Liberty Energy Inc. (LBRT)
🔔 Watch stock
symbol.quality_heading
The business works in principle, but one material question is open. As long as it stays open, our findings do not carry a quality verdict.
Red would require a finding against substance, and there is none: $555.4 million of cash as of June 30, 2026, equity of $1,963.8 million at a 43.8 percent equity ratio, positive operating cash flow, an undrawn $750.0 million revolving facility, covenants met, effective disclosure controls and $1,295.0 million of debt that does not mature until 2031 and 2032. Green would require proof that the core business carries itself: the operating margin was 1.6 percent in the first half of 2026 against 16.0 percent in 2023, the reported profit mostly comes from investments carried at daily quoted prices, and free cash flow has swung from positive $411.3 million in 2023 to negative $239.4 million in the first half of 2026. At the same time roughly $1.9 billion of power equipment is on order while the company itself writes that the flagship arrangements are not yet binding. That is a weighty open operational question, but not a threat to substance — hence yellow. The decision is yours.
symbol.quality_note
Liberty Energy ranks 19th in our in-house Big Earnings Surprise screen (U.S. selection, 81 hits, as of July 26, 2026). The Denver fracturing contractor has repeatedly beaten analyst estimates — yet that profit barely comes from the core business any more: in 2025 Liberty earned $72.7 million from operations and $162.6 million from investments. We read the Form 10-Q for June 30, 2026 and the Form 10-K for 2025. Check where a profit comes from before you mistake it for earning power.
Read the analysis
Stock Watch
This analysis is as of July 26, 2026. Stock Watch will tell you what's changed at LBRT since then.
Later $1 a month per stock — signing up is free, and you'll be the first to know when it launches.
Appears in These Scanners
This stock currently matches 10 of our scanner strategies — each hit links to the scanner.
Only genuine hits from verified scanners count; pure ranking metrics (P/E, P/S, and similar, which just sort the whole universe) don't count as a hit. View all scanners
Trading Day
Key levels of the most recently completed trading day — not a live quote.
52-Week Range
Current price 18.70 $ — 36% of the range above the low.
Lowest and highest closing price over the last 52 weeks. The marker shows where the current price sits within that range: close to the high speaks for strength, close to the low for weakness.
Basics
Performance
Technical Indicators
Calculated from the price history · as of 08/03/2026
Valuation
Profitability
Balance Sheet & Safety
Growth
Dividend
Quality & Screener
AI Rating
NeutralIn den sechs ausgewerteten SEC-Berichten kommt Künstliche Intelligenz ausschließlich als Nachfragetreiber der Rechenzentrums-Kunden vor — Liberty Energy verkauft kein KI-Produkt, weist keinen KI-Umsatz aus, belegt keinen eigenen operativen KI-Einsatz und nennt KI auch nicht als Risiko für das eigene Geschäftsmodell.
View the full file — quotes, sources, reviewed filings
„The convergence of AI-driven data center expansion, the onshoring of domestic manufacturing, and increased industrial electrification has created structural demand growth for power."
Das Zusammentreffen von KI-getriebenem Rechenzentrums-Ausbau, der Rückverlagerung heimischer Produktion und zunehmender industrieller Elektrifizierung hat ein strukturelles Nachfragewachstum nach Strom erzeugt.
„In addition, the sustainability of the favorable supply-demand dynamic in the power sector depends on multiple factors, including factors relating to technological advancements such as continued demand growth for generative AI computing applications, cloud computing, the level and pace at which the power industry can invest in power infrastructure and the pace of continued electrification-driven demand growth."
Zudem hängt die Dauerhaftigkeit des günstigen Angebots-Nachfrage-Verhältnisses im Strommarkt von mehreren Faktoren ab, darunter technologische Entwicklungen wie das anhaltende Nachfragewachstum nach generativen KI-Rechenanwendungen und Cloud-Computing, das Ausmaß und das Tempo, in dem die Energiewirtschaft in Stromnetze und Erzeugung investieren kann, sowie das Tempo des weiteren elektrifizierungsgetriebenen Nachfragewachstums.
Filings Reviewed: 10-Q 2026-07-23 · 10-Q 2026-04-23 · 10-Q 2025-10-17 · 10-Q 2025-07-25 · 10-K 2026-02-02 · 10-K 2025-02-06
Rated on July 26, 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.
Analysts & Price Target
The price target sits 59.4% above the current price.
- Consensus
- Sell
- Analyst Ratings
- 14
Combined picture of the price targets and recommendations of every analyst covering the stock. Price targets are expectations for the next 12 months, not promises — and they often follow the price rather than predict it.
Estimates by Fiscal Year
| Fiscal Year | EPS Estimate ($) | EPS Range ($) | Revenue Estimate ($M) | Expected Growth | Analysts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12/31/2026 | 0.22 | 0.14 – 0.34 | 4,542 | 48.1% | 6 |
| 12/31/2027 | 0.34 | 0.13 – 0.67 | 4,925 | 51.4% | 6 |
Average of the analyst estimates for the coming fiscal years. The range shows how far the most optimistic and the most cautious estimate sit apart — the wider it is, the less certain the expectation.
