Core Laboratories Inc. provides reservoir description and production enhancement services and products to the oil and gas industry in the United States, and internationally. It operates through Reservoir Description and Production Enhancement segments. The Reservoir Description segment includes the characterization of petroleum reservoir rock and reservoir fluid samples to enhance production and improve recovery of crude oil and gas from …
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Competitive advantage assessment
Key strengths
Margins Stable Across CyclesOperating margin volatility is low (stability score 1.00), demonstrating pricing resilience across cycles.
ROIC Sustainably Above PeersROIC at 70.2th percentile exceeds peers and WACC, demonstrating superior capital allocation.
Key risks
Weak or Negative Cash FlowCash generation is weak (score 0.30), limiting financial flexibility.
Core Laboratories Inc. ranks #17 of 50
scored companies in Oil & Gas Equipment & Services by moat score — the top 34%.
The widest moat in the group is Cactus, Inc. Class A Common Sto (WHD)
at 78/100.
Moat scores for companies ranked near CLB in Oil & Gas Equipment & Services
Pricing power is the ability to raise prices without losing volume.
Cost Advantage
Score 68
· 15% of the moat score
A cost advantage means delivering the same product for structurally less — better purchasing, denser distribution, a more automated process.
Customer Stickiness
Score 58
· 15% of the moat score
Stickiness is what makes revenue repeat without being re-won every year.
Capital Efficiency
Score 77
· 18% of the moat score
Capital efficiency asks what the company earns on the money tied up in the business.
Resilience
Score 52
· 17% of the moat score
Resilience is the capacity to get through a bad year on its own terms — enough liquidity, enough interest cover, and enough cash generation to avoid a rescue financing or a forced sale.
Scale & Market Position
Score 39
· 15% of the moat score
Scale matters only when it converts into economics.
Core Laboratories Inc. (CLB) scores 62 out of 100 on the StatsAlpha Moat Map, which rates its competitive advantage as moderate. It ranks #17 of 50 scored companies in Oil & Gas Equipment & Services, the top 34%. The score is a weighted composite of 6 competitive defenses, each measured against industry peers of 49 companies in Oil & Gas Equipment & Services. Its strongest defense is Capital Efficiency (77/100) and its weakest is Scale & Market Position (39/100).
How does Core Laboratories Inc. compare with other Oil & Gas Equipment & Services companies?
Core Laboratories Inc. ranks #17 of 50 scored companies in Oil & Gas Equipment & Services by moat score. The widest moat in Oil & Gas Equipment & Services is Cactus, Inc. Class A Common Sto (WHD) at 78/100. The companies ranked closest are NPK International Inc. (NPKI) at 62 just above it and NCS Multistage Holdings, Inc. (NCSM) at 62 just below it.
How is the moat score calculated?
Each company is scored with an industry-specific template — Corporate Default in this case, chosen because the defenses that matter to a bank are not the ones that matter to a software company. Every defense combines several financial signals, and each signal is measured as a percentile against a peer group of 49 companies in Oil & Gas Equipment & Services. The defenses are then weighted to produce the overall score out of 100.
Why is Core Laboratories Inc. scored with the Corporate Default template?
Most public companies sell a product or a service at a margin, so the moat question is whether that margin survives contact with competitors. The Corporate template scores the six defenses that show up in a general operating company's financial signature: whether it can hold price, produce more cheaply than rivals, keep its customers, earn a return above its cost of capital, withstand a downturn, and turn size into economics.
Which competitive defenses are measured for Core Laboratories Inc.?
The Corporate Default template measures 6 defenses, and CLB scores: Pricing Power (71), Cost Advantage (68), Customer Stickiness (58), Capital Efficiency (77), Resilience (52), Scale & Market Position (39). Each is scored independently as a percentile against peers, so a company can be strong on one and weak on another — the overall score reflects how those defenses are weighted for this industry.
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