebpage.com/webcast/2026_2Q_Financial_Results.html

Summary

Heidmar Maritime Holdings Corp reported strong financial performance for Q2 2026 with a consolidated net income of $2.2 million, a significant improvement from a net loss of $13.7 million in Q2 2025.

Total revenues increased to $29 million from $9.6 million in Q2 2025, driven by a sharp rise in voyage and time charter revenues.

The company added seven vessels in Q2 2026, bringing the total to 15 vessels added in the first half of the year, and completed the acquisition of Q Shipping B.V., adding nine more vessels.

Heidmar's asset-light model enables rapid scaling with minimal capital, focusing on commercial management and leveraging AI for operational efficiency.

Management remains optimistic about the tanker market outlook despite geopolitical tensions, expecting elevated freight rates to continue due to structural market drivers.

Full Transcript

OPERATOR

Thank you for standing by, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Heidmar Maritime Holdings Corp conference call on the second-quarter 2026 financial results. We have with us Mr. Pankaj Khanna, Chief Executive Officer of the company. At this time all participants are in a listen-only mode. There will be a presentation followed by a question-and-answer session, at which time if you wish to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone keypad and wait for your name to be announced.

I must advise you that this conference is being recorded today. Please be reminded that the company announced their results with a press release that has been publicly distributed. Before passing the floor to Mr. Khanna, I would like to remind everyone that in today's conference call Heidmar Maritime Holdings Corp will be making forward-looking statements. These statements are within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Matters discussed may be forward-looking statements which are based on current management expectations that involve risks and uncertainties that may result in such expectations not being realized.

And now I'd like to pass the floor to Mr. Khanna. Please go ahead, sir.

Pankaj Khanna, CEO

Thanks, Melissa. Good day to everyone and welcome to the second-quarter earnings call for Heidmar Maritime Holdings Corp. Heidmar delivered a strong second quarter of 2026 marked by continued financial progress, accelerating fleet growth, and a sharpened strategic focus on value creation for our stakeholders. Today's results are further proof of what our asset-light, commercially driven model can deliver: the ability to scale quickly in markets that reward agility and sharp market intelligence over sheer size.

At its core, Heidmar is a commercial manager, and we earn fee-based revenue operating tankers in pools or under commercial management and manage vessels on owners’ behalf without putting capital into the ships themselves. That means our earnings grow with volume and market strength, not with balance sheet size. So we have the ability to add vessels quickly, move fast when markets dislocate, and put capital back into growth or shareholders’ hands rather than into debt service.

Turning to the results for the three-month period ended June 30, 2026, Heidmar realized consolidated net income of $2.2 million, or $0.04 per share basic, compared to a net loss of $13.7 million in the second quarter of 2025. The second quarter of 2025 comparison included a $13.6 million loss from discontinued operations. On a continuing-operations basis, Heidmar recorded a net loss of $0.1 million in that quarter, so the year-on-year improvement in our core ongoing business is even more pronounced than the headline comparison suggests.

Included in net income is non-cash stock-based compensation of $0.2 million, representing the amortization of share awards granted to key employees and members of the Board of Directors under the Heidmar Equity Incentive Plan. Excluding these non-cash items, Heidmar realized adjusted net income of $2.4 million compared to adjusted net income of $0.5 million in the second quarter of 2025. On a continuing-operations basis, adjusted net income remains well above the prior-year quarter and continues to demonstrate the improving underlying earnings capacity of the platform.

Total revenues for the quarter were $29 million compared to $18.4 million in the first quarter of 2026 and $9.6 million in the second quarter of 2025, an increase of $19.4 million, or approximately 203% year on year, and an increase of $10.6 million, or approximately 58% quarter on quarter. This growth was driven primarily by a sharp increase in voyage and time charter revenues, which rose to $23.2 million from $6.2 million in the second quarter of 2025, alongside trade revenues, which increased to $5.8 million from $3.3 million over the same period.

Six vessels were chartered out on voyage and time charter arrangements during the quarter compared to two vessels in the second quarter of 2025. General and administrative expenses were $5.6 million in the second quarter of 2026 compared to $4.7 million in the second quarter of 2025. The year-on-year increase was mainly attributable to higher cash bonuses paid to our employees, which totaled $1.8 million in the second quarter of 2026 compared to $1.4 million in the second quarter of 2025.

