Helmerich & Payne vs Noble

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KIRA’s take AI analyst

I put Helmerich & Payne and Noble side by side, using each one’s latest annual report. Here is what stands out:

Helmerich & Payne is the larger business, with $3.7B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $3.3B for Noble.
Helmerich & Payne grew revenue faster (35.9%, against 7.5%).
Noble kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (12.7% operating margin, against 0.1%).
Noble turned more of its sales into free cash flow (13.2% FCF margin, against 3.1%).
Noble earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (5.3%, against 0.1%).

Who comes out ahead

Of the 8 measures where higher (or lower) is clearly better, how many each company leads.

Helmerich & Payne

2/8

Revenue growthShare count change

Noble

6/8

Operating marginNet marginFCF marginReturn on capitalReturn on equityPiotroski F-score

Side by side

Best in the row

Latest fiscal year	HP FY25	NE FY25
Size
Market cap	$3.9B	$7.6B
Revenue	$3.7B	$3.3B
Free cash flow	$117M	$432M
Net income	−$164M	$217M
Growth
Revenue growth	35.9%	7.5%
5-year growth	16.1%	—
Share count change	0.2%	5.7%
Profitability
Gross margin	—	—
Operating margin	0.1%	12.7%
Net margin	−4.4%	6.6%
FCF margin	3.1%	13.2%
Return on capital	0.1%	5.3%
Return on equity	−5.7%	4.7%
Balance sheet
Net debt	$1.8B	$1.6B
Net debt / EBITDA	2.9x	—
Dividends and buybacks	$101M	$340M
Valuation & quality
P/E	—	50.7x
Piotroski F-score	4	5

Ten years

Revenue

FY16

HP $1.6B

NE —

FY17

HP $1.8B

NE —

FY18

HP $2.5B

NE —

FY19

HP $2.8B

NE —

FY20

HP $1.8B

NE $964M

FY21

HP $1.2B

NE —

FY22

HP $2.1B

NE $1.4B

FY23

HP $2.9B

NE $2.6B

FY24

HP $2.8B

NE $3.1B

FY25

HP $3.7B

NE $3.3B

FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25

HP NE

Operating margin

FY16

HP −1.6%

NE —

FY17

HP −9.4%

NE —

FY18

HP 1.3%

NE —

FY19

HP 0.7%

NE —

FY20

HP −35.0%

NE −422.8%

FY21

HP −35.2%

NE —

FY22

HP 2.2%

NE 16.2%

FY23

HP 19.8%

NE 22.2%

FY24

HP 16.6%

NE 19.8%

FY25

HP 0.1%

NE 12.7%

FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25

HP NE

Free cash flow

FY16

HP $497M

NE —

FY17

HP −$26.4M

NE —

FY18

HP $91.3M

NE —

FY19

HP $397M

NE —

FY20

HP $398M

NE $124M

FY21

HP $54.3M

NE —

FY22

HP −$17.0M

NE $107M

FY23

HP $438M

NE $165M

FY24

HP $190M

NE $80.2M

FY25

HP $117M

NE $432M

FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25

HP NE

Return on capital

FY16

HP −0.5%

NE —

FY17

HP −3.3%

NE —

FY18

HP 0.8%

NE —

FY19

HP 0.4%

NE —

FY20

HP −13.4%

NE —

FY21

HP −11.2%

NE —

FY22

HP 0.8%

NE —

FY23

HP 14.0%

NE 13.6%

FY24

HP 9.2%

NE 10.4%

FY25

HP 0.1%

NE 5.3%

FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25

HP NE

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.