Prairie Operating Co.
🔔 Watch stock
Assessment
Our Rating
A journalistic assessment by our editorial team at the time of the deep dive — it rates the company, not the entry point. Not investment advice and not a solicitation to buy or sell.
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.
Why this colour
After the materiality gate several serious structural and price findings remain standing, and they coincide: high, price-dependent debt (net debt about 3.1 times operating profit, a credit limit redetermined every six months), a debt-financed roll-up that is still writing red ink (a net loss of $60.9 million), heavy dilution (the share count multiplied) and weak realized prices — confirmed by six weakness and downtrend filters in the scanner. Against that stands documented substance (PV-10 $1.22 billion, no acute going-concern issue, partial hedging), which makes a total failure unlikely for now but delivers no margin of safety. Our findings see no basis for buying the downtrend against the company's own balance sheet; they argue for caution. The decision is yours. Not investment advice.
What the thesis turns on
Assessment: Opportunities & Risks
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.
Business model & reserves
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.
Growth & earnings
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.
Debt & credit limit
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.
Dilution & capital discipline
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.
Valuation & chart picture
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.
Worth Noting
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.
Stock Watch
This analysis is as of August 4, 2026. Stock Watch will tell you what's changed at PROP since then.
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Price history
Chart
Interactive price chart (TradingView).
52-week range: 0.395 $ to 2.50 $ · Last price: 0.4012 $ (As of: September 17, 2026)
Key figures
Key figures at a glance
Every figure we hold for this stock, grouped by topic. The question mark next to a label explains what the number means.
Basics
Performance
Technical Indicators
Calculated from the price history · as of 09/18/2026
Valuation
Profitability
Balance Sheet & Safety
Growth
Dividend
This stock currently pays no dividend.
Quality & Screener
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.
Comparison
Industry comparison
The stock alongside the largest companies in the same group. The median row is the middle value of the companies shown above — not of the whole industry.
Industry: Oil & Gas E&P
| Company | Market cap ($B) | P/E | EV/EBITDA | Gross Margin % | EBIT Margin % | Sales Growth (Year) % | Perf. 1Y % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prairie Operating Co. PROP | 0.0 | – | 8.6 | 71.8 | – | 2,943.8 | -80.6 |
| ConocoPhillips COP | 162.3 | 22.7 | 6.5 | 47.6 | 22.1 | 7.5 | 46.4 |
| EOG Resources Inc EOG | 78.1 | 14.3 | 5.8 | 62.6 | 37.9 | -3.5 | 25.6 |
| Occidental Petroleum Corporation OXY | 59.0 | 77.4 | 5.6 | 73.3 | 17.7 | -20.3 | 26.8 |
| Devon Energy Corporation DVN | 55.7 | 13.4 | 7.4 | 50.3 | 6.9 | 7.8 | 42.1 |
| Diamondback Energy Inc FANG | 55.4 | 199.4 | 9.4 | 72.4 | 5.8 | 36.3 | 43.9 |
| EQT Corporation EQT | 31.6 | 9.8 | 5.6 | 80.8 | 57.4 | 73.7 | 2.1 |
| Texas Pacific Land Corporation TPL | 23.4 | 47.7 | 33.1 | 93.3 | 77.2 | 13.1 | 14.8 |
| Expand Energy Corporation EXE | 21.1 | 6.5 | 3.7 | 47.1 | 34.0 | 176.0 | -9.4 |
| Median of companies shown | 55.4 | 18.5 | 6.5 | 71.8 | 28.0 | 13.1 | 25.6 |
Based on the most recently reported figures. Only stocks from the same trading venue are lined up, so the market caps are counted in one currency. Compare in a chart →
Fiscal years
Annual Figures
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.
Revenue, operating income and net income per fiscal year $M
Revenue Operating income Net income
| Fiscal Year | Revenue ($M) | EBIT ($M) | Net Income ($M) | EPS ($) | Operating Cash Flow ($M) | Equity ($M) | Total Assets ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 23 | -1 | -2 | -17.06 | -2 | 2 | 6 |
| 2017 | 15 | -5 | -6 | -47.80 | -3 | -3 | 3 |
| 2018 | 14 | -1 | -3 | -21.70 | -1 | -5 | 2 |
| 2019 | 11 | -2 | -2 | -17.62 | -1 | -6 | 3 |
| 2020 | 0 | -2 | -2 | -15.81 | -1 | -7 | 3 |
| 2021 | 0 | -18 | -17 | -103.77 | -7 | 4 | 13 |
| 2022 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1.08 | -2 | -7 | 7 |
| 2023 | 0 | -17 | -79 | -16.52 | -12 | 40 | 46 |
| 2024 | 8 | -27 | -41 | -2.65 | -9 | 53 | 157 |
| 2025 | 242 | 69 | 32 | 0.00 | 154 | 130 | 945 |
Quarters
Quarterly Figures
Each bar is one quarter, the last one is the most recent. Use the switch to step through the individual figures.
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
| 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 |
| 2026: Q2 | 0.23 | -37.80 | 99 | 45.20 | 110.20 | 52 | 52 |
What Do These Terms Mean?
- 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.
Screening
Appears in These Scanners
This stock currently matches 11 of our scanner strategies — each hit links to the scanner.
