RPC Inc
🔔 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
We rate business quality amber. The case for green is the balance sheet, and it is a strong one: $1,108.7 million of shareholders' equity against $30.0 million of interest-bearing debt, an untouched credit facility running to June 2031, $179.5 million of cash, and operating cash flow that stayed clearly positive at $74.6 million even through a weak first half of 2026. There is no solvency risk, no going-concern language and no listing threat — red has no basis here. What keeps it from green is one open operating question, and it is a heavy one: earning power fell by more than four fifths between 2023 and 2025 on essentially unchanged revenue, and the trend continued into 2026. The company itself blames an oversupplied market in which it has no pricing power; on top of that sit a customer worth 15 percent of revenue and an acquisition whose service line is already shrinking in its second year. Whether this is the floor of an ordinary cycle or a structurally thinner margin will be settled in the next few quarterly reports — until then the question is open, not answered. Price deliberately played no part in this rating: whether $6.37 is a lot or a little is a valuation question, not a quality question. The decision is yours.
What the thesis turns on
Assessment: Opportunities & Risks
RPC, Inc. is a nearly debt-free U.S. oilfield services company with 2,893 employees that booked $1,626.6 million of revenue in 2025, its highest since 2018 — on operating income of $44.7 million. The same revenue produced $245.0 million in 2023. In the first half of 2026 revenue rose another 21.5 percent while operating income fell 37.7 percent; free cash flow was $3.8 million against $17.7 million of dividends paid. Against that sits a balance sheet few competitors can match: $1.1 billion of equity, $179.5 million of cash, $30 million of interest-bearing debt and an undrawn credit facility running to 2031. Not investment advice.
Balance sheet
At June 30, 2026, $1,108.7 million of shareholders' equity stood against $351.0 million of liabilities, only $30.0 million of which carries interest (the Pintail seller note, reduced by $20.0 million during the second quarter of 2026). The $100 million revolver is untouched and, after the extension in the second quarter of 2026, runs to June 30, 2031. Cash was $179.5 million.
Earning power
Operating margin fell from 15.1 percent in 2023 through 6.9 percent in 2024 to 2.8 percent in 2025, and to 1.9 percent in the first half of 2026. Revenue in 2023 and 2025 differs by less than one percent ($1,617.5 million against $1,626.6 million); operating income differs by $200.2 million. Management attributes this to a persistently oversupplied market (Form 10-Q for the period ended June 30, 2026).
Shareholder payout
In the first half of 2026, $17.729 million of dividends stood against $3.770 million of free cash flow — 4.7 times as much. In 2025 the $35.1 million payout was still covered by $52.9 million. The difference comes out of the cash balance, which fell $30.5 million to $179.5 million over the half year. On July 28, 2026 the board declared the next quarterly dividend of $0.04 unchanged.
Pintail acquisition
The $245 million purchase (April 1, 2025) lifted the wireline service line from $18.9 million of revenue in 2024 to $315.5 million in 2025 and carried the first-half 2026 increase. At the same time wireline fell to $88.594 million in the second quarter of 2026 from $103.924 million a year earlier, down 14.8 percent; the earnings release of July 30, 2026 explicitly names "lower Pintail Wireline revenues" as the drag.
Concentration risk
A single private exploration and production company accounted for roughly 15 percent of consolidated revenue in 2025 (13 percent in 2024; no customer above 10 percent in 2023). A group including directors Amy R. Kreisler and Timothy C. Rollins controls more than 50 percent of the voting power, and a resale registration covers 127,235,202 of their shares — 57.4 percent of the share count, effective through May 5, 2028.
Leadership
Chief executive Ben M. Palmer notified the board on June 16, 2026, after 30 years with the company, that he will retire on the earlier of a successor being named or December 31, 2026; an independent search firm has been engaged. Lead independent director Jerry W. Nix did not stand for reelection at the 2026 annual meeting (Form 8-K of January 28, 2026). No successor had been disclosed as of August 22, 2026.
Worth Noting
The starting point was a hit in our editorial Reddit hype scanner on August 22, 2026. No reliable mention count from a public measurement source was available at press time; the substance of this analysis rests solely on the company's SEC filings and figures derived from them.
