Prairie Operating Co. Common Stock (PROP)
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Prairie Operating pumps oil and gas in Colorado's DJ Basin and multiplied its output within a single year, through acquisitions, from 464 to 18,487 barrels a day — an impressive number. Only: that growth was paid for with a heavily drawn credit line, a $148 million preferred stock and fresh common shares. We read the annual and the quarterly report: what is left is roughly $484 million of net debt, a net loss of $60.9 million and a share price our scanner carries with six downtrend filters. Growth you buy on credit is simply not the same thing as value created — and the market is doing that arithmetic right now.
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This stock currently matches 10 of our scanner strategies — each hit links to the scanner.
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Basics
Performance
Valuation
Profitability
Balance Sheet & Safety
Growth
Quality & Screener
AI Rating
NeutralGeprüft am 10.07.2026 gegen den Geschäftsbericht (10-K) 2025 (eingereicht 31.03.2026), den Geschäftsbericht 2024 sowie die vier jüngsten Quartalsberichte (10-Q): In den ausgewerteten SEC-Filings von Prairie Operating (Öl- und Gasförderer im DJ Basin) findet sich kein wesentlicher KI-Bezug. Es gibt keine KI-Produkte oder -Dienste als Umsatzquelle, keinen belegten operativen KI-Einsatz und keine Nennung von KI als konkretes Geschäftsrisiko fürs eigene Fördergeschäft. Die einzigen Treffer sind generische Floskeln im Cybersicherheits-Risikoabschnitt (Item 1A) des 10-K 2025 — etwa der Verweis auf KI-generierte Deepfakes und auf Fortschritte im Feld der Künstlichen Intelligenz als Bedrohung für IT-Sicherheitsmaßnahmen. Das ist Boilerplate ohne Bezug zum Geschäftsmodell und daher kein Einstufungsgrund. Klassischer Negativ-Befund eines E&P-Unternehmens.
View the full file — quotes, sources, reviewed filings
„Cybersecurity attacks are also becoming more sophisticated and include, but are not limited to, ransomware, credential stuffing, spear phishing, social engineering, use of deepfakes (i.e., highly realistic synthetic media generated by artificial intelligence), and other attempts to gain unauthorized access to data for purposes of extortion or other malfeasance."
Cyberangriffe werden zudem immer ausgefeilter und umfassen unter anderem Ransomware, Credential Stuffing, Spear-Phishing, Social Engineering, den Einsatz von Deepfakes (d. h. hochrealistische, von künstlicher Intelligenz erzeugte synthetische Medien) und andere Versuche, sich unbefugt Zugang zu Daten zu verschaffen — zum Zweck der Erpressung oder anderer böswilliger Handlungen.
„Advances in computer capabilities, discoveries in the field of artificial intelligence, cryptography, or other developments may result in a compromise or breach of the technology we use to safeguard confidential, personal, or otherwise protected information."
Fortschritte bei Rechenkapazitäten, Entdeckungen im Feld der künstlichen Intelligenz, der Kryptografie oder andere Entwicklungen können zu einer Kompromittierung oder Verletzung der Technologie führen, mit der wir vertrauliche, personenbezogene oder anderweitig geschützte Informationen absichern.
Filings Reviewed: 10-K 2026-03-31 · 10-Q 2026-05-14 · 10-Q 2025-11-14 · 10-Q 2025-08-12 · 10-Q 2025-05-15 · 10-K 2025-03-06
Rated on July 10, 2026 · How the Rating Is Built
Highlighted are things our editorial team noticed: green = stands out as strong, red = deserves a closer look. No single metric is a verdict on its own — always read it in context.
Quarterly Figures
| Quarter | EPS (Earnings Per Share) | EPS YoY (%) | Sales ($M) | Sales YoY (%) | Net Margin (%) | OCF ($M) | FCF ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024: Q4 | -0.12 | – | 8 | 773.40 | -150.40 | -4 | -24 |
| 2025: Q1 | -0.03 | – | 14 | – | -19.30 | 17 | 2 |
| 2025: Q2 | 0.37 | – | 68 | – | 52.40 | -7 | -47 |
| 2025: Q3 | 0.01 | – | 78 | – | 1.70 | 58 | 450 |
| 2025: Q4 | -0.02 | – | 83 | 945.60 | -2.80 | 87 | 31 |
| 2026: Q1 | -1.56 | – | 83 | 513.80 | -183.00 | 42 | 8 |
- 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
Prairie produces real oil and gas in the established DJ Basin (18,487 Boe/day in 2025, roughly half of it oil) and reports 121 million barrels of proved reserves with a PV-10 of $1.22 billion — substance in the ground. Production costs per barrel are low. But the growth comes from acquisitions, not from its own drilling, and the PV-10 holds only at a fixed cut-off price.
The jump in output is real, yet it does not carry itself: despite output rising forty-fold, 2025 ended with a net loss of $60.9 million (net margin roughly minus 38 percent), while the realized price per barrel fell from $46.70 to $35.81. Plenty of volume, a weak price, red ink — Prairie produces a great deal and so far earns nothing for its shareholders.
