Sifting through countless of stocks in the Energy Equipment & Services industry can be tedious, and sometimes two stocks are just too similar to judge which is the better investment. If you’re on the fence about investing in RPC, Inc. or Tidewater Inc. because you’re not sure how they measure up, it’s important to compare them on a few factors before making your decision.

Read on to learn how RPC, Inc. and Tidewater Inc. compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About RPC, Inc. and Tidewater Inc.

RPC, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages provision of a range of oilfield services and equipment for the oil and gas companies involved in the exploration, production, and development of oil and gas properties. The company operates through Technical Services and Support Services segments. The Technical Services segment offers pressure pumping, cementing, downhole tools, coiled tubing, snubbing, nitrogen, well control, wireline, and fishing services that are used in the completion, production, and maintenance of wells, as well as well control training. The Support Services segment provides a range of rental tools drill pipe and related tools, as well as pipe handling, pipe inspection and storage services. It rents its tools for use with onshore and offshore oil and gas well drilling, completion, and workover activities. It operates in Africa, Canada, Argentina, Mexico, Latin America, and the Middle East. The company was incorporated in 1984 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

Tidewater Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides offshore support vessels and marine support services to the offshore energy industry through the operation of a fleet of offshore marine service vessels worldwide. The company operates through five segments: Americas, Asia Pacific, Middle East, Europe/Mediterranean, and West Africa. It offers phases of offshore crude oil and natural gas exploration, field development, production, maintenance, and windfarm development and maintenance activities; towing and anchor handling for mobile offshore drilling units; transportation of supplies and personnel necessary to sustain drilling, workover, and production operations; and field abandonment, dismantlement, and restoration activities. The company also provides offshore construction; seismic and subsea support; various other specialized services, such as pipe laying, cable laying, and geotechnical survey support for windfarm construction. Its vessels consist of anchor handling towing supply vessels, platform supply vessels, and other specialty vessels, as well as crew boats, utility vessels, and offshore tugs. The company serves integrated and independent oil and gas exploration, development, and production companies; mid-sized and smaller independent exploration and production companies; foreign government-owned or government-controlled organizations engaged in the exploration, development, and production of oil and gas; offshore drilling contractors; and other companies that provide services to the offshore energy industry comprising offshore construction companies, windfarm development companies, diving companies, and well stimulation companies. Tidewater Inc. was incorporated in 1956 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

Latest Energy Equipment & Services and RPC, Inc., Tidewater Inc. Stock News

As of September 1, 2026, RPC, Inc. had a $1.4 billion market capitalization, compared to the Energy Equipment & Services median of $1.4 million. RPC, Inc.’s stock is up 21.3% in 2026, up 7.5% in the previous five trading days and up 37.32% in the past year.

Currently, RPC, Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 65.5. RPC, Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $1.8 billion with a 1.3% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 9.5%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $0.277 per share for the current fiscal year. RPC, Inc. currently has a 2.4% dividend yield.

As of September 1, 2026, Tidewater Inc. had a $4.8 billion market cap, putting it in the 66th percentile of all stocks. Tidewater Inc.’s stock is up 96.4% in 2026, up 11.7% in the previous five trading days and up 59.65% in the past year.

Currently, Tidewater Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 19.4. Tidewater Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $1.3 billion with a 18.3% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 0.3%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $2.786 per share for the current fiscal year. Tidewater Inc. does not currently pay a dividend.

How We Compare RPC, Inc. and Tidewater Inc. Stock Grades

Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data and the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movements. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors streamline and work through such data.

AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A‐F grades for each of five key investing factors: value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality. Here, we’ll take a closer look at RPC, Inc. and Tidewater Inc.’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

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RPC, Inc. and Tidewater Inc. Stock Value Grades

Company	Ticker	Value
RPC, Inc.	RES	C
Tidewater Inc.	TDW	C

Successful stock investing involves buying low and selling high, so stock valuation is an important consideration for stock selection.

Buying stocks that are going to go up typically means buying stocks that are undervalued in the first place, although momentum investors may argue that point.

AAII’s A+ Investor Value Grade derives from a stock’s value score. The Value Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of the price-to-sales ratio, price-earnings ratio, enterprise-value-to-EBITDA (EV/EBITDA) ratio, shareholder yield, price-to-book-value ratio and price-to-free-cash-flow ratio. The score is variable, meaning it can consider all six ratios or, should any of the six ratios not be valid, the remaining ratios that are valid. To be assigned a Value Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) ratio and corresponding ranking for at least two of the six valuation ratios.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are a good value and so on.

RPC, Inc. has a Value Score of 48, which is Average. Tidewater Inc. has a Value Score of 45, which is Average.

