SM Energy Company, an independent energy company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of oil, gas, and natural gas liquids in the United States. The company holds working interests in oil and gas producing wells in the Midland Basin, South Texas, Uinta Basin, and DJ Basin. The company was formerly known as St. Mary Land & Exploration Company …
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Competitive advantage assessment
Key strengths
ROIC Sustainably Above PeersROIC at 74.4th percentile exceeds peers and WACC, demonstrating superior capital allocation.
Cash Generation ConsistentCash generation is consistent (score 0.74), indicating reliable business model.
Key risks
Commodity Pressure / Weak DifferentiationGross margin at 33.3th percentile with high volatility suggests weak pricing power or commoditized products.
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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SM Energy Company ranks #24 of 93
scored companies in Oil & Gas E&P by moat score — the top 26%.
The widest moat in the group is Texas Pacific Land Corporation (TPL)
at 84/100.
Moat scores for companies ranked near SM in Oil & Gas E&P
Pricing power is the ability to raise prices without losing volume.
Cost Advantage
Score 71
· 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 61
· 15% of the moat score
Stickiness is what makes revenue repeat without being re-won every year.
Capital Efficiency
Score 70
· 18% of the moat score
Capital efficiency asks what the company earns on the money tied up in the business.
Resilience
Score 51
· 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 67
· 15% of the moat score
Scale matters only when it converts into economics.
SM Energy Company (SM) scores 61 out of 100 on the StatsAlpha Moat Map, which rates its competitive advantage as moderate. It ranks #24 of 93 scored companies in Oil & Gas E&P, the top 26%. The score is a weighted composite of 6 competitive defenses, each measured against industry peers of 92 companies in Oil & Gas E&P. Its strongest defense is Cost Advantage (71/100) and its weakest is Pricing Power (50/100).
How does SM Energy Company compare with other Oil & Gas E&P companies?
SM Energy Company ranks #24 of 93 scored companies in Oil & Gas E&P by moat score. The widest moat in Oil & Gas E&P is Texas Pacific Land Corporation (TPL) at 84/100. The companies ranked closest are EQT Corporation (EQT) at 63 just above it and Woodside Energy Group Limited (WDS) at 61 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 92 companies in Oil & Gas E&P. The defenses are then weighted to produce the overall score out of 100.
Why is SM Energy Company 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 SM Energy Company?
The Corporate Default template measures 6 defenses, and SM scores: Pricing Power (50), Cost Advantage (71), Customer Stickiness (61), Capital Efficiency (70), Resilience (51), Scale & Market Position (67). 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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