Shell PLC SHEL

Competitive advantage analysis · energy

Corporate Default
Overall moat score
61/100
Moderate

Ranked against 21 peers in Oil & Gas Integrated

About Shell PLC

Shell plc operates as an energy and petrochemical company Europe, Asia, Oceania, Africa, the United States, and other Americas. It operates through Integrated Gas; Upstream; Marketing; Chemicals and Products; and Renewables and Energy Solutions segments. The company explores for and extracts natural gas to produce liquefied natural gas or convert into gas-to-liquids products; explores for and extracts crude oil and … Full SHEL analysis →

Key strengths

  • Strong Interest Coverage & Conservative Leverage Debt serviceability is strong (score 0.71), with robust interest coverage.
  • Margins Stable Across Cycles Operating margin volatility is low (stability score 0.74), demonstrating pricing resilience across cycles.

Key risks

  • ROIC Below WACC or Peers ROIC at 36.8th percentile suggests inefficient capital deployment.
  • Scale Without Profitability Despite scale, profitability lags peers (score 0.37), suggesting limited competitive advantage.

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
56
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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 SHEL ranks in Oil & Gas Integrated

Shell PLC ranks #8 of 22 scored companies in Oil & Gas Integrated by moat score — the top 36%. The widest moat in the group is Suncor Energy Inc. (SU) at 73/100.

# Company Moat score Rating
4 Exxon Mobil Corporation XOM 65/100 Moderate
5 National Fuel Gas Company NFG 65/100 Moderate
6 Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petro PBR-A 65/100 Moderate
7 TotalEnergies SE TTE 62/100 Moderate
8 Shell PLC SHEL 61/100 Moderate
9 Imperial Oil Limited IMO 60/100 Moderate
10 Cenovus Energy Inc CVE 58/100 Moderate
11 Equinor ASA EQNR 57/100 Moderate
12 Ecopetrol S.A. EC 56/100 Moderate

See every Commodities & Mining company ranked by moat score →

How SHEL scores on the Corporate Default defenses

Pricing Power

Score 56 · 20% of the moat score

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

Cost Advantage

Score 56 · 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 74 · 15% of the moat score

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

Capital Efficiency

Score 56 · 18% of the moat score

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

Resilience

Score 67 · 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 56 · 15% of the moat score

Scale matters only when it converts into economics.

How each Corporate Default defense is measured, in full →

Understanding SHEL's moat

What is Shell PLC's moat score?

Shell PLC (SHEL) scores 60 out of 100 on the StatsAlpha Moat Map, which rates its competitive advantage as moderate. It ranks #8 of 22 scored companies in Oil & Gas Integrated, the top 36%. The score is a weighted composite of 6 competitive defenses, each measured against industry peers of 21 companies in Oil & Gas Integrated. Its strongest defense is Customer Stickiness (74/100) and its weakest is Cost Advantage (56/100).

How does Shell PLC compare with other Oil & Gas Integrated companies?

Shell PLC ranks #8 of 22 scored companies in Oil & Gas Integrated by moat score. The widest moat in Oil & Gas Integrated is Suncor Energy Inc. (SU) at 73/100. The companies ranked closest are TotalEnergies SE (TTE) at 62 just above it and Imperial Oil Limited (IMO) 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 21 companies in Oil & Gas Integrated. The defenses are then weighted to produce the overall score out of 100.

Why is Shell PLC 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 Shell PLC?

The Corporate Default template measures 6 defenses, and SHEL scores: Pricing Power (56), Cost Advantage (56), Customer Stickiness (74), Capital Efficiency (56), Resilience (67), Scale & Market Position (56). 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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