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Largest US operator of inland tank barges moving petrochemicals, refined products and other liquids on US waterways; also a diesel-engine services business.
Largest US operator of inland tank barges moving petrochemicals, refined products and other liquids on US waterways; also a diesel-engine services business.
Bills customers either under term contracts, typically a year, that reset annually, or at spot rates when barge supply is tight, so fleet use and pricing drive earnings. A second segment sells and services engines, transmissions and power equipment, and is more tied to energy investment; Stewart & Stevenson was bought in 2014.
Moat: narrow (scale, installed base). Largest US inland tank-barge fleet with route/terminal relationships hard to replicate.
Headquarters: Houston, Texas, USA · Founded: 1921 · Employees: 5,233
Size Kirby (KEX) is a United States Industrials company (Marine Shipping) with a market value of $6.39B, the 1014th largest of 3,117 United States companies the cockpit tracks. Shares closed at $121.00 on 6 Nov 2026.
Performance Over six months the shares fell 14.9%, against +12.2% for the median peer and -1.1% for the United States market (cap-weighted) — 2nd lowest of 21 in its peer set.
Growth Revenue grew 8.5% over the last twelve months (peer median +2.5%); the operating margin is 14.2% (peer median 17.1%).
Valuation It trades at 14.6× forward earnings against a peer median of 7.3× (2nd most expensive of 20).
Price implies For today's price to make sense, revenue must grow about 6% a year for seven years (Req g). Recent delivered growth is +9%, so the hurdle is -3 pp: the price already allows for a slowdown.
Capital Return on invested capital runs 0.6 points above its cost of capital (8.4% WACC).
Credit Kirby has 1 bond outstanding ($500M), rated BBB+ by the agencies and trading like A- at a weighted spread of 55 bp.
Short interest Short interest is 4.5% of the free float (15 Oct 2026).
Next results Next results expected around 4 Feb 2027 (exchange calendar; dates can move).
| TTM | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $3.60B | $3.36B | $3.27B | $3.09B | $2.78B |
| Revenue growth | — | +3% | +6% | +11% | — |
| Gross profit | $916M | $883M | $825M | $700M | $522M |
| EBITDA | $807M | $785M | $726M | $570M | $415M |
| Net income | $374M | $355M | $287M | $223M | $122M |
| Free cash flow | n/a | $406M | $414M | $138M | $122M |
| Capital expenditure | n/a | $264M | $343M | $402M | $173M |
| Total debt | $1.07B | $1.13B | $1.06B | $1.19B | $1.26B |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kirby KEX | $6.39B | -15% | +8% | 14% | 14.6× | 6.2% |
| Matson MATX | $6.34B | +16% | 0% | 14% | 10.9× | 11.8% |
| Genesis Energy, L.P GEL | $1.57B | -21% | -17% | 19% | n/a | 2.2% |
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 | KEX | Peer median | Rank in peer set |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-month return | -12.4% | -6.0% | 3rd lowest of 21 |
| 6-month return | -14.9% | +12.2% | 2nd lowest of 21 |
| Distance from 52-week high | -23.3% | -14.8% | 3rd lowest of 21 |
| Revenue growth (TTM) | +8.5% | +2.5% | 8th highest of 20 |
| Operating margin | 14.2% | 17.1% | 9th lowest of 21 |
| Forward P/E | 14.6× | 7.3× | 2nd most expensive of 20 |
| Growth the price implies (Req g, 7 yrs) | 6.2% | -1.1% | 4th most demanding of 17 |
| Growth delivered (Del g) | +9.2% | +11.3% | 6th lowest of 17 |
| Hurdle (Req g minus delivered) | -2.9 pp | -13.9 pp | 3rd most demanding of 17 |
| ROIC minus cost of capital | +0.6 pp | +1.0 pp | 9th lowest of 21 |
| EV / EBITDA | 9.2× | 6.3× | 5th most expensive of 15 |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 1.3× | 0.7× | 7th most indebted of 17 |
| Bond spread | 55 bp | n/a | — |
| Company | Market | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | Op. margin | Forward P/E | Req g | Delivered g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kirby KEX | United States | $6.39B | -15% | +8% | 14% | 14.6× | 6.2% | +9.2% |
| Matson MATX | United States | $6.34B | +16% | 0% | 14% | 10.9× | 11.8% | +7.0% |
| Yang Ming Marine Transport 2609.TW | Taiwan | $6.03B | +14% | -22% | 6% | 6.5× | n/a | n/a |
| Wallenius Wilhelmsen WAWI.OL | Norway | $7.58B | +29% | -11% | 25% | 10.4× | -6.6% | +21.0% |
| Wan Hai Lines 2615.TW | Taiwan | $9.12B | +40% | -14% | 22% | 5.8× | -12.0% | +11.4% |
| COSCO Shipping Specialized Carriers 600428.SS | China | $4.40B | +25% | +37% | 19% | 8.9× | -17.9% | +27.0% |
| Ningbo Zhoushan Port 601018.SS | China | $10.4B | -4% | +12% | 16% | n/a | -7.3% | +7.6% |
| COSCO SHIPPING Development 601866.SS | China | $3.87B | -10% | -3% | 13% | 3.8× | n/a | n/a |
| Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha 9107.T | Japan | $11.0B | +17% | +11% | 8% | 9.4× | 7.3% | +10.2% |
| Hoegh Autoliners HAUTO.OL | Norway | $3.64B | +20% | -4% | 30% | 9.6× | -0.1% | +16.4% |
| ZIM Integrated Shipping Services ZIM | United States | $3.37B | +5% | -25% | 6% | 3.7× | 2.7% | +11.6% |
| COSCO SHIPPING Energy Transportation 1138.HK | Hong Kong | $12.8B | -22% | +22% | 31% | 4.7× | 0.5% | +7.1% |
| OOIL 0316.HK | Hong Kong | $12.8B | +10% | -8% | 10% | 5.9× | -2.3% | +3.6% |
| Star Bulk Carriers SBLK | United States | $2.99B | 0% | +6% | 28% | 5.7× | -0.1% | +8.5% |
| Shenzhen Yan Tian Port 000088.SZ | China | $2.97B | +2% | +19% | 12% | 16.5× | 21.8% | +10.1% |
| Shanghai Jinjiang Shipping (Group) 601083.SS | China | $2.75B | +17% | +11% | 24% | 11.3× | -18.7% | +15.2% |
| Mitsui O.s.k. Lines 9104.T | Japan | $15.0B | +10% | +20% | 6% | 7.3× | n/a | n/a |
| Danaos DAC | United States | $2.70B | +10% | +2% | 48% | 5.3× | -8.7% | +17.7% |
| HMM 011200.KS | South Korea | $15.3B | +8% | -5% | 11% | 9.7× | -1.8% | +11.2% |
| SITC International 1308.HK | Hong Kong | $15.8B | +34% | +5% | 34% | 10.7× | -0.4% | +15.3% |
| Capital Tankers CAPT.OL | Norway | $2.57B | +45% | n/a | 37% | 7.3× | n/a | n/a |
Kirby has 1 bond outstanding with $500M face value. The agencies rate it BBB+; its bonds trade like A-. Weighted yield 5.03%, a spread of 55 bp over government bonds.