Given our asset-light strategy, our people are the key to delivering services and growth, and rewarding talent is central to our continued success. As we move through the remainder of 2026, we expect G&A to remain well controlled relative to our growing revenue base. For the first half of 2026, Heidmar generated total revenues of $47.3 million and net income attributable to shareholders of $5 million, or $5.8 million on an adjusted basis excluding non-cash stock-based compensation of $0.8 million, underscoring the consistency of the platform's earnings power across both quarters of the year.

Turning to the balance sheet, as of June 30, 2026, cash and cash equivalents stood at $28.7 million and total assets were $99.6 million. Turning to the market, the tanker market remained highly volatile during the quarter, shaped primarily by escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and in Europe, where the Ukraine–Russia war has escalated into a targeting of energy assets and shipping in general. The extreme dislocation of March–April eased somewhat following the signing of the peace MOU by the U.S. and Iran in June; however, not for long. Continued disruption in the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab al-Mandab kept two key choke points under pressure, supporting rates even as a prolonged Hormuz closure remains a downside risk to oil demand. Combined transits through both choke points recovered only modestly from a 6 million barrels per day trough to roughly 11 million barrels per day by May–June, still well below pre-crisis levels of 20 million barrels per day.

As a result of over 80 Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil refineries in 2026, Russian seaborne product exports have halved from a 2.2 million barrels per day average in 2025 to 1.1 million barrels per day in July. Also, attacks on Russian crude offtake terminals have also impacted crude exports, although most of this is not carried on mainstream tankers. Global seaborne crude volumes contracted during the quarter; however, the combination of sourcing crude from alternative long-haul sources and tanker scarcity kept freight rates elevated across most crude tanker segments.

Oil prices did not escalate to over $100 per barrel that many projected, as non-OPEC supply grew approximately 1 million barrels per day year on year, mostly from the Americas, and commercial and strategic inventories were drawn down across the board. However, now stocks in certain countries are at critically low levels, some at two-decade lows. During the third quarter to date, the resumption of facilities in the Middle East has reduced the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz to a trickle.

A new shuttle tanker trade has developed whereby owners willing to take risk are carrying crude oil at astronomical rates from the terminals inside the Arabian Gulf to just outside the Strait to be discharged in ship-to-ship operations to other vessels. Continuing Houthi threats and attacks on ships transiting the Red Sea have also redirected crude flows from Yanbu to Ain Sokhna and via pipeline to Sidi Kerir in the Mediterranean, driving strong demand for Suezmaxes and Aframaxes in the region.

With the Mediterranean and Black Sea Suezmax earnings at historical highs and rates elevated across the board, as a result VLCCs are now lifting oil from Sidi Kerir and taking it to Asia via the Cape of Good Hope, which is a 15,000-mile voyage to China versus only 6,700 miles via the Gulf of Aden. Notably, Suezmaxes have on average outperformed VLCCs during the period, and Aframaxes are also trading at historical highs, reinforcing our view that in periods of geopolitical disruption, effective tanker supply, not cargo volumes, becomes the primary driver of short-term rate outcomes.

As we enter the seasonally stronger winter demand months of the fourth quarter and the first quarter, we expect rates to remain high and potentially strengthen further depending on how the geopolitical situation evolves. Turning to company developments, scaling the platform remained the central storyline of the quarter, and it continues to define our trajectory heading into the second half of the year. We added seven vessels across key tanker segments during the second quarter, building on the eight vessels taken in the first quarter.

Taken together, that is 15 vessels added to the platform in the first half of 2026 alone, with our pipeline remaining active and further additions expected through the remainder of this year and into next. We are also pleased to regain compliance with the NASDAQ continued listing rule on June 2, 2026, following 10 consecutive business days with our closing bid price at or above $1 per share, resolving the deficiency notice we received on April 22, 2026.

Our scaling efforts have only accelerated since the quarter ended. On July 1, 2026, we completed the acquisition of Q Shipping B.V., a Netherlands-based ship management and crewing enterprise, for approximately 0.2 million euros, funded from existing cash reserves with no regulatory approvals or post-closing conditions required. The transaction added nine vessels to our managed fleet, bringing our total managed fleet to approximately 60 vessels under commercial management and 20 under technical management, and gives Heidmar an operating presence in the Netherlands and Turkey, along with dedicated crewing capability in Ukraine.

This is exactly the kind of disciplined move we favor: a small investment with real strategic value, delivering overnight operational presence with minimal capital and immediate upside, and we expect it to be immediately accretive to management fee revenue. Put together with our first-half fleet, we have added 24 vessels to the Heidmar platform in under two quarters, evidence that our asset-light model lets us scale the business without a proportional increase in overhead.

