DVN · Energy(crude petroleum & natural gas) · 10 years of annual accounts filed with the SEC · latest fiscal year ended 2025-12-31
Devon Energy Corp reported revenue of $16.8 billion in fiscal 2025, after growing 22.2% a year over the previous 9 years. Its operating margin widened from -104.4% in 2016 to 23.6%, and it earned 12.8% on its invested capital in the latest year. Of the $42.8 billion its operations generated over 10 years, 41.6% went back into the business and 21.6% to buybacks; the share count rose 24.9%. On the accounting screens, it passes 6 of 8 Piotroski tests, its Altman Z'' of 2.89 is in the safe zone and its Beneish M-score is below the -1.78 line; none of the six cross-checks between its statements fires.
Revenue, fiscal 202516.8B+22.2% a year over 9 years
Operating margin23.6%gross margin —
Return on invested capital12.8%21.1% on average over 5 years
Free cash flow after stock pay3.0B18.0% of revenue
Net debt ÷ EBITDA0.9×net debt 7.0B
Piotroski F-score6/8tests of improvement passed
Is it growing?
Revenue and the operating income it turns into. Growth that does not reach operating income is growth bought with margin.
RevenueOperating income
-10.0B010.0B20.0B
2016Revenue 2.8BOperating income -2.9B
2017Revenue 3.5BOperating income 377.0M
2018Revenue 8.4BOperating income 1.2B
2019Revenue 6.7BOperating income 151.0M
2020Revenue 4.7BOperating income -2.8B
2021Revenue 13.8BOperating income 3.3B
2022Revenue 19.8BOperating income 8.1B
2023Revenue 15.1BOperating income 5.0B
2024Revenue 15.9BOperating income 4.1B
2025Revenue 16.8BOperating income 4.0B
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Compound growth a year
3 yrs
5 yrs
9 yrs
Revenue
-5.4%
+29.1%
+22.2%
Operating income
-21.3%
—
—
Net income
-24.0%
—
—
Earnings per share
-23.2%
—
—
Free cash flow per share
-18.7%
+43.0%
+16.1%
Dividend per share
-42.6%
+7.5%
+9.4%
Shares
-1.0%
+10.9%
+2.5%
Falling shares are buybacks: each remaining share owns more of the company.
Does it earn more than its capital costs?
Margins say how much of each sale is kept; return on invested capital says how much the business earns on the money it needs to operate. Growth only creates value when that return is above the cost of the capital.
Return on invested capitalCost of capital today · 8.2%
-50.0%-25.0%0.0%25.0%50.0%
2016Return on invested capital -20.8%
2017Return on invested capital 1.9%
2018Return on invested capital 6.8%
2019Return on invested capital 1.9%
2020Return on invested capital -46.4%
2021Return on invested capital 20.4%
2022Return on invested capital 35.9%
2023Return on invested capital 22.4%
2024Return on invested capital 13.9%
2025Return on invested capital 12.8%
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Economic profit
Economic profit
-10.0B-5.0B05.0B
2016Economic profit -5.4B
2017Economic profit -1.0B
2018Economic profit -189.7M
2019Economic profit -637.0M
2020Economic profit -3.9B
2021Economic profit 1.9B
2022Economic profit 4.9B
2023Economic profit 2.6B
2024Economic profit 1.3B
2025Economic profit 1.1B
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
(return on capital − cost of capital) × capital invested: the profit left after paying for the money used. Today's cost of capital is applied to every year, since a past one cannot be rebuilt honestly.
Return on equity
17.0%
Return on assets
8.4%
Asset turnover
0.53×
Overheads (SG&A)
2.9% of revenue
Is the profit cash, and where does the cash go?
Net income is an accounting opinion; free cash flow is what was left in the bank after investing. Stock-based pay does not leave the bank — shareholders pay it through dilution — so it is shown taken off as well.
Net incomeFree cash flowAfter stock-based pay
-5.0B-2.5B02.5B5.0B7.5B
2016Net income -1.1BFree cash flow 651.0MAfter stock-based pay 448.0M
2017Net income 898.0MFree cash flow 2.9BAfter stock-based pay 2.7B
2018Net income 3.1BFree cash flow 1.5BAfter stock-based pay 1.4B
2019Net income -355.0MFree cash flow 2.0BAfter stock-based pay 1.9B
2020Net income -2.7BFree cash flow 311.0MAfter stock-based pay 223.0M
2021Net income 2.8BFree cash flow 2.9BAfter stock-based pay 2.8B
2022Net income 6.0BFree cash flow 6.0BAfter stock-based pay 5.9B
2023Net income 3.7BFree cash flow 2.7BAfter stock-based pay 2.6B
2024Net income 2.9BFree cash flow 3.0BAfter stock-based pay 2.9B
2025Net income 2.6BFree cash flow 3.1BAfter stock-based pay 3.0B
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Where 10 years of operating cash went, 2016–2025
42.8B generated by the business. Each band is its share of that total.