The acquisition roll-up (Bayswater alone $602.8 million) drove the drawn credit line to $366.0 million; net debt stands at roughly $484 million — about 3.1 times operating profit. The credit limit (borrowing base $475 million) is redetermined twice a year and depends on the oil price. No acute going-concern issue, but serious, price-dependent leverage.
Next to the debt, shareholders paid with their stake: $148.3 million of Series F preferred stock (convertible into 21.5 million shares) plus 3.66 million new common shares to Bayswater. The weighted share count rose from 15.5 million to 45.2 million, with roughly 97.7 million outstanding (mid-2026). There is no dividend. Growth on credit and with fresh shares at the same time.
Optically cheap (price-to-sales around 0.25), but normally valued on an enterprise-value basis (EV/EBITDA about 3.6, roughly $30,400 per Boe/day). Technically, six weakness and downtrend filters carry the stock close to its low — the market confirms the skepticism toward the debt-financed model. Cheap here can also mean cheap for good reason.
Prairie Operating is a debt-financed oil and gas producer in the DJ Basin that multiplied its output within a single year, through acquisitions, from 464 to 18,487 barrels a day. The oil really flows, and the reserves (PV-10 $1.22 billion) are substance. But the growth was paid for with a heavily drawn credit line ($366.0 million drawn, net debt roughly $484 million, about 3.1 times EBITDA), a preferred stock worth $148.3 million and fresh common shares — alongside a net loss of $60.9 million and a realized price that fell to $35.81 per barrel. No acute doubt about survival, but high, price-dependent leverage, heavy dilution and a share price in a confirmed downtrend. A leveraged bet on a firm oil price, not a bargain. Not investment advice.
- Materiality gate (finding typology): debt — net debt of roughly $484 million, about 3.1 times EBITDA ($158 million); credit facility $366.0 million drawn against a borrowing base of $475 million (only $113.5 million free as of 31.03.2026), redetermined every six months against the oil price. A serious structural finding with existential proximity under stress (a borrowing-base cut), but NOT an existential finding in the narrow sense, since the company expressly denies a going-concern doubt and the PV-10 ($1.22 billion) covers the debt. Outspending/capital discipline — Bayswater $602.8 million debt-financed, a net loss of $60.9 million, a margin of minus 38 percent = a structural/price finding. Dilution — shares from 15.5 million to 45.2 million (weighted) and roughly 97.7 million outstanding, Series F convertible into 21.5 million shares = a price finding. Commodity price — realized $35.81 per Boe (down from $46.70), gas $0.88 per Mcf, partly hedged (around $62 for oil in 2026) = a price/cyclicality finding. Downtrend — six weakness and downtrend filters, close to the 52-week low = market confirmation. Overall picture: no single existential finding, but the cluster of serious structural and price findings at debt-financed growth with a confirmed downtrend justifies caution on the evidence rather than the reflexive "watch" — there is no margin of safety at all.
- Identity/history: Prairie Operating Co. (CIK 1162896, Commission File 001-41895, Delaware, ISIN US7396501097). Until May 2023 the company was named "Creek Road Miners, Inc." (a bitcoin miner); the reverse merger with Prairie LLC (completed in May 2023) turned it into the oil and gas producer. That explains the extreme price history against old all-time highs (a change of name and structure), which is not an operating argument for buying.
- Price and valuation figures are dated to mid-2026; analyses are evergreen, daily prices are not a buy argument. The market value of roughly $79 million refers to roughly 97.7 million shares outstanding; the enterprise value of roughly $563 million follows from market value plus net debt.
- Special-situation screening (EDGAR full index, CIK 1162896): the SC 13D filings date from 2023 (the reverse-merger/founding and insider environment, amendments through 08/2024); the DEF 14A 2026 is an ordinary annual meeting. No live hostile activist campaign, no announced strategic review, no poison pill (rights plan) and no takeover offer in the most recent mandatory filings. Insiders hold roughly 29 percent. A subordinated note ($5.0 million) is held by entities of director Jonathan H. Gray (a related party, with a 2.0x minimum return).
- AI rating: neutral (a documented negative finding). The filings evaluated (10-K 2025/2024, 10-Q Q1 2026) contain no material AI angle: no AI revenue source, no documented operational use of AI, no AI business risk to the company's own model. The only hits are boilerplate in the cybersecurity risk section (deepfakes, AI-assisted attacks) — not grounds for a rating.
About the Company
Prairie Operating Co., ein unabhängiges Energieunternehmen, befasst sich mit dem Erwerb und der Erschließung von Rohöl-, Erdgas- und Erdgasflüssigkeitsvorkommen in den USA.
| Employees | 59 |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Houston, TX |
| Website | prairieopco.com |
| Next Earnings | 11. Aug 2026 |
Management
| Name | Title | Birth Year |
|---|---|---|
| Gregory S. Patton | CEO & Director | 1986 |
| Michael Shelly | Executive VP & CFO | 1976 |
| Bryan Freeman | Executive Vice President of Operations | 1971 |
| Daniel T. Sweeney | Executive VP, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary | 1977 |
| Louis J. Basenese | Executive Vice President of Market Strategy | 1978 |
Executives per the latest required filings; titles kept in their original language. Source: fundamental data.
Chart
Interactive price chart (TradingView).
Data as of: July 27, 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.