Kirby Corporation KEX

Competitive advantage analysis · industrials

Corporate Default
Overall moat score
62/100
Moderate

Ranked against 33 peers in Marine Shipping

About Kirby Corporation

Kirby Corporation operates domestic tank barges in the United States. Its Marine Transportation segment provides marine transportation service and towing vessels transporting bulk liquid product, as well as operates tank barges throughout the Mississippi River System, on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, and coastwise along three United States coasts, Alaska, and Hawaii. It transports petrochemicals, black oils, refined petroleum products, and … Full KEX analysis →

Key strengths

  • ROIC Sustainably Above Peers ROIC at 74.2th percentile exceeds peers and WACC, demonstrating superior capital allocation.
  • Revenue Growth Consistent Revenue growth volatility is low (stability score 0.97), suggesting sticky customer base.

The dashed ring is the peer median. Defense scores are percentile ranks against peers, so 50 is roughly the typical company in this group.

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Pricing Power

Moderate
58
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Signals, strengths and risks for Pricing Power

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Signals, strengths and risks for Cost Advantage

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Signals, strengths and risks for Customer Stickiness

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Signals, strengths and risks for Capital Efficiency

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Signals, strengths and risks for Resilience

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Signals, strengths and risks for Scale & Market Position

Where KEX ranks in Marine Shipping

Kirby Corporation ranks #10 of 34 scored companies in Marine Shipping by moat score — the top 29%. The widest moat in the group is Euroseas Ltd. (ESEA) at 86/100.

# Company Moat score Rating
6 Okeanis Eco Tankers Corp. ECO 70/100 Moderate
7 Capital Clean Energy Carriers C CCEC 65/100 Moderate
8 Performance Shipping Inc. PSHG 63/100 Moderate
9 Golden Ocean Group Limited GOGL 63/100 Moderate
10 Kirby Corporation KEX 62/100 Moderate
11 Navios Maritime Partners LP NMM 60/100 Moderate
12 BW LPG Limited BWLP 59/100 Moderate
13 Hafnia Limited HAFN 56/100 Moderate
14 Matson, Inc. MATX 56/100 Moderate

See every General Corporate company ranked by moat score →

How KEX scores on the Corporate Default defenses

Pricing Power

Score 58 · 20% of the moat score

Pricing power is the ability to raise prices without losing volume.

Cost Advantage

Score 41 · 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 70 · 15% of the moat score

Stickiness is what makes revenue repeat without being re-won every year.

Capital Efficiency

Score 75 · 18% of the moat score

Capital efficiency asks what the company earns on the money tied up in the business.

Resilience

Score 58 · 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 66 · 15% of the moat score

Scale matters only when it converts into economics.

How each Corporate Default defense is measured, in full →

Understanding KEX's moat

What is Kirby Corporation's moat score?

Kirby Corporation (KEX) scores 62 out of 100 on the StatsAlpha Moat Map, which rates its competitive advantage as moderate. It ranks #10 of 34 scored companies in Marine Shipping, the top 29%. The score is a weighted composite of 6 competitive defenses, each measured against industry peers of 33 companies in Marine Shipping. Its strongest defense is Capital Efficiency (75/100) and its weakest is Cost Advantage (41/100).

How does Kirby Corporation compare with other Marine Shipping companies?

Kirby Corporation ranks #10 of 34 scored companies in Marine Shipping by moat score. The widest moat in Marine Shipping is Euroseas Ltd. (ESEA) at 86/100. The companies ranked closest are Golden Ocean Group Limited (GOGL) at 63 just above it and Navios Maritime Partners LP (NMM) at 60 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 33 companies in Marine Shipping. The defenses are then weighted to produce the overall score out of 100.

Why is Kirby Corporation 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 Kirby Corporation?

The Corporate Default template measures 6 defenses, and KEX scores: Pricing Power (58), Cost Advantage (41), Customer Stickiness (70), Capital Efficiency (75), Resilience (58), Scale & Market Position (66). 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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