The Q Shipping integration is already showing results, with the takeover of three additional vessels expected during the third quarter of 2026. Our global footprint now spans eight locations, supported by a team of more than 75 onshore employees and over 500 seafarers. Alongside this growth, we continue to invest in enhancing our commercial and operational platforms through the use of artificial intelligence, further strengthening the efficiency and scalability of our asset-light model.

These upcoming AI-driven enhancements will bring together data and workflows across chartering, operations, and finance into a more unified operational view, automating recurring time-consuming tasks that have traditionally required manual handling and giving teams faster, clearer visibility into performance across the fleet. As these capabilities come online, AI is set to become a core part of how Heidmar operates, allowing us to enhance performance and extract more value from every vessel we manage as we leverage every relationship we hold.

The fundamental difference between Heidmar and traditional shipping companies is this: we don't own ships. Asset-owning operators are weighed down by vessel depreciation, dry docking, financing costs, and locked-up capital. We carry none of that, freeing us to focus entirely on commercial performance. As the original commercial management brand in the tanker sector for over 40 years, Heidmar has earned us relationships with charterers, oil majors, and trading houses across the planet that no newcomer can replicate.

And our eFleetWatch platform, the first digital transparency tool built for shipping, gives owners real-time visibility into their vessels’ earnings and performance that no pure asset owner can match. At scale, deep market knowledge, a trusted owner network, and proprietary technology together—that's what makes Heidmar structurally different. Scale is Heidmar’s flywheel. Every vessel added to our commercially managed fleet builds our collective trading power: better cargo coverage, tighter voyage optimization, stronger negotiating leverage.

And that network effect means growth pays off for every owner in the pool or on commercial management. We don't stop at commercial management fees either. Technical management, sale-and-purchase advisory, investor opportunities, asset management, and fuel services give us multiple ways to add value across an owner's asset life cycle. The bigger we get, the harder we are to copy and the wider our moat grows. Looking ahead, we remain constructive on the tanker market outlook.

Near-term volatility tied to the Strait of Hormuz and the wider Gulf region may continue, but structural drivers behind elevated freight rates are firmly intact on both demand and supply side. We remain confident in Heidmar’s trajectory and our ability to deliver sustainable returns for our stakeholders as we build one of the leading maritime services platforms in the global shipping industry. I thank our stakeholders, employees, vessel owners, and charter partners for their continued trust, and we look forward to updating you on our progress.

We will now take questions.

OPERATOR

Thank you. If you'd like to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone keypad. A confirmation tone will indicate your line is in the question queue. You may press star two if you'd like to remove your question from the queue. For participants using speaker equipment, it may be necessary to pick up your handset before pressing the star key. Our first question comes from the line of Liam Burke with B. Riley Securities. Please proceed with your question.

Liam Burke, Analyst at B. Riley Securities

Thank you. Hi, Pankaj, how are you doing today? There's been a lot of talk about the Strait of Hormuz, and we all know what that's doing for rates. But has that crisis in the Middle East helped you acquire or add more vessels to your managed fleet?

Pankaj Khanna, CEO

I'm fine, thank you. I would say not at this time. Rates are just elevated. People are trying to do their own thing. But where we are seeing additions are also from the fact that many owners have ordered newbuildings, and the newbuildings are starting to deliver, and they do not have the expertise to handle those newbuildings. So people are coming to us to take that over. So we are helping some Chinese owners who are taking over newbuilds to find charters or to trade spot.

For one of the owners who we have a long-standing relationship with, we've just fixed the first voyage on a short two-month TC to a leading trading house. So we are seeing additions on commercial management from newbuildings coming to us, but not necessarily from what's happening in the Middle East.

Liam Burke, Analyst at B. Riley Securities

Great, thank you. And then we're looking at your new acquisition, the Q Shipping, starting to pay dividends that added three vessels to the fleet. Are those tankers or—

Pankaj Khanna, CEO

Yeah, it's one small tanker and two handy-sized bulk carriers.

Liam Burke, Analyst at B. Riley Securities

Great. Oh, and two handy-sized bulkers.

Pankaj Khanna, CEO

Yeah, two handy-sized bulkers and one small tanker.

Liam Burke, Analyst at B. Riley Securities

Great. And then finally, you chartered out six vessels versus two a year ago. Is that still a quarter-to-quarter opportunistic event for you, or do you see opportunity to do more of that?

Pankaj Khanna, CEO

There are two aspects of that business. So there is the long-term charter—so where we take in for, let's say, 6, 12, 24 months. We have two MR vessels on two-year charters that we have chartered out, as I've mentioned in the past. And then there are short-term opportunities which depend on the quarter. So, you know, that's a quarter-to-quarter event. On the long-term stuff, we are in discussions right now with several people, but the rates are at elevated levels, and we are not there to take risk unless we can hedge it back to back.