Risk of confusion: "RES" is a very generic ticker. On the New York Stock Exchange it belongs to RPC, Inc. (CIK 0000742278) — not to RGC Resources, Range Resources, EOG Resources or other companies with "Resources" in their names. The SEC registration data lists exactly one ticker ("RES") and exactly one exchange ("NYSE") for that identifier. The only former name is RPC Energy Services, Inc. (until 1995).
Data as of: the Form 10-Q for the period ended June 30, 2026 (filed July 30, 2026) was reviewed in full, together with the current report on Form 8-K filed the same day (Item 2.02, earnings release) and its Exhibit 99.1. No further filing was made between July 30, 2026 and the August 22, 2026 cut-off. Price, market value and ratios derived from them use the August 21, 2026 data snapshot.
The industry figures in the filings (average oil price of $96.54 per barrel in the second quarter of 2026, up 49.1 percent year over year; natural gas at $2.94 per Mcf, down 8.1 percent; an average of 554 active U.S. rigs, down 3.0 percent) come from the earnings release of July 30, 2026, which cites Baker Hughes and the U.S. Energy Information Administration. RPC attributes the higher oil price to Middle East supply disruptions.
The $14.583 million of "acquisition related employment costs" in the first half of 2026 are, per the quarterly report, non-cash accounting adjustments from the Pintail acquisition that are contingent on continued employment and amortized over three years. They weigh on reported operating income but not on cash, and they are excluded from the $119.5 million of adjusted EBITDA.
Stock Watch
This analysis is as of August 26, 2026. Stock Watch will tell you what's changed at RES since then.
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Price history
Chart
Interactive price chart (TradingView).
52-week range: 4.20 $ to 8.00 $ · Last price: 5.90 $ (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
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 Equipment & Services
| Company | Market cap ($B) | P/E | EV/EBITDA | Gross Margin % | EBIT Margin % | Sales Growth (Year) % | Perf. 1Y % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RPC Inc RES | 1.3 | 62.0 | 5.7 | 23.3 | – | 15.0 | 33.6 |
| Schlumberger NV SLB | 77.5 | 22.2 | 13.2 | 17.0 | 12.3 | -1.6 | 53.4 |
| Baker Hughes Co BKR | 56.1 | 17.9 | 11.2 | 23.7 | 12.3 | -0.3 | 23.6 |
| Tenaris SA TS | 30.3 | 15.1 | 8.3 | 38.5 | 16.7 | -4.3 | 60.6 |
| TechnipFMC PLC FTI | 29.0 | 26.6 | 14.5 | 23.0 | 14.1 | 9.4 | 87.2 |
| Halliburton Company HAL | 28.5 | 18.0 | 9.8 | 15.1 | 12.6 | -3.3 | 57.0 |
| NOV Inc. NOV | 7.3 | 78.5 | 11.0 | 21.7 | 2.3 | -1.4 | 62.6 |
| Solaris Energy Infrastructure, Inc SEI | 6.8 | – | 23.5 | 49.9 | 25.8 | 98.7 | 109.9 |
| LandBridge Company LLC LB | 6.6 | 76.0 | 19.8 | 98.8 | 66.1 | 81.1 | 59.6 |
| Median of companies shown | 28.5 | 24.4 | 11.2 | 23.3 | 13.3 | -0.3 | 59.6 |
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 | 729 | -239 | -141 | -0.66 | 102 | 807 | 1,035 |
| 2017 | 1,595 | 226 | 163 | 0.76 | 134 | 912 | 1,147 |
| 2018 | 1,721 | 210 | 175 | 0.82 | 389 | 950 | 1,200 |
| 2019 | 1,222 | -114 | -87 | -0.41 | 209 | 830 | 1,111 |
| 2020 | 598 | -310 | -212 | -1.00 | 78 | 632 | 818 |
| 2021 | 865 | 16 | 7 | 0.03 | 48 | 642 | 899 |
| 2022 | 1,602 | 288 | 218 | 1.02 | 201 | 858 | 1,129 |
| 2023 | 1,617 | 245 | 195 | 0.92 | 395 | 1,023 | 1,315 |
