EQT · Energy(crude petroleum & natural gas) · 10 years of annual accounts filed with the SEC · latest fiscal year ended 2025-12-31
EQT Corp reported revenue of $8.6 billion in fiscal 2025, after growing 22.5% a year over the previous 9 years. Its operating margin widened from -54.4% in 2016 to 37.6%, and it earned 8.0% on its invested capital in the latest year. Of the $25.3 billion its operations generated over 10 years, 67.8% went back into the business and 31.3% to acquisitions; the share count rose 268.7%. On the accounting screens, it passes 8 of 9 Piotroski tests, its Altman Z'' of 2.49 is in the grey zone and its Beneish M-score is below the -1.78 line; none of the six cross-checks between its statements fires.
Revenue, fiscal 20258.6B+22.5% a year over 9 years
Operating margin37.6%gross margin 82.3%
Return on invested capital8.0%4.1% on average over 5 years
Free cash flow after stock pay2.8B32.1% of revenue
Net debt ÷ EBITDA1.3×net debt 7.7B
Piotroski F-score8/9tests 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
-5.0B05.0B10.0B15.0B
2016Revenue 1.4BOperating income -755.0M
2017Revenue 3.1BOperating income 382.2M
2018Revenue 4.7BOperating income -2.8B
2019Revenue 3.8BOperating income -1.2B
2020Revenue 2.7BOperating income -877.7M
2021Revenue 6.8BOperating income -1.4B
2022Revenue 12.1BOperating income 2.7B
2023Revenue 5.0BOperating income 2.3B
2024Revenue 5.3BOperating income 685.3M
2025Revenue 8.6BOperating income 3.2B
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Compound growth a year
3 yrs
5 yrs
9 yrs
Revenue
-10.6%
+26.7%
+22.5%
Operating income
+6.1%
—
—
Net income
+4.8%
—
—
Earnings per share
-8.7%
—
—
Free cash flow per share
-3.2%
+19.4%
+22.8%
Dividend per share
+8.1%
+84.7%
+20.2%
Shares
+14.8%
+18.8%
+15.6%
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 · 8.7%
-30.0%-20.0%-10.0%-0.0%10.0%20.0%
2016Return on invested capital -11.6%
2017Return on invested capital -10.6%
2018Return on invested capital -21.8%
2019Return on invested capital -9.4%
2020Return on invested capital -7.6%
2021Return on invested capital -11.1%
2022Return on invested capital 12.3%
2023Return on invested capital 9.3%
2024Return on invested capital 2.1%
2025Return on invested capital 8.0%
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Economic profit
Economic profit
-6.0B-4.0B-2.0B02.0B
2016Economic profit -1.9B
2017Economic profit -3.5B
2018Economic profit -4.8B
2019Economic profit -2.7B
2020Economic profit -2.3B
2021Economic profit -3.1B
2022Economic profit 599.0M
2023Economic profit 108.9M
2024Economic profit -2.0B
2025Economic profit -222.5M
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
8.6%
Return on assets
4.9%
Asset turnover
0.21×
Overheads (SG&A)
4.4% 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
-4.0B-2.0B02.0B4.0B
2016Net income -453.0MFree cash flow 121.5MAfter stock-based pay 76.9M
2017Net income 1.5BFree cash flow 78.6MAfter stock-based pay -15.9M
2018Net income -2.2BFree cash flow -22.8MAfter stock-based pay -48.0M
2019Net income -1.2BFree cash flow 249.2MAfter stock-based pay 218.0M
2020Net income -958.8MFree cash flow 495.5MAfter stock-based pay 475.9M
2021Net income -1.1BFree cash flow 607.3MAfter stock-based pay 579.2M
2022Net income 1.8BFree cash flow 2.1BAfter stock-based pay 2.0B
2023Net income 1.7BFree cash flow 1.2BAfter stock-based pay 1.1B
2024Net income 230.6MFree cash flow 573.3MAfter stock-based pay 414.9M
2025Net income 2.0BFree cash flow 2.8BAfter stock-based pay 2.8B
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Where 10 years of operating cash went, 2016–2025
25.3B generated by the business. Each band is its share of that total.
