Liberty Energy vs NOV
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KIRA’s take AI analyst
I put Liberty Energy and NOV side by side, using each one’s latest annual report. Here is what stands out:
- NOV is the larger business, with $8.7B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $4.0B for Liberty Energy, about 2.2 times as much.
- NOV grew revenue faster (−1.4%, against −7.2%).
- NOV kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (5.7% operating margin, against 1.8%).
- NOV turned more of its sales into free cash flow (10.0% FCF margin, against 0.4%).
- NOV earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (3.5%, against 2.2%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of NOV’s earnings: a P/E of 82.2x against 70.6x for Liberty Energy.
Who comes out ahead
Of the 11 measures where higher (or lower) is clearly better, how many each company leads.
Liberty Energy
LBRT
4/11
5-year growthGross marginNet marginReturn on equity
NOV
NOV
7/11
Revenue growthOperating marginFCF marginReturn on capitalPiotroski F-scoreNet debt / EBITDAShare count change
Side by side
Best in the row
| Latest fiscal year | LBRT FY25 | NOV FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $2.8B | $7.5B |
| Revenue | $4.0B | $8.7B |
| Free cash flow | $14.1M | $876M |
| Net income | $148M | $145M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | −7.2% | −1.4% |
| 5-year growth | 32.9% | 7.5% |
| Share count change | −2.4% | −5.3% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 20.9% | 20.2% |
| Operating margin | 1.8% | 5.7% |
| Net margin | 3.7% | 1.7% |
| FCF margin | 0.4% | 10.0% |
| Return on capital | 2.2% | 3.5% |
| Return on equity | 7.3% | 2.3% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $527M | $428M |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 0.9x | 0.5x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $79.4M | $505M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 70.6x | 82.2x |
| Piotroski F-score | 4 | 5 |
Ten years
Revenue
Operating margin
Free cash flow
Return on capital
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.