| 2024 | 1,415 | 98 | 91 | 0.43 | 349 | 1,078 | 1,386 |
| 2025 | 1,627 | 57 | 32 | 0.15 | 201 | 1,099 | 1,468 |
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 | 0.06 | -68.10 | 335 | -15.00 | 3.80 | 94 | 54 |
| 2025: Q1 | 0.06 | -56.20 | 333 | -11.90 | 3.60 | 40 | 8 |
| 2025: Q2 | 0.05 | -69.70 | 421 | 15.60 | 2.40 | 53 | 10 |
| 2025: Q3 | 0.06 | -33.50 | 447 | 32.40 | 2.90 | 47 | 4 |
| 2025: Q4 | -0.01 | -124.30 | 426 | 27.00 | -0.70 | 62 | 31 |
| 2026: Q1 | 0.00 | -93.20 | 455 | 36.60 | 0.20 | 31 | -1 |
| 2026: Q2 | 0.05 | 0.00 | 461 | 9.50 | 2.60 | 43 | 5 |
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 7 of our scanner strategies — each hit links to the scanner.
Quality & Balance Sheet
Breakout & Setup
Momentum & Trend
Research
Risk & Weakness
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.
Distribution of Recommendations
Estimates by Fiscal Year
| Fiscal Year | EPS Estimate ($) | EPS Range ($) | Revenue Estimate ($M) | Expected Growth | Analysts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12/31/2026 | 0.28 | 0.22 – 0.35 | 1,833 | 10.7% | 3 |
| 12/31/2027 | 0.27 | 0.22 – 0.31 | 1,878 | -3.3% | 4 |
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?
Instead of guessing what the stock is worth, we turn the question around: what free cash flow growth has to happen for today’s market value to add up? The assumptions behind it can be moved.
Today’s market value implies roughly 14.7% growth in free cash flow per year over ten years (assumptions: discount rate 10.0%, terminal growth 2.5%).
| Free cash flow (last twelve months) | $39.1M |
|---|---|
| Market cap | $1.31B |
| Free cash flow in year ten | $154.2M |
| Terminal value as a share of market value | 62.1% |
For comparison: over the past five years free cash flow grew by 32.6% per year.
It shows which assumption is built into today’s price, not whether that assumption will hold. Every assumption can be changed with the sliders; the figures move with them.
A simplified model calculation — not a forecast and not a recommendation.
AI classification
AI Rating
RPC, Inc. verkauft keine KI-Produkte, beschreibt im Geschäftsbericht 10-K für 2025 aber ausdrücklich den internen Einsatz von KI und maschinellem Lernen — für Disposition und Logistik, Wartungsplanung, Einkauf, Nachfrageprognose, Preisfindung, Sicherheits- und Compliance-Überwachung sowie Bedrohungserkennung; zugleich sieht das Management im KI-Strombedarf einen Nachfragetreiber für Öl und Gas.
View the full file — quotes, sources, reviewed filings
„In an asset- and labor-intensive oilfield services business with geographically dispersed field operations, AI is often used (or is embedded in third-party software platforms we use) to support dispatch and logistics, equipment maintenance planning, inventory and procurement, demand forecasting, pricing and other commercial decision-making, safety and compliance monitoring, cybersecurity threat detection, and administrative functions."
In einem anlagen- und personalintensiven Ölfeldservice-Geschäft mit räumlich verteilten Einsatzorten wird KI häufig eingesetzt (oder ist in genutzte Softwareplattformen Dritter eingebettet), um Disposition und Logistik, die Wartungsplanung der Ausrüstung, Bestandsführung und Einkauf, Nachfrageprognosen, Preisfindung und andere kaufmännische Entscheidungen, Sicherheits- und Compliance-Überwachung, die Erkennung von Cyber-Bedrohungen sowie Verwaltungsaufgaben zu unterstützen.