Growth
Quality & Balance Sheet
Research
Risk & Weakness
- Bankruptcy Study: Stacked Warning Signals
- Below the 50- & 200-SMA
- Beneish M-Score
- RS Weakness (≤10)
- Stage 4 (Downtrend)
- Stan Weinstein: Stage 4
- Stan Weinstein: Stage 4B-
- Weakness Cluster
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. Scanners marked in red are red-flag signals (risk/short scanners) — appearing there is not a seal of approval. View all scanners
Outlook
Analysts & Price Target
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 | 0.51 | 0.51 – 0.51 | 226 | 142.3% | 1 |
| 12/31/2027 | 0.39 | 0.39 – 0.39 | 433 | -23.5% | 1 |
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.
Valuation
What is priced in?
Free cash flow over the past twelve months is negative, which rules out a serious reverse calculation. Any growth rate only makes a negative cash flow more negative; no present value comes out of it. What the price reflects here is therefore not a stream of cash flows, but the expectation that there will be one at all.
A simplified model calculation — not a forecast and not a recommendation.
AI classification
AI Rating
Geprüft 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.
10-K · 2026-03-31 · View SEC filing
„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.
10-K · 2026-03-31 · View SEC filing
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
Growth
Growth Score
Ten checks against the annual reports — each one passed counts a point.
- Revenue grows by more than 15% a year over three years no data
- More than 10% revenue growth is expected for the coming year 50.4%
- Share count grows by less than 3% a year 4,621.5%
- Revenue growth plus cash-flow margin add up to at least 40 ("Rule of 40") 2,925.9%
- Gross margin at 40% or higher and without meaningful erosion no data
- Goodwill from acquisitions does not grow faster than revenue 0.0%
- Net debt below twice EBITDA 2.8 x EBITDA
- Operating cash flow covers the profits of the last three years 221 m
- Return on capital at 15% or higher, or up versus two years ago 8.4%
- Insiders hold at least 10% or are net buyers 29.9%
A criterion without figures counts neither as passed nor as failed; a score is only produced from 7 judgeable criteria upwards. Source: fundamental data. All ten criteria in detail
Quality check
AAQS
5/10The AAQS (AlleAktien Quality Score) checks 10 quality criteria on growth, profitability, and balance-sheet strength — per the methodology developed and published by AlleAktien, calculated by us from our own fundamental data. A stock counts as a quality stock from 9 out of 10 points. Where a company has a shorter listing history, we calculate over the fiscal years available (at least five).
- Sales growth 10Y > 5% 30.1%
- Exp. sales growth 3Y > 5% 33.9%
- EBIT growth 10Y > 5% –
- Exp. EBIT growth 3Y > 5% 2,260.4%
- Net debt < 4x EBIT 5.4x
- EBIT positive, 10Y straight 1
- Max. EBIT decline < 50% 0.0%
- Return on equity > 15% 24.6%
- ROCE > 15% 8.4%
- Expected return > 10% -497.2%
View stocks with the full AAQS score · Read the methodology at AlleAktien
Source: fundamental data
Insiders
Insider Transactions
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.
| Date | Person | Role | Type | Shares | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 21, 2026 | Shelly Michael James | Executive Vice President & CFO | Other | 840,000 | 0.00 | – |
| Jul 21, 2026 | Thoresen Erik | Director | Other | 100,000 | 0.00 | – |
| Jul 21, 2026 | Frommer Richard N. | Director | Other | 100,000 | 0.00 | – |
| Jul 21, 2026 | Gray Jonathan H. | Director | Other | 100,000 | 0.00 | – |
The company
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
- Address
- 55 Waugh Drive, 77007 Houston, United States
- Phone
- 713 766 1200
- Website
- prairieopco.com
- ISIN
- US7396501097
- Stock Split
- 34:1000 on 10/16/2023
- Stock Split
- 1:20 on 02/27/2020
Management
| Name | Title | Birth Year |
|---|---|---|
| Gregory S. Patton | CEO & Director | 1986 |
| Michael J. 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 | 1978 |
Executives per the latest required filings; titles kept in their original language. Source: fundamental data.
Filings
Company Filings (8-K)
An 8-K is the filing a US company must use to disclose material events immediately — takeovers, changes at the top, major contracts or payment troubles, for instance. The links open the original document at the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
- 08/31/2026 Prairie Operating Co. (PROP): Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement; Material Modifications to Rights of Security Holders SEC ↗
- 08/17/2026 Prairie Operating Co. (PROP): Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement; Creation of a Direct Financial Obligation or an Obligation under an Off-Balance Sheet Arrangement of a Registrant; Material Modifications to Rights of Security Holders; Financial Statements and Exhibits SEC ↗
- 08/17/2026 Prairie Operating Co. (PROP): Results of Operations and Financial Condition; Financial Statements and Exhibits SEC ↗
- 08/10/2026 Prairie Operating Co. (PROP): Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement; Material Modifications to Rights of Security Holders; Financial Statements and Exhibits SEC ↗
- 07/22/2026 Prairie Operating Co. (PROP): Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers: Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers; Regulation FD Disclosure; Financial Statements and Exhibits SEC ↗
- 07/09/2026 Prairie Operating Co. (PROP): Notice of Delisting or Failure to Satisfy a Continued Listing Rule or Standard; Transfer of Listing SEC ↗
Data as of: September 17, 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.