Kirby (KEX) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript

Motley Fool Transcribing, The Motley Fool

Thu, January 29, 2026 astatine 9:30 AM CST 49 min read

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Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026 astatine 8:30 a.m. ET

• President and Chief Executive Officer — David Grzebinski

• Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer — Raj Kumar

• President, Marine Transportation — Christian O'Neil

• Vice President, Investor Relations — Kurt Niemietz

David Grzebinski: Thank you, Kurt. And bully morning, everyone. 2025 was a grounds twelvemonth for Kirby, capped disconnected by a coagulated last quarter. During the 4th quarter, we navigated emblematic seasonal upwind and year-end softness with exceptional execution by some our marine proscription and our organisation and services teams. We besides continued to instrumentality superior to shareholders with implicit $100 cardinal successful stock repurchases and we further strengthened our equilibrium expanse by paying down $130 cardinal successful debt. 2025's grounds twelvemonth of net supported different consecutive twelvemonth of generating much than $400 cardinal successful escaped currency flow. We closed the twelvemonth with beardown operational and fiscal momentum combined with improving marketplace conditions.

And arsenic we look ahead, we expect dependable maturation and coagulated show successful 2026. In inland marine, aboriginal 4th marketplace softness from muted request and precocious barge availability gave mode to improving conditions arsenic the 4th progressed. Barge utilization strengthened during the 4th averaging successful the mid to precocious 80% scope and wide marketplace enactment became progressively constructive utilization exiting the twelvemonth adjacent to 90%. Pricing was mixed with aboriginal 4th softness giving mode to firmer prices arsenic utilization improved. Term renewals were down successful the debased azygous digits and spot prices declined successful the debased azygous digits sequentially.

At the extremity of the 4th and frankincense acold successful January, we've seen spot prices rebound successful the debased to mid azygous digits sequentially. With these marketplace conditions, our teams worked hard connected controlling costs, operating safely, and protecting margins. With this disciplined execution, the inland concern delivered coagulated operating margins successful the debased 20% scope for the quarter. In coastal, marketplace fundamentals stay coagulated with our barge utilization levels moving successful the mid to precocious 90% range. Throughout the quarter, lawsuit request was stable, supported by constricted availability of ample capableness vessels. Our teams delivered beardown operational execution and maintained a disciplined absorption connected cost, efficiency, and this resulted successful an operating borderline of astir 20%.

Turning to organisation and services. Overall request tracked successful enactment with the anterior quarter. We proceed to spot beardown enactment successful powerfulness generation, unchangeable marine repair demand, a dilatory recovering off-highway market, and persistent softness successful the accepted frac market. In powerfulness gen, full revenues grew 10% sequentially and 47% twelvemonth implicit year, driven by execution connected existing backlog, which was further supported by beardown bid travel and aggregate ample task wins, arsenic customers proceed to prioritize reliable powerfulness solutions. In our commercialized and concern market, revenues were down sequentially driven by seasonal slowness successful marine enactment and ongoing dilatory betterment successful the off-highway market.