MUSA · Consumer discretionary(retail-auto dealers & gasoline stations) · 10 years of annual accounts filed with the SEC · latest fiscal year ended 2025-12-31
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Murphy USA Inc. reported revenue of $19.4 billion in fiscal 2025, after growing 5.9% a year over the previous 9 years. Its operating margin held steady at about 3.7% from 2016. Of the $6.1 billion its operations generated over 10 years, 63.0% went to buybacks and 49.0% back into the business; the share count fell 50.7%. On the accounting screens, it passes 5 of 7 Piotroski tests and its Altman Z'' of 3.81 is in the safe zone; none of the six cross-checks between its statements fires.
Revenue, fiscal 202519.4B+5.9% a year over 9 years
Operating margin3.7%gross margin —
Return on invested capital—
Free cash flow after stock pay345.7M1.8% of revenue
Net debt ÷ EBITDA—net debt —
Piotroski F-score5/7tests 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
010.0B20.0B30.0B
2016Revenue 11.6BOperating income 388.1M
2017Revenue 12.8BOperating income 283.3M
2018Revenue 14.4BOperating income 325.1M
2019Revenue 14.0BOperating income 268.5M
2020Revenue 11.3BOperating income 559.0M
2021Revenue 17.4BOperating income 604.0M
2022Revenue 23.4BOperating income 968.4M
2023Revenue 21.5BOperating income 826.0M
2024Revenue 20.2BOperating income 742.9M
2025Revenue 19.4BOperating income 718.5M
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Compound growth a year
3 yrs
5 yrs
9 yrs
Revenue
-6.1%
+11.5%
+5.9%
Operating income
-9.5%
+5.1%
+7.1%
Net income
-11.2%
+4.0%
+8.7%
Earnings per share
-5.0%
+13.0%
+17.6%
Free cash flow per share
-12.7%
+11.2%
+29.3%
Dividend per share
+19.4%
+55.5%
—
Shares
-6.6%
-7.9%
-7.6%
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 · 10.2%
0.0%5.0%10.0%15.0%
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Economic profit
Needs a cost of capital, which comes from the valuation below.
Return on equity
75.5%
Return on assets
10.0%
Asset turnover
4.10×
Overheads (SG&A)
1.2% 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
0200.0M400.0M600.0M800.0M
2016Net income 221.5MFree cash flow 75.3MAfter stock-based pay 66.0M
2017Net income 245.3MFree cash flow 25.3MAfter stock-based pay 17.8M
2018Net income 213.6MFree cash flow 194.4MAfter stock-based pay 185.2M
2019Net income 154.8MFree cash flow 108.5MAfter stock-based pay 98.0M
2020Net income 386.1MFree cash flow 333.0MAfter stock-based pay 318.7M
2021Net income 396.9MFree cash flow 462.7MAfter stock-based pay 448.3M
2022Net income 672.9MFree cash flow 689.4MAfter stock-based pay 673.4M
2023Net income 556.8MFree cash flow 448.4MAfter stock-based pay 426.6M
2024Net income 502.5MFree cash flow 389.5MAfter stock-based pay 366.6M
2025Net income 470.6MFree cash flow 374.3MAfter stock-based pay 345.7M
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Where 10 years of operating cash went, 2016–2025
6.1B generated by the business. Each band is its share of that total.
Reinvested in the business 49%3.0B
Acquisitions 11%641.1M
Dividends 3%175.8M
Share buybacks 63%3.8B
More than it generated: funded with cash or new debt -25%-1.5B
Over the same years it paid 154.5M in stock. The share count fell 50.7%. 3.7B of the buybacks went beyond offsetting that dilution.
Per share
Earnings per shareFree cash flow per shareDividend per share
$0.00$10.00$20.00$30.00
2016Earnings per share $5.59Free cash flow per share $1.90
2017Earnings per share $6.78Free cash flow per share $0.70
2018Earnings per share $6.48Free cash flow per share $5.89Dividend per share $0.00
2019Earnings per share $4.86Free cash flow per share $3.41Dividend per share $0.00
2020Earnings per share $13.08Free cash flow per share $11.28Dividend per share $0.23
2021Earnings per share $14.92Free cash flow per share $17.39Dividend per share $1.03
2022Earnings per share $28.10Free cash flow per share $28.78Dividend per share $1.25
2023Earnings per share $25.49Free cash flow per share $20.53Dividend per share $1.53
2024Earnings per share $24.11Free cash flow per share $18.69Dividend per share $1.77
2025Earnings per share $24.10Free cash flow per share $19.17Dividend per share $2.13
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Shares outstanding
Diluted shares
10.0M20.0M30.0M40.0M
2016Diluted shares 39.6M
2017Diluted shares 36.2M
2018Diluted shares 33.0M
2019Diluted shares 31.9M
2020Diluted shares 29.5M
2021Diluted shares 26.6M
2022Diluted shares 23.9M
2023Diluted shares 21.8M
2024Diluted shares 20.8M
2025Diluted shares 19.5M
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 ÷ EBITDA
—
Interest coverage
6× operating income ÷ interest
Current ratio
0.80 current assets ÷ current liabilities
Cash conversion cycle
— collects in 5d
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.
5of 7 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 fell — not reportedno data
✓More liquidCurrent ratio higher than a year beforepassed
✓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 beforefailed
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?
3.81safe zone
1.12.6
Working capital ÷ assets -0.04 × 6.56-0.25
Retained earnings ÷ assets 0.88 × 3.26+2.88
Operating income ÷ assets 0.15 × 6.72+1.02
Equity ÷ liabilities 0.15 × 1.05+0.16
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?
The accounts lack too many of the lines it needs.
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$346.30discounted at 10.2% a year · 52% 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
14.4×
Enterprise value ÷ EBITDA
6.8×
Enterprise value ÷ revenue
0.3×
Free cash flow yield
5.1%
From cash flows to a value per share
10 years of cash flow, today3.3B
Everything after, today3.5B
The whole business6.8B
Minus net debt-0
What belongs to shareholders6.8B
Divided among 19.5M shares: <strong>$346.30</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
0200.0M400.0M600.0M800.0M
2016Reported 66.0M
2017Reported 17.8M
2018Reported 185.2M
2019Reported 98.0M
2020Reported 318.7M
2021Reported 448.3M
2022Reported 673.4M
2023Reported 426.6M
2024Reported 366.6M
2025Reported 345.7M
2026Projected 393.2M
2027Projected 434.5M
2028Projected 475.8M
2029Projected 516.2M
2030Projected 555.0M
2031Projected 591.0M
2032Projected 623.5M
2033Projected 651.6M
2034Projected 674.4M
2035Projected 691.3M
2016201820202022202420262028203020322034
Year by year
2026
2027
2028
2029
2030
2031
2032
2033
2034
2035
Revenue
21.6B
23.9B
26.2B
28.4B
30.5B
32.5B
34.3B
35.8B
37.1B
38.0B
Growth
11.5%
10.5%
9.5%
8.5%
7.5%
6.5%
5.5%
4.5%
3.5%
2.5%
Cash margin
1.8%
1.8%
1.8%
1.8%
1.8%
1.8%
1.8%
1.8%
1.8%
1.8%
Free cash flow
393.2M
434.5M
475.8M
516.2M
555.0M
591.0M
623.5M
651.6M
674.4M
691.3M
Worth today
356.9M
358.0M
355.8M
350.4M
341.9M
330.5M
316.5M
300.2M
282.1M
262.4M
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%
9.2%
358
378
401
428
460
9.7%
335
352
372
395
421
10.2%
314
329
346
366
388
10.7%
296
309
324
341
360
11.2%
280
291
304
319
335
Year-one growth and the final margin
margin ↓ · growth →
7.5%
9.5%
11.5%
13.5%
15.5%
1.5%
251
272
294
317
342
1.6%
273
296
320
346
374
1.8%
295
320
346
375
405
2.0%
318
344
373
404
437
2.2%
340
368
399
432
468
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%, 2.0%, 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$-21.09
Median$346.78
90th percentile$765.51
$0.00$500.00$1,000.00
Half of the simulations land between <b>$152.83</b> and <b>$559.80</b>; one in ten below $-21.09, one in ten above $765.51.
Does the long run make sense?
4.7×The terminal value prices the business in year 10 at 4.7 times that year's EBITDA.
7%To grow 2.5% forever while reinvesting 36% of its after-tax operating profit, the business must earn 7% on the new capital.
52%of the value comes from after year 10. The more of it, the more the answer depends on the part nobody can see.
What lenders charge, after the tax saving on interest: 6.67% × (1 − 22.8%) = <strong>5.15%</strong>.
Weighted by how much of each the company uses (book value (no price given)): <strong>10.17%</strong>, the rate every future cash flow is discounted at.
What it has filed lately
The last twelve months at the SEC, most important first: annual and quarterly reports, events, large holders and insiders.
Every Form 4 filed in the last twelve months, read line by line: 6 filings by 5 people. Open-market purchases and sales are counted apart from awards, option exercises and shares withheld for taxes.
Bought on the open market—none in the period
Sold on the open market$604,7962 sale(s) by 2 insider(s)
Under pre-arranged plans0%of the sales followed a 10b5-1 plan set months earlier
A Form 4 says what happened, when, how many shares and at what price. It does not say why: a sale can be diversification, a tax bill or a plan fixed months earlier, and an award is pay, not a purchase. Nothing here is a reason to buy or sell anything.
Which large funds report holding it
From the Form 13F of the 28 institutions followed on this site, as of the end of their last reported quarter. A 13F is filed up to 45 days later and shows only long positions in US-listed shares.
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.