Reinvested in the business 42%17.8B
Acquisitions 0%0
Dividends 21%9.0B
Share buybacks 22%9.2B
Kept, or used to pay down debt 16%6.8B
Over the same years it paid 1.1B in stock. The share count rose 24.9%. 8.1B of the buybacks went beyond offsetting that dilution.
Per share
Earnings per shareFree cash flow per shareDividend per share
$-10.00$-5.00$0.00$5.00$10.00
2016Earnings per share $-2.08Free cash flow per share $1.28Dividend per share $0.44
2017Earnings per share $1.73Free cash flow per share $5.51Dividend per share $0.24
2018Earnings per share $6.16Free cash flow per share $3.07Dividend per share $0.30
2019Earnings per share $-0.89Free cash flow per share $5.02Dividend per share $0.35
2020Earnings per share $-7.11Free cash flow per share $0.82Dividend per share $0.68
2021Earnings per share $4.23Free cash flow per share $4.38Dividend per share $1.98
2022Earnings per share $9.21Free cash flow per share $9.17Dividend per share $5.17
2023Earnings per share $5.84Free cash flow per share $4.14Dividend per share $2.89
2024Earnings per share $4.56Free cash flow per share $4.66Dividend per share $1.48
2025Earnings per share $4.17Free cash flow per share $4.93Dividend per share $0.98
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Shares outstanding
Diluted shares
300.0M400.0M500.0M600.0M700.0M
2016Diluted shares 507.0M
2017Diluted shares 520.0M
2018Diluted shares 497.0M
2019Diluted shares 401.0M
2020Diluted shares 377.0M
2021Diluted shares 665.0M
2022Diluted shares 653.0M
2023Diluted shares 642.0M
2024Diluted shares 634.0M
2025Diluted shares 633.0M
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
How strong is the balance sheet?
Debt is not bad in itself; debt the business cannot service in a bad year is. Net debt is debt minus cash, and below zero the company holds more cash than it owes.
Net debt
02.5B5.0B7.5B10.0B
2016Net debt 8.2B
2017Net debt 4.2B
2018Net debt 2.0B
2019Net debt 2.8B
2020Net debt 2.3B
2021Net debt 4.4B
2022Net debt 5.1B
2023Net debt 5.3B
2024Net debt 8.1B
2025Net debt 7.0B
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Net debt ÷ EBITDA
0.9×
Interest coverage
8× operating income ÷ interest
Current ratio
0.98 current assets ÷ current liabilities
Cash conversion cycle
— collects in 39d
Three classic screens of the accounts
Each asks a different question of the same statements — is it improving, does it look like a company heading for distress, do the accounts resemble ones that were manipulated. None is a verdict; each shows what moves it.
Piotroski F-score
Is the business improving? Nine yes-or-no tests, this year against last.
6of 8 tests passed
✓ProfitableReturn on assets above zeropassed
✓Cash from operationsOperating cash flow above zeropassed
✕Profitability improvedReturn on assets higher than a year beforefailed
✓Profit backed by cashOperating cash flow above net income (low accruals)passed
✓Less long-term debtLong-term debt as a share of assets fellpassed
✕More liquidCurrent ratio higher than a year beforefailed
✓No new sharesShare count did not growpassed
–Better gross marginGross margin higher than a year before — not reportedno data
✓Sells more per assetAsset turnover higher than a year beforepassed
Where it misleads: it measures change, not level. An excellent business that stood still for a year scores low; a poor one recovering from a disaster scores high.
Altman Z''-score
Does the balance sheet look like those of companies that went bankrupt?
2.89safe zone
1.12.6
Working capital ÷ assets -0.00 × 6.56-0.02
Retained earnings ÷ assets 0.32 × 3.26+1.05
Operating income ÷ assets 0.13 × 6.72+0.84
Equity ÷ liabilities 0.97 × 1.05+1.01
Where it misleads: buybacks. A company that returns so much cash that its equity turns small or negative sinks the last two ratios without being anywhere near bankruptcy. Banks and insurers do not fit the model at all.
Beneish M-score
Do the accounts resemble those of companies that manipulated their earnings?
-3.13below the -1.78 line
-1.78
Receivables vs sales 0.86+0.79
Gross margin slipping 1.00 (not reported, set to 1)+0.53
Soft assets 1.02+0.41
Sales growth 1.05+0.94
Slower depreciation 0.93+0.11
Overheads vs sales 0.93-0.16
Profit not in cash -0.13-0.60
Leverage rising 0.95-0.31
Where it misleads: fast growth and acquisitions. Sales growth carries a heavy weight, so a company growing 50% a year scores like a suspect without having done anything. It is a screen from a 1999 study, not an accusation.