The Value Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither RPC, Inc. or Tidewater Inc. has a high enough value grade to be considered a “winner.” Investors who are considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolio. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if RPC, Inc. or Tidewater Inc. is the better investment when it comes to value.

RPC, Inc. and Tidewater Inc. Growth Grades

Company	Ticker	Growth
RPC, Inc.	RES	C
Tidewater Inc.	TDW	C

The foundation of growth investing is seeking out stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth that is expected to continue into the future.

In order to compute the growth score and assign it a letter grade, the percentile ranks for each of three components‐consistency of annual sales growth, five-year sales growth rankings adjusted for extreme levels, and consistency of positive annual cash from operations‐must be determined. These three rank figures are added together, and the sum is ranked against the entire stock universe to arrive at a company’s Growth Score to create an equal distribution of grades.

The companies in the bottom 20% of the stock universe receive Growth Grades of F, considered to be very weak, while those in the top 20% receive A grades, which are considered very strong.

RPC, Inc. has a Growth Score of 59, which is Average. Tidewater Inc. has a Growth Score of 59, which is Average.

The Growth Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither RPC, Inc. or Tidewater Inc. has a high enough Growth Grade to be considered a “winner.” Investors who are considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolios. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if RPC, Inc. or Tidewater Inc. is the better investment when it comes to sustainable growth.

RPC, Inc. and Tidewater Inc.’s Quality Grades

Company	Ticker	Quality
RPC, Inc.	RES	B
Tidewater Inc.	TDW	B

Like the Value Grade, AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the percentile rank of key metrics. Specifically, the Quality Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of return on assets (ROA), return on invested capital (ROIC), gross profit relative to assets, buyback yield, change in total liabilities to assets, accruals, Z double prime bankruptcy risk (Z) score and the F-Score.

The score is variable, meaning it can consider all eight measures or, should any of the eight measures not be valid, the remaining measures that are valid. To be assigned a Quality Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) measure and corresponding ranking for at least four of the eight quality measures.

The Quality Score is used to assess the underlying “quality” of a particular stock. A higher-quality stock possesses traits associated with upside potential and reduced downside risk. Backtesting of the Quality Grade shows that stocks with higher grades, on average, outperformed stocks with lower grades over the period of 1998 through 2019.

Stocks receive better grades (higher scores) for having higher scores for the quality subcomponents and worse grades (lower scores) for lower scores for the subcomponents.

RPC, Inc. has a Quality Score of 78, which is Strong. Tidewater Inc. has a Quality Score of 72, which is Strong.

The Quality Grade Winner: It’s a Tie!

Looking at the Quality Grade breakdown above, both RPC, Inc. and Tidewater Inc. have a grade of B. For investors who focus solely on a company’s overall quality, you will need to conduct further research into both companies to see if they are a good fit for your portfolio. As a good rule of thumb, you should always analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before choosing a company to invest in.

Other RPC, Inc. and Tidewater Inc. Grades

In addition to Value, Growth and Quality, A+ Investor also provides grades for Momentum and Estimate Revisions.

Momentum grades help uncover stocks experiencing anomalously high rates of return; research finds that stocks with high relative levels of momentum tend to outperform, whereas those with low levels of momentum tend to continue underperforming.

Earnings estimate revisions scores take into account the magnitude of a company’s earnings surprise in its last two reported fiscal quarters. Often, surprises beget further surprises‐or at least continued sales growth (the exact opposite is generally true, too).

These 2 key factors, when combined with the above, provide a holistic view into a particular stock. Further, by joining A+ Investor you can see whether RPC, Inc. and Tidewater Inc. pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.

So, Which Is the Better Investment, RPC, Inc. or Tidewater Inc. Stock?

Overall, RPC, Inc. stock has a Value Score of 48, Growth Score of 59 and Quality Score of 78.

Tidewater Inc. stock has a Value Score of 45, Growth Score of 59 and Quality Score of 72.

Comparing RPC, Inc. and Tidewater Inc.’s grades, scores and metrics can act as a solid basis to determine whether they may be a good investment or not. You’ll also want to look at your portfolio’s asset allocation as well as your risk tolerance and financial goals to see if either of these stocks would make a good fit for you. AAII can help you figure out which investments align with your individual needs and preferences.

Investors are encouraged to do their own due diligence and research. In this way, individuals can effectively become managers of their own assets‐without having to rely on others for financial independence. You can count on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis.

A+ Investor adds to our qualitative teaching with a powerful data suite to help you whittle down investment choices to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.

AAII Disclaimer

We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith, and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.