10-K · 2026-02-27 · View SEC filing
„Furthermore, there is an increased likelihood that a potential rapid rise in the use of artificial intelligence would have significant energy consumption requirements and boost demand for power solutions, many of which use oil and natural gas."
Darüber hinaus ist es zunehmend wahrscheinlich, dass ein möglicher rascher Anstieg der Nutzung künstlicher Intelligenz einen erheblichen Energiebedarf hätte und die Nachfrage nach Energielösungen steigern würde, von denen viele Öl und Erdgas verwenden.
10-K · 2026-02-27 · View SEC filing
„Conversely, if we do not successfully deploy and govern AI, we may not achieve anticipated improvements in operating efficiency or customer service."
Umgekehrt gilt: Gelingt es uns nicht, KI erfolgreich einzuführen und zu steuern, erreichen wir die erwarteten Verbesserungen bei Betriebseffizienz und Kundenservice möglicherweise nicht.
10-K · 2026-02-27 · View SEC filing
Filings Reviewed: 10-K 2026-02-27 · 10-K 2025-02-28 · 10-Q 2026-07-30 · 10-Q 2026-05-08 · 8-K 2026-07-30 · 8-K 2026-06-23
Rated on August 22, 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 0.5%
- More than 10% revenue growth is expected for the coming year 0.2%
- Share count grows by less than 3% a year 0.9%
- Revenue growth plus cash-flow margin add up to at least 40 ("Rule of 40") 18.2%
- Gross margin at 40% or higher and without meaningful erosion 14.3%
- Goodwill from acquisitions does not grow faster than revenue 5.7%
- Net debt below twice EBITDA 115 m net cash
- Operating cash flow covers the profits of the last three years 627 m
- Return on capital at 15% or higher, or up versus two years ago 4.5%
- Insiders hold at least 10% or are net buyers 55.2%
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% 9.3%
- Exp. sales growth 3Y > 5% 7.4%
- EBIT growth 10Y > 5% –
- Exp. EBIT growth 3Y > 5% 35.3%
- Net debt < 4x EBIT -2.0x
- EBIT positive, 10Y straight 7
- Max. EBIT decline < 50% 100.0%
- Return on equity > 15% 3.5%
- ROCE > 15% 4.5%
- Expected return > 10% 40.7%
View stocks with the full AAQS score · Read the methodology at AlleAktien
Source: fundamental data
The company
About the Company
RPC, Inc. beschäftigt sich zusammen mit seinen Tochtergesellschaften mit der Bereitstellung einer Reihe von Ölfeld-Dienstleistungen und -Ausrüstung für Öl- und Gasunternehmen, die in der Exploration, Förderung und Erschließung von Öl- und Gasvorkommen tätig sind.
- Employees
- 2,893
- Headquarters
- Atlanta, GA
- Address
- 2801 Buford Highway NE, 30329 Atlanta, United States
- Phone
- 404 321 2140
- Website
- rpc.net
- IPO Date
- 12/30/1987
- ISIN
- US7496601060
- Stock Split
- 3:2 on 03/12/2012
- Stock Split
- 3:2 on 12/13/2010
- Stock Split
- 3:2 on 12/12/2006
Management
| Name | Title | Birth Year |
|---|---|---|
| Richard A. Hubbell | Executive Chairman | 1945 |
| Ben M. Palmer | CEO, President & Director | 1960 |
| Michael L. Schmit CPA | VP, CFO, Treasurer & Corporate Secretary | 1973 |
| Joshua Timothy Large | Vice President of Corporate Finance & Investor Relations | – |
| Sharon A. Gardner | Director of Corporate Communications & Compliance and Assistant Corporate Secretary | – |
| Mark Chekanow CFA | Vice President of Corporate Development & Investor Relations | – |
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).
- 09/08/2026 RPC INC (RES): Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers: Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers SEC ↗
- 07/30/2026 RPC INC (RES): Results of Operations and Financial Condition; Financial Statements and Exhibits SEC ↗
- 07/07/2026 RPC INC (RES): Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement; Creation of a Direct Financial Obligation or an Obligation under an Off-Balance Sheet Arrangement of a Registrant; Financial Statements and Exhibits 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.