Where the statements disagree
Cross-checks between the income statement, the balance sheet and the cash flow for the latest year, each with the benign reading and the worrying one.
None of the six cross-checks fires for the latest year: receivables and inventory move with revenue, profit turns into cash, investment keeps up with depreciation, the tax rate is ordinary and debt is moderate.
What is it worth, under which assumptions?
A company is worth the cash it will generate, brought back to today. This model projects revenue with growth that fades over the years, applies a free cash flow margin, and discounts the result at the cost of capital. Every assumption says where it came from, and all of them can be changed.
Value per share, with these assumptions$193.04discounted at 8.2% a year · 65% of it from after year 10
Type a share price on the left to ask the reverse questions: what growth, what margin or what discount rate that price implies.
What the value implies, in the usual multiples
At this model's value
Price ÷ earnings
46.2×
Enterprise value ÷ EBITDA
17.1×
Enterprise value ÷ revenue
7.7×
Free cash flow yield
2.5%
From cash flows to a value per share
10 years of cash flow, today45.5B
Everything after, today83.7B
The whole business129.2B
Minus net debt-7.0B
What belongs to shareholders122.2B
Divided among 633.0M shares: <strong>$193.04</strong> each.
The projection next to its history
Reported free cash flow after stock pay, then the model's. A projection that looks nothing like the past needs a reason.
ReportedProjected
05.0B10.0B15.0B
2016Reported 448.0M
2017Reported 2.7B
2018Reported 1.4B
2019Reported 1.9B
2020Reported 223.0M
2021Reported 2.8B
2022Reported 5.9B
2023Reported 2.6B
2024Reported 2.9B
2025Reported 3.0B
2026Projected 3.6B
2027Projected 4.4B
2028Projected 5.3B
2029Projected 6.2B
2030Projected 7.2B
2031Projected 8.1B
2032Projected 8.9B
2033Projected 9.6B
2034Projected 10.0B
2035Projected 10.3B
2016201820202022202420262028203020322034
Year by year
2026
2027
2028
2029
2030
2031
2032
2033
2034
2035
Revenue
21.0B
25.7B
30.8B
36.2B
41.7B
46.9B
51.6B
55.4B
58.2B
59.7B
Growth
25.0%
22.5%
20.0%
17.5%
15.0%
12.5%
10.0%
7.5%
5.0%
2.5%
Cash margin
17.2%
17.2%
17.2%
17.2%
17.2%
17.2%
17.2%
17.2%
17.2%
17.2%
Free cash flow
3.6B
4.4B
5.3B
6.2B
7.2B
8.1B
8.9B
9.6B
10.0B
10.3B
Worth today
3.3B
3.8B
4.2B
4.6B
4.8B
5.0B
5.1B
5.1B
4.9B
4.7B
If the least-known inputs move
Value per share as two inputs change at a time. Neighbouring cells that differ a lot are the conclusion: the value depends on numbers nobody knows to a point.
The discount rate and growth forever
discount ↓ · forever →
1.5%
2.0%
2.5%
3.0%
3.5%
7.2%
201
219
240
267
302
7.7%
182
197
214
236
262
8.2%
166
178
193
210
231
8.7%
152
163
175
189
206
9.2%
140
149
160
172
186
Year-one growth and the final margin
margin ↓ · growth →
21.0%
23.0%
25.0%
27.0%
29.0%
13.8%
134
146
158
172
186
15.5%
149
162
176
190
206
17.2%
164
178
193
209
227
18.9%
178
194
210
228
247
20.7%
193
210
228
247
268
All the inputs moving at once
5,000 valuations, each with growth, final margin, discount rate and growth forever drawn at random around the values on the left (spreads of 3.0%, 2.6%, 1.0% and 0.5%). Not a probability — the spreads are assumptions too — but an honest picture of how wide the answer is.
10th percentile$136.86
Median$192.85
90th percentile$285.47
$200.00$300.00$400.00
Half of the simulations land between <b>$160.90</b> and <b>$235.46</b>; one in ten below $136.86, one in ten above $285.47.
Does the long run make sense?
6.9×The terminal value prices the business in year 10 at 6.9 times that year's EBITDA.
44%To grow 2.5% forever while reinvesting 6% of its after-tax operating profit, the business must earn 44% on the new capital — it has earned 21% on average over the last five years.
65%of the value comes from after year 10. The more of it, the more the answer depends on the part nobody can see.
Accounts from the company's own SEC filings; lines some companies do not report are shown as a dash rather than estimated. The risk-free rate is the 10-year US Treasury yield. A DCF is a way of making assumptions explicit, not a forecast: it states what the company would be worth if the assumptions held. The scores are screens that point where to look, not verdicts. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell.