Start here if you're new
what it is
Kirby moves chemicals and fuel on U.S. waterways and keeps industrial engines running with parts and repair work.
how it gets paid
Last year Kirby made $3.4B in revenue. Inland chemical transportation was the main engine at $1.10B, or 32% of sales.
why it's growing
Revenue grew 3.0% last year. The key number was $1.68 in EPS because it beat the $1.65 estimate and confirmed the pricing recovery is showing up in profit.
what just happened
Kirby earned $1.68 a share in Q4 2025, beating the $1.65 estimate while revenue reached $851.8 million.
At a glance
B++ balance sheet — above average — nothing keeping you up at night
45/100 earnings predictability — expect surprises
18.9x trailing p/e — priced about right
8.0% return on capital — nothing to write home about
xvary composite: 59/100 — below average
What they do
Kirby moves chemicals and fuel on U.S. waterways and keeps industrial engines running with parts and repair work.
Kirby wins on scale and coverage. At 12/31/24, it operated 1,435 barges, towboats, and tugboats with 5,414 employees, which means you are buying a network that is hard to replicate one vessel at a time. In inland marine, scale lowers empty miles and lifts utilization (asset use → how often equipment is working → better pricing and profit).
How they make money
$3.4B
annual revenue · their business grew +3.0% last year
Inland chemical transportation
$1.10B
+3.0%
Inland petroleum transportation
$0.66B
+3.0%
Coastal marine transportation
$0.25B
+22.0%
Engine parts distribution
$0.70B
+3.0%
Repair and industrial services
$0.69B
+3.0%
The products that matter
marine transportation network
Inland Waterway Transportation
$3.4B company revenue base
This is the center of gravity. The snapshot does not break out inland revenue cleanly, but management commentary keeps circling back to inland conditions, utilization, and pricing. If you are judging the next quarter, start there.
center of gravity
coastal transport exposure
Coastal Marine
+22% Q4 revenue growth
Coastal revenue jumped 22% in the latest quarter on stronger refinery activity, utilization, and pricing. That's real momentum. It is also a reminder that part of the recent good news came from a pocket of the business tied to refinery demand.
recent bright spot
industrial equipment support
Distribution & Services
recovery noted, split not shown
Management said this unit kept recovering. The page still does not give you a clean revenue split. That's a real limitation. When the data is thin, you find out about slippage later than you want to.
data is thin
Key numbers
22.5%
eps growth
Projected earnings growth is 22.5% a year versus 7.0% projected sales growth, which means pricing and operating leverage are doing the heavy lifting.
$1.0B
long-term debt
Debt is 14% of capital, which means leverage exists but is not the whole story for a company with a B++ balance sheet grade.
20.0%
operating margin
Operating margin means profit after running the business but before interest and taxes. Plain English: Kirby keeps $0.20 from each $1 of revenue before financing costs.
18.9x
trailing p/e
P/E means price-to-earnings, or how much you pay for each $1 of profit. At 18.9x, Kirby is priced like a solid operator, not a broken cyclical.
Financial health
B++
strength
- balance sheet grade B++ — above average financial health
- risk rank 3 — safer than 50% of stocks
- price stability 60 / 100
- long-term debt $1.0B (14% of capital)
- net profit margin 10.2% — keeps 10 cents of every dollar in revenue
- return on equity 8% — $0.08 profit for every $1 investors have put in
B++ — functional but not a standout on the balance sheet.
Total return vs. market
You invested $10,000 in KEX 3 years ago → it's now worth $16,320.
The index would have given you $13,880.
source: institutional data · total return
What just happened
beat estimates
Kirby earned $1.68 a share in Q4 2025, beating the $1.65 estimate while revenue reached $851.8 million.
The quarter was driven by a 3% increase in marine transportation revenue and a 22% jump in the coastal marine business. Management called 2025 a record-setting year.
$851.8M
revenue
$1.68
eps
20.0%
gross margin
the number that mattered
The key number was $1.68 in EPS because it beat the $1.65 estimate and confirmed the pricing recovery is showing up in profit, not just headlines.
-
kirby had a record-setting year in 2025.
-
the top line for the fourth quarter advanced 6% vs. prior year, to $851.8 million.the strong finish capped a year of broad-based operating improvement, with higher utilization and improving market conditions across the core marine transportation unit, alongside a continued recovery in the distribution & services (d&s) unit.
-
marine transportation unit revenues rose 3%, with early signs of stabilization across the inland marine sector (accounts for 79% of the marine transportation business) as the quarter progressed.
-
the coastal marine arm surged 22% due to increased refinery activity and higher utilization and pricing compared to a year ago.the power and generation end market has become one of the d&s segment’s standout markets, due to a greater need for backup power amid ai data center buildouts and digital infrastructure expansion.
-
on the profitability front, the company ended the year with strong momentum, as share earnings of $1.68 advanced 30%, from the year-ago tally.
source: company earnings report, 2026
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What could go wrong
kirby's late-year improvement came from very specific places — inland stabilization, stronger coastal demand, and better profit conversion. If any of those three wobble, the stock loses the clean part of the story fast.
med
inland marine demand softens again
Management said inland conditions stabilized as the quarter progressed. If that stabilization fades, the main earnings engine loses utilization and pricing support.
This matters because the page keeps pointing back to inland marine as the center of the story inside a $3.4B revenue business.
med
coastal strength cools with refinery activity
The coastal marine arm surged 22% because refinery activity, utilization, and pricing improved. Good news on the way up usually works in reverse on the way down.
If refinery demand normalizes, one of the clearest recent growth pockets stops helping at the exact moment investors are using it as proof of momentum.
med
thin segment detail hides the slowdown until later
Management highlighted continued recovery in distribution & services, but this page does not give you a clean segment revenue split. That makes deterioration harder to spot before it hits consolidated results.
When disclosure is thin, you get fewer early warnings. That is not accounting drama. It is just less time to react.
If inland demand weakens and the margin story slips with it, you are left paying 18.9x earnings for a business with 45/100 predictability.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
the number
whether 19.5% operating margin holds
That's the number doing the quiet work. Kirby does not need explosive growth if margins stay here. If they slip, the multiple stops looking routine.
trend
inland stabilization staying visible
Management said inland conditions improved as the quarter progressed. You want that sentence to keep showing up, not vanish after one clean quarter.
next print
whether Q4 momentum carries into FY2026
Q4 EPS hit $1.68 and revenue reached $851.8M. The next report tells you whether that was a trend or just a well-timed quarter.
risk
the odd revenue estimate versus last year's actual
The page shows a $3B FY2026 revenue estimate against $3.4B last year. Treat that gap as something to verify, not something to blindly model around.
Analyst rankings
short-term outlook
average
momentum score 3. in human-speak, analysts think this is fine, not urgent.
risk profile
average
stability score 3. You are not buying a bunker stock, but you are not buying a rollercoaster either.
chart momentum
average
technical score 3. The chart is behaving like an ordinary stock, which is another way of saying there is no obvious signal to chase.
earnings predictability
45 / 100
45/100 predictability means quarter-to-quarter noise is part of the package. If you want cleaner earnings rhythm, this is not that.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
200 buyers vs. 211 sellers in 3q2025. total institutional holdings: 55.2M shares.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
$89
$202
$119
current price
$146
target midpoint · +22% from current · 3-5yr high: $200 (+65% · 14% ann'l return)
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