Reinvested in the business 68%17.2B
Acquisitions 31%7.9B
Dividends 5%1.3B
Share buybacks 2%623.5M
More than it generated: funded with cash or new debt -7%-1.7B
Over the same years it paid 557.5M in stock. The share count rose 268.7%. 66.0M 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 $-2.71Free cash flow per share $0.73Dividend per share $0.12
2017Earnings per share $8.04Free cash flow per share $0.42Dividend per share $0.11
2018Earnings per share $-8.60Free cash flow per share $-0.09Dividend per share $0.12
2019Earnings per share $-4.79Free cash flow per share $0.98Dividend per share $0.12
2020Earnings per share $-3.68Free cash flow per share $1.90Dividend per share $0.03
2021Earnings per share $-3.54Free cash flow per share $1.88Dividend per share $0.00
2022Earnings per share $4.36Free cash flow per share $5.08Dividend per share $0.50
2023Earnings per share $4.20Free cash flow per share $2.81Dividend per share $0.55
2024Earnings per share $0.45Free cash flow per share $1.11Dividend per share $0.63
2025Earnings per share $3.31Free cash flow per share $4.61Dividend per share $0.63
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Shares outstanding
Diluted shares
0200.0M400.0M600.0M800.0M
2016Diluted shares 167.0M
2017Diluted shares 187.7M
2018Diluted shares 260.9M
2019Diluted shares 255.1M
2020Diluted shares 260.6M
2021Diluted shares 323.2M
2022Diluted shares 406.5M
2023Diluted shares 413.2M
2024Diluted shares 514.6M
2025Diluted shares 615.7M
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 2.2B
2017Net debt 4.7B
2018Net debt 4.7B
2019Net debt 5.3B
2020Net debt 4.9B
2021Net debt 5.5B
2022Net debt 4.2B
2023Net debt 5.7B
2024Net debt 9.1B
2025Net debt 7.7B
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Net debt ÷ EBITDA
1.3×
Interest coverage
7× operating income ÷ interest
Current ratio
0.76 current assets ÷ current liabilities
Cash conversion cycle
— collects in 62d
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.
8of 9 tests passed
✓ProfitableReturn on assets above zeropassed
✓Cash from operationsOperating cash flow above zeropassed
✓Profitability improvedReturn on assets higher than a year beforepassed
✓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 beforepassed
✕No new sharesShare count did not growfailed
✓Better gross marginGross margin higher than a year beforepassed
✓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?
2.49grey zone
1.12.6
Working capital ÷ assets -0.01 × 6.56-0.09
Retained earnings ÷ assets 0.10 × 3.26+0.33
Operating income ÷ assets 0.08 × 6.72+0.52
Equity ÷ liabilities 1.65 × 1.05+1.73
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?
-2.49below the -1.78 line
-1.78
Receivables vs sales 0.79+0.72
Gross margin slipping 0.77+0.41
Soft assets 0.95+0.38
Sales growth 1.64+1.46
Slower depreciation 0.89+0.10
Overheads vs sales 0.69-0.12
Profit not in cash -0.07-0.35
Leverage rising 0.81-0.27
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$127.93discounted at 8.7% a year · 62% 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
38.6×
Enterprise value ÷ EBITDA
14.8×
Enterprise value ÷ revenue
10.0×
Free cash flow yield
3.5%
From cash flows to a value per share
10 years of cash flow, today32.7B
Everything after, today53.8B
The whole business86.5B
Minus net debt-7.7B
What belongs to shareholders78.8B
Divided among 615.7M shares: <strong>$127.93</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
-2.0B02.0B4.0B6.0B8.0B
2016Reported 76.9M
2017Reported -15.9M
2018Reported -48.0M
2019Reported 218.0M
2020Reported 475.9M
2021Reported 579.2M
2022Reported 2.0B
2023Reported 1.1B
2024Reported 414.9M
2025Reported 2.8B
2026Projected 2.7B
2027Projected 3.3B
2028Projected 3.9B
2029Projected 4.6B
2030Projected 5.3B
2031Projected 6.0B
2032Projected 6.6B
2033Projected 7.1B
2034Projected 7.4B
2035Projected 7.6B
2016201820202022202420262028203020322034
Year by year
2026
2027
2028
2029
2030
2031
2032
2033
2034
2035
Revenue
10.8B
13.2B
15.9B
18.7B
21.5B
24.1B
26.6B
28.6B
30.0B
30.7B
Growth
25.0%
22.5%
20.0%
17.5%
15.0%
12.5%
10.0%
7.5%
5.0%
2.5%
Cash margin
24.7%
24.7%
24.7%
24.7%
24.7%
24.7%
24.7%
24.7%
24.7%
24.7%
Free cash flow
2.7B
3.3B
3.9B
4.6B
5.3B
6.0B
6.6B
7.1B
7.4B
7.6B
Worth today
2.5B
2.8B
3.0B
3.3B
3.5B
3.6B
3.6B
3.6B
3.5B
3.3B
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%
7.8%
133
144
158
174
193
8.2%
121
130
141
154
170
8.7%
111
119
128
139
151
9.2%
102
109
116
125
136
9.8%
94
100
107
114
123
Year-one growth and the final margin
margin ↓ · growth →
21.0%
23.0%
25.0%
27.0%
29.0%
19.8%
88
96
104
113
123
22.2%
98
107
116
126
137
24.7%
108
118
128
139
151
27.2%
118
128
140
152
165
29.6%
128
139
151
165
179
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%, 3.7%, 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$90.89
Median$127.91
90th percentile$186.58
$100.00$200.00
Half of the simulations land between <b>$106.53</b> and <b>$155.09</b>; one in ten below $90.89, one in ten above $186.58.
Does the long run make sense?
6.0×The terminal value prices the business in year 10 at 6.0 times that year's EBITDA.
16%To grow 2.5% forever while reinvesting 16% of its after-tax operating profit, the business must earn 16% on the new capital — it has earned 4% on average over the last five years.
62%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.