Next Reporting Date
- Expected Earnings per Share
- 0.09 $
Expected date of the next quarterly or annual figures. Dates do shift occasionally — only the invitation issued by the company is binding.
Revenue & Profit
Cash Flow
Balance Sheet
Margins
Per Share
Click the chart or tab into it, then use ← and → to step through the periods.
None of the selected stocks reports this metric. Pick another metric or switch between annual and quarterly.
· Total · per year
These companies report in different currencies — switch on “Indexed” or pick a margin for a fair comparison.
The figures could not be loaded right now.
Source: fundamental data
Quarterly Figures
| Quarter | EPS (Earnings Per Share) | EPS YoY (%) | Sales ($M) | Sales YoY (%) | Net Margin (%) | OCF ($M) | FCF ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024: Q4 | 0.31 | -42.00 | 944 | -12.20 | 5.50 | 177 | -26 |
| 2025: Q1 | 0.12 | -74.60 | 978 | -8.90 | 2.10 | 192 | 58 |
| 2025: Q2 | 0.43 | -32.30 | 1,043 | -10.10 | 6.80 | 171 | 33 |
| 2025: Q3 | 0.26 | -40.40 | 947 | -16.80 | 4.50 | 52 | -67 |
| 2025: Q4 | 0.08 | -73.40 | 1,039 | 10.10 | 1.30 | 195 | -10 |
| 2026: Q1 | 0.14 | 11.80 | 1,021 | 4.50 | 2.20 | 8 | -149 |
| 2026: Q2 | 0.26 | -39.50 | 1,189 | 14.00 | 3.60 | 133 | 133 |
- EPS (Earnings Per Share):
- Quarterly profit divided by the total share count — how much of the profit works out to a single share.
- YoY (Year over Year):
- Change versus the same quarter a year ago — this is how you compare without seasonal distortion (e.g. the holiday shopping season).
- Sales:
- All revenue for the quarter, before any costs are deducted — the top line of the income statement.
- Net Margin:
- What percentage of sales is left over as profit in the end. Negative means the company is posting a loss.
- OCF (Operating Cash Flow):
- The cash that actually flows into the till from the core business during the quarter — harder to dress up than book profit.
- FCF (Free Cash Flow):
- Operating cash flow minus capital expenditures — the money that's genuinely free to use, say for paying down debt, buybacks, or dividends.
Annual Figures
| Fiscal Year | Revenue ($M) | EBIT ($M) | Net Income ($M) | EPS ($) | Operating Cash Flow ($M) | Equity ($M) | Total Assets ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 375 | -57 | -61 | -1.08 | -41 | 229 | 452 |
| 2017 | 1,490 | 181 | 169 | 2.44 | 195 | 435 | 852 |
| 2018 | 2,155 | 312 | 126 | 1.07 | 351 | 433 | 1,117 |
| 2019 | 1,990 | 111 | 39 | 0.37 | 261 | 555 | 1,283 |
| 2020 | 966 | -144 | -116 | -1.36 | 85 | 1,151 | 1,890 |
| 2021 | 2,471 | -163 | -179 | -1.03 | 135 | 1,213 | 2,041 |
| 2022 | 4,149 | 514 | 400 | 2.11 | 530 | 1,495 | 2,576 |
| 2023 | 4,748 | 758 | 556 | 3.15 | 1,015 | 1,841 | 3,034 |
| 2024 | 4,315 | 384 | 316 | 1.87 | 829 | 1,979 | 3,296 |
| 2025 | 4,006 | 81 | 148 | 0.89 | 610 | 2,079 | 3,558 |
Fiscal years from the audited annual reports, oldest first. EBIT is the operating profit before interest and taxes; total assets are everything the company owns.
Assessment: Opportunities & Risks
Cash stood at $555.4 million on June 30, 2026, up from $27.6 million at the end of 2025. Equity was $1,963.8 million against total assets of $4,488.1 million, or 43.8 percent. The $750.0 million revolving credit facility was undrawn, with $448.3 million of remaining availability. Only $32.2 million of debt matures through 2030 — the remaining $1,295.0 million falls due in 2031 and 2032. All covenants were met at the balance sheet date.
Operating income fell from $760.6 million in 2023 to $389.5 million in 2024 and $72.7 million in 2025, and stood at $35.0 million in the first half of 2026 — an operating margin of 1.6 percent. Cost of services rose 21 percent in the second quarter of 2026 while revenue rose 14 percent. Adjusted EBITDA fell from $348.9 million to $277.0 million on a half-year basis.
The reported profit mostly comes from investments: $162.6 million in 2025 against $72.7 million of operating income, and $60.2 million against $35.0 million in the first half of 2026. In the second quarter of 2026 the mark-up of Fervo Energy after its initial public offering alone produced $64.1 million against a quarterly profit of $43.1 million. These positions are carried at quoted market prices and move daily.