OPERATOR

Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Tate Sullivan with Maxim Group. Please proceed with your question.

Tate Sullivan, Analyst at Maxim Group

Hi. Thank you, Pankaj. Great detail in your comments. Can you give more background on how your shipping services business benefits from higher tanker rates? Do you earn a percent fee when you lock in those higher rates for clients, or does it vary based on the structure of their agreement?

Pankaj Khanna, CEO

Look, I mean, as you know, the fee-based business is based on a percentage of gross freight. So with rates being as high as they are, people focus on headline rates. What rates are published by the Baltic, for example AG East of 500, 600, 700,000, are the exception—they're done by one or two or three ships; it's not the norm. But the rates outside of the AG are elevated. So Suezmaxes on average probably are making now $200,000 per day, or at least between 150 to 200.

Afras are making around 100 to 200,000 depending on the voyage, but the average is about 100,000 plus. So obviously at those kinds of rates we are making our percentage of the gross rate there. So that really drives revenue growth for us. So the more the ships we add, the rates being where they are and expected in Q4 and Q1 to go even higher, we should be able to get even higher revenues from there.

Tate Sullivan, Analyst at Maxim Group

Is the contracting business a meaningful portion of the total shipping services business in terms of getting that fee on the higher rates?

Pankaj Khanna, CEO

Yes, it is, but it varies quarter to quarter. So there is the core business of the commercial management that drives the fee-based business and then the so-called, let's say, the proprietary book that varies from quarter to quarter. I mean, you know, like a year ago we didn't have much of it because the rates [were] elevated. There were no opportunities to time charter in. And then we went in and took some ships and we were able to capitalize on the market.

So we are constantly looking for ships to increase the book where we see a margin. Right now, for example, three-year rate on an MR would be about 23, 23 and a half, whereas the one-year rate is about 30. So if we can lock in those kinds of numbers, where we go long with the three years and lock in the first year at 30, that's of interest to us. But that's more on the long-term basis. On the short term, it's very opportunistic. You know, we have a captive cargo that looks good, and then we find a ship that matches with it and we are able to make a margin off it.

Tate Sullivan, Analyst at Maxim Group

If the Strait of Hormuz traffic does increase, let's say in the next two years, will that create an immediate drop in rates in your view in the tanker market, or possibly create more urgency to get ships to the region?

Pankaj Khanna, CEO

Look, I mean, there is short term and long term, right? So short term, right now the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, what's happening in the Russia–Ukraine situation, assist in terms of the rates being where they are. But long term you have to also look at the fleet, and you have an average age of the fleet of over 14 years. Certain segments of the fleet have huge portions of the fleet which are approaching 20 years. So, I mean, on VLCCs you could have 30% of the fleet—about 33% of the fleet—be about 20 years in two, three years’ time.

The same, even higher, probably about 50% of the Aframax fleet could be in that segment of 20 years plus by the end of the decade. So those fleets normally in normal markets are excluded from the mainstream trades. So I think the age of the fleet plus the sanctioned fleet, which is substantial—it's 15 to 20% sanctioned—if you look at the long-term rates, you have to look at that aspect of the fleet besides what happens with oil demand. But also the other thing we're looking at is, you know, the distances that ships are traveling because of the need for diversifying sources of oil imports.

I mean, I've spoken about this before: Japan was importing 90% of their crude oil from the Middle East. Now they are trying desperately to diversify, and so that means longer imports. A lot of oil is coming from Guyana, Brazil. So that means ton-mile demand is increasing not only for crude but also for products.

Tate Sullivan, Analyst at Maxim Group

Thank you very much.

Pankaj Khanna, CEO

Thank you.

OPERATOR

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. As a reminder, it's star one to join the question queue. We'll pause just a moment to offer any other questions.

Pankaj Khanna, CEO

Okay, Melissa, there are no further questions. We can end the call, please.

OPERATOR

Sir, did you have any final comments to make?

Pankaj Khanna, CEO

No. Thank you very much for listening in, everyone, and we'll speak to you in the next quarter.

OPERATOR

Thank you. This concludes today's conference call. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.

Disclaimer: This transcript is provided for informational purposes only. While we strive for accuracy, there may be errors or omissions in this automated transcription. For official company statements and financial information, please refer to the company's SEC filings and official press releases. Corporate participants' and analysts' statements reflect their views as of the date of this call and are subject to change without notice.