Kirby Corporation

What they do

Kirby transports petrochemicals, black oil, refined petroleum products and agricultural chemicals by tank barge across the Mississippi River System, the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway and coastwise along all three U.S. coasts, and also moves dry-bulk commodities in coastwise trade. Through KDS, it provides equipment, after-market parts and services for power generation and industrial applications, rents equipment such as generators and lift trucks, and manufactures specialized equipment including pressure pumping units, electric fracturing systems and power generation equipment.

Revenue drivers

• Marine Transportation - inland — Tank barge transport on the Mississippi River System and Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, with average barge utilization in the low-90% range in Q2 2026 and operating margins in the high-teens range.
• Marine Transportation - coastal — Coastwise tank barge transport along all three U.S. coasts, with Q2 2026 revenues up 10% year-over-year and barge utilization in the high-90% range, though operating margins were low-to-mid-teens on elevated shipyard activity.
• Distribution and Services - power generation — Equipment, parts and service for power generation systems including behind-the-meter and emergency backup power; management cited strong demand growth as a driver of the segment's 6% year-over-year revenue increase in Q2 2026.
• Distribution and Services - commercial, industrial and oil and gas — Equipment rental, manufacturing and remanufacturing (including electric fracturing systems and electrical distribution equipment for data centers) plus oilfield service products; commercial and industrial activity grew and oil and gas activity improved versus Q1 2026.

Recent performance

Second quarter 2026 net earnings attributable to Kirby were $89.7 million, or $1.67 per diluted share, on total revenues of $922.4 million, compared with $94.3 million, or $1.67 per share, on $855.5 million in the 2025 second quarter. Marine transportation revenues rose to $537.0 million from $492.6 million, but segment operating income fell to $87.8 million from $99.1 million and operating margin declined to 16.4% from 20.1%, which management attributed to fuel cost headwinds in inland marine and elevated shipyard activity in coastal marine. For the first six months of 2026, revenues were $1,766.5 million and net earnings were $170.9 million, or $3.17 per diluted share, versus $2.99 per diluted share a year earlier. Full-year 2025 revenue was $3,364.1 million, net earnings attributable to Kirby were $354.6 million and diluted EPS was $6.33.

Strategy

Management is focused on operating both segments and returning capital to shareholders, repurchasing $59.7 million of stock in Q2 2026 at an average price of $142.38 and an additional $29.0 million in Q3 2026 to date at an average price of $139.92. The company projects 2026 capital expenditures of $220 million to $260 million, of which roughly $170 million to $210 million is marine maintenance capital and improvements to existing inland and coastal equipment and facilities, with up to about $65 million for growth capital in both segments. In marine, the emphasis is on term contract renewals and spot pricing while managing fuel cost recovery through escalators and rate mechanisms; in distribution and services, the company is leaning into power generation demand and electric fracturing and data center-related equipment.

Risks

• Fuel cost recovery timing — Marine term contracts carry fuel escalators but with a 30 to 120 day adjustment delay, and spot contracts have no escalator, so fuel price moves can over- or under-recover costs in the short term and compress margins.
• Weather and waterway disruption — High water, low water, tropical storms, hurricanes, fog, ice, lock delays or closures can disrupt barge operations, as the company lists these among factors that could cause results to differ.
• Cyclical customer demand — Marine revenues depend on refinery utilization and petrochemical, black oil, refined products and agricultural chemical volumes, while the distribution and services segment depends on power generation, oilfield and industrial capital spending.
• Coastal market pricing pressure — Management said market-specific dynamics affecting smaller-capacity ATBs in the 80,000 to 100,000 barrel range produced low-single-digit declines in coastal term contract renewal rates year-over-year.

Outlook

Kirby expects full-year 2026 earnings per share growth toward the upper end of its 5% to 15% guidance range based on current market conditions. Management expects the inland fuel cost margin headwind to reverse in the third quarter through cost escalators and rate recovery mechanisms, and described inland market fundamentals as constructive with steady demand and improving pricing. Coastal demand is described as healthy with high-90% utilization, and distribution and services is expected to benefit from continued power generation and commercial and industrial demand.