Operating cash flow halved in the first half of 2026, from $362.7 million to $141.4 million, while purchases of property and equipment rose from $271.4 million to $380.9 million. That leaves negative $239.4 million, after positive $14.1 million for full-year 2025 and positive $411.3 million in 2023. Outstanding power equipment commitments stood at $1.1 billion on June 30, 2026, plus roughly $801 million from the Caterpillar contract of July 22, 2026.
Demand for distributed power is real, and the acquisition of IMG Energy Solutions on March 3, 2025 for roughly $19.6 million bought engineering and interconnection expertise. But the company writes in its own risk factors to the 2025 annual report that the Vantage Data Centers arrangement is not with the end user, and that the 330-megawatt project in Texas still requires a final, binding contract before it can generate revenue.
A market capitalization of roughly $2.83 billion (closing price of $17.36 on July 24, 2026 across 163,191,416 shares) equates to a price-to-sales ratio of roughly 0.7 and a price-to-book ratio of roughly 1.4. The price-earnings ratio of roughly 23.5 rests on a profit largely produced by investment revaluations. Fourteen analyst opinions averaged a $33.85 target, split into four "strong buy," two "buy" and eight "hold" (data as of July 25, 2026).
Liberty Energy is one of the largest hydraulic fracturing contractors in North America and is building a second business in distributed power for data centers. What is proven: a solid balance sheet with $555.4 million of cash, an equity ratio of 43.8 percent, maturities that do not arrive until 2031 and 2032, and an undrawn $750.0 million revolving facility. Against that stands a core business whose operating income fell from $760.6 million in 2023 to $72.7 million in 2025 and accounted for just 1.6 percent of revenue in the first half of 2026. The reported profit mostly comes from investments, free cash flow has turned to negative $239.4 million, and roughly $1.9 billion of power equipment is on order against offtake arrangements the company itself describes as not yet binding. Not investment advice.
- LBRT reached our research list as number 19 of 81 U.S. hits in our in-house Big Earnings Surprise screen (measured on the live page on July 26, 2026) — part of our series filling the top 50 of that screen with analyses. The scanner lists are recalculated daily, so the rank can move.
- What the screen measures: repeated large upside gaps between reported earnings per share and the analyst estimate. That is a statement about how accurate estimates are, not about company quality — and those estimates refer to an adjusted figure, not to the result under U.S. accounting rules.
- Metric trap: the price-earnings ratio and return on equity are misleading for Liberty Energy, because a large part of the profit comes from revaluing investments rather than from the business. The Piotroski F-Score stood at 4 of 9 on July 26, 2026 — a nine-point test of the direction of the balance sheet, on which a thoroughly healthy company scores 8 or 9.
- Currency note: the most recent quarterly report (Form 10-Q) is dated July 23, 2026 and has been fully analysed, as has the Form 10-K for 2025 dated February 2, 2026. As of July 26, 2026 no filing had been made after July 23, 2026. There is no merger, no take-private, no going-private transaction and no delisting.
- Risk of confusion: Liberty Energy Inc. (CIK 1694028) was named "Liberty Oilfield Services Inc." until April 21, 2022, and older sources still carry the former name. The company is unrelated to Liberty Media or Liberty Global. The stakes in Oklo, Tamboran Resources and Fervo Energy are separately listed companies, not parts of the group.
About the Company
Liberty Energy Inc., ein integriertes Energiedienstleistungs- und Technologieunternehmen, bietet Hydraulic-Fracturing-Dienstleistungen und verwandte Technologien für Onshore-Öl-, Erdgas- und verstärkte Geothermie-Explorations- und -Förderunternehmen in Nordamerika an.
| Employees | 5,800 |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Denver, CO |
| Address | 950 17th Street, 80202 Denver, United States |
| Phone | 303 515 2800 |
| Website | libertyenergy.com |
| IPO Date | 12. Jan 2018 |
| ISIN | US53115L1044 |
Management
| Name | Title | Birth Year |
|---|---|---|
| Ron Gusek | President, CEO & Director | 1972 |
| Michael Stock | CFO & Treasurer | 1962 |
| Ryan T. Gosney | Chief Accounting Officer & Vice President of Finance | 1973 |
| R. Sean Elliott | Chief Legal Officer & Corporate Secretary | 1975 |
| Jim Brady | Founder & Senior VP of Operations | – |
| Anjali Ramnath Voria | Director of Investor Relations | – |
| Tracee Quinnell | Vice President of Human Resources | – |
Executives per the latest required filings; titles kept in their original language. Source: fundamental data.
Insider Transactions
| Date | Person | Role | Type | Shares | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 28. Jul 2026 | Murti Arjun N | Director | Buy | 14,053 | 17.79 | 250,003 |
Reportable transactions by officers and major shareholders from SEC Form 4 filings. "Other" includes things like stock grants and option exercises without a buy/sell character.
View all insider transactions →Chart
Interactive price chart (TradingView).
Data as of: July 31, 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.