Kirby Corporation (KEX)
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On the Mississippi, Kirby Corporation holds something like the house rules: 1,105 tank barges, roughly 28 percent of the U.S. inland tank barge fleet, protected by the Jones Act — and since 2022 earnings per share have nearly tripled ($2.03 to $6.33). Now the stock shows up in our value scanner built on Joel Greenblatt's Magic Formula. We ran the cross-check — in the annual report (10-K), in the quarterly reports (10-Q) and in the scanner's own raw data. The result: the record run is genuine, and so is the data center tailwind. The value seal, however, rests on an equity ratio of 5,889 percent in the data set — an outlier by a factor of 100. Not investment advice — just the cross-check at the original document before you follow the navigation system into the river.
Basics
Performance
Valuation
Profitability
Balance Sheet & Safety
Growth
Quality & Screener
AI Rating
–Not yet rated — we only show a category once an SEC-backed file with at least two cited passages is available. How the Rating Is Built
Quarterly Figures
| Quarter | EPS (Earnings Per Share) | EPS YoY (%) | Sales ($M) | Sales YoY (%) | Net Margin (%) | OCF ($M) | FCF ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024: Q4 | 0.74 | -29.10 | 802 | 0.40 | 5.30 | 247 | 151 |
| 2025: Q1 | 1.33 | 11.30 | 786 | -2.80 | 9.70 | 37 | -42 |
| 2025: Q2 | 1.67 | 16.70 | 856 | 3.80 | 11.00 | 94 | 22 |
| 2025: Q3 | 1.65 | 6.90 | 871 | 4.80 | 10.60 | 228 | 160 |
| 2025: Q4 | 1.50 | 103.10 | 844 | 5.20 | 9.60 | 312 | 265 |
| 2026: Q1 | 1.50 | 13.40 | 844 | 7.40 | 9.60 | 98 | 49 |
- EPS (Earnings Per Share):
- Quarterly profit divided by the total share count — how much of the profit works out to a single share.
- YoY (Year over Year):
- Change versus the same quarter a year ago — this is how you compare without seasonal distortion (e.g. the holiday shopping season).
- Sales:
- All revenue for the quarter, before any costs are deducted — the top line of the income statement.
- Net Margin:
- What percentage of sales is left over as profit in the end. Negative means the company is posting a loss.
- OCF (Operating Cash Flow):
- The cash that actually flows into the till from the core business during the quarter — harder to dress up than book profit.
- FCF (Free Cash Flow):
- Operating cash flow minus capital expenditures — the money that's genuinely free to use, say for paying down debt, buybacks, or dividends.
Assessment: Opportunities & Risks
Largest U.S. inland tank barge operator (1,105 barges, roughly 28 percent of the fleet), protected by the Jones Act; the industry fleet has stagnated since 2019, on the coast not a single newbuild is on order and Kirby pushed through price increases of 19 to 21 percent there in early 2026 (10-K 2025; 10-Q as of March 31, 2026).
Earnings per share nearly tripled since 2022 ($2.03 to $6.33), a 19.3 percent operating marine margin, $670 million in operating cash flow, debt at only 21.4 percent of total capitalization, interest coverage about eleven times — plus consistent buybacks instead of a dividend (since 1989).
The Magic Formula hit is a false echo: the equity ratio is stored in the fundamental data too high by a factor of 100 (5,889 instead of roughly 59 percent); in reality the return-on-capital approximation sits at about 6 percent — far below the formula's 25 percent threshold. The remaining six hits are trend/momentum signals, and the fundamental rating (B, 19 of 100) sits in the lower midfield.
Utilization fell into the 80s range in the second half of 2025, inland spot rates in early 2026 were four to six percent below the prior year; the fleet averages 17.8 years of age, newbuild prices sit near historical highs, and $226.6 of $264.5 million in capital expenditures is pure maintenance (10-K 2025).
The power generation business grew 20 and 26 percent in 2024/2025 to 43 percent of the service segment, with large project awards from data center customers — but Kirby is an equipment supplier there with a single-digit segment margin (6.7 percent in the first quarter of 2026), the oil legacy is shrinking at double-digit rates, and in 2024 the shift to electric fracking already cost a $56.3 million inventory write-down.
Kirby is the opposite of a warning-signal case — but no value bargain either: a conservatively financed, legally protected market leader in record form whose Greenblatt label rests on a unit outlier in the fundamental data (honest return-on-capital approximation: about 6 instead of the required 25 percent). Freight utilization has been crumbling since the second half of 2025, the fleet is aging while newbuild prices sit near historical highs, and 21 times a record profit already honors the quality. The data center tailwind in the service business is real but carries single-digit margins. Not investment advice.
- The Magic Formula membership rests on a data error (the equity ratio stored too high by a factor of 100 in the fundamental data); the article lays the cross-check open. The scanner row is documented in the screenshot (data as of July 8, 2026, confirmed live on July 14, 2026).
- All balance-sheet and earnings figures come from the SEC filings (10-K 2025, filed 17.02.2026; 10-Q as of 31.03.2026, filed 08.05.2026) and are dated in the text; valuation figures carry the data cut-off of July 8, 2026 — analyses are evergreen, daily prices are not a buy argument.
- Analyst estimates ($7.01 and $8.28 in earnings per share for 2026/2027) are consensus forecasts of five professionals, not facts — with cyclicals, estimates have historically been revised most heavily at turning points.
- Kirby reports utilization only as ranges (e.g. "low-90% range"); the wording in the text follows the language of the 10-K/10-Q.
About the Company
Kirby Corporation betreibt Inlandstankschiffe in den USA. Das Segment Marine Transportation bietet Schifftransportdienste und Schleppschiffe zum Transport von Flüssiggütern an und betreibt Tankschiffe auf dem Mississippi-River-System und dem Gulf Intracoastal Waterway.
| IPO Year | 1991 |
|---|---|
| Next Earnings | 30. Jul 2026 |
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Data as of: July 2, 2026 · Source: fundamental data & SEC filings (annual and quarterly reports, 10-K/10-Q)
Note: pure fact-based analysis, not investment advice and not a solicitation to buy or sell. All figures without guarantee.