MMarketMath

FANG

Fast growerQuality: Medium (63/100)1 red flag

Diamondback Energy · Energy · Oil & Gas Exploration & Production

$205.60

52w 134.30 – 216.90

20y monthly, adjusted

Mkt cap

$57.6B

P/E

35.5

P/FCF

6.7

FCF yield

14.8%

ROE

4.5%

Shldr yield

2.0%

div 2.0% + bb 0.0%

What today's price assumes

At $57.6B, the market is pricing in -7.6% annual free-cash-flow growth for the next decade (10% discount rate, 2.5% terminal growth). Over the last ten years, FCF actually grew 43.8% per year — expectations look undemanding relative to history.

Simple DCF per-share range: $477 · $1,069 · $1,541 (4% / base / optimistic growth). An estimate, not a target.

Adjust the assumptions yourself →

Historical multiple lens

At its own median P/OCF of 4.9× across 10 years, FANG would trade near $154/share (25th–75th percentile: $117–$167); it trades at 6.6× today.

Assumes the historical multiple regime persists — re-ratings can be permanent.

Growth record

Compound annual growth rates from as-filed 10-K data, split-adjusted

Rev 3y

+16.2%

Rev 5y

+40.4%

Rev 10y

+45.1%

EPS 5y

EPS 10y

FCF 5y

+32.8%

FCF 10y

+43.8%

Fundamentals

Fiscal 2016–2025, from SEC filings

Revenue

2016: $527.1M
2017: $1.2B
2018: $2.1B
2019: $3.9B
2020: $2.8B
2021: $6.7B
2022: $9.6B
2023: $8.4B
2024: $11.1B
2025: $15.0B
$0$5.0B$10.0B$15.0B
16
18
20
22
24

Net income

2016: −$165.0M
2017: $482.0M
2018: $846.0M
2019: $240.0M
2020: −$4.5B
2021: $2.2B
2022: $4.4B
2023: $3.1B
2024: $3.3B
2025: $1.7B
−$2.5B$0$2.5B
16
18
20
22
24

Free cash flow

2016: $332.1M
2017: $889.0M
2018: $1.6B
2019: $2.7B
2020: $2.1B
2021: $3.9B
2022: $6.3B
2023: $5.9B
2024: $6.4B
2025: $8.8B
$0$2.5B$5.0B$7.5B
16
18
20
22
24

Diluted shares (lower is better)

2016: 75.1M
2017: 97.7M
2018: 104.9M
2019: 163.8M
2020: 158.0M
2021: 176.6M
2022: 176.5M
2023: 180.0M
2024: 213.5M
2025: 289.1M
0100.0M200.0M
16
18
20
22
24

Margins

-100%0%1618202224
Net marginFCF marginGross margin

Capital returned (dividends + buybacks)

2016: $0
2017: $0
2018: $37.0M
2019: $705.0M
2020: $334.0M
2021: $743.0M
2022: $2.7B
2023: $2.3B
2024: $2.5B
2025: $1.2B
$0$1.0B$2.0B
16
18
20
22
24

Cash vs long-term debt

$0$5.0B$10.0B1618202224
CashLT debt

Quarterly

Discrete quarters from 10-Q filings; Q4 derived as fiscal year minus Q1–Q3. OCF is unwound from the year-to-date figures 10-Qs report. Compare to the same quarter a year ago — most businesses are seasonal.

Revenue by quarter

Q2'23: $1.9B
Q3'23: $2.3B
Q4'23: $2.3B
Q1'24: $2.2B
Q2'24: $2.5B
Q3'24: $2.6B
Q4'24: $3.7B
Q1'25: $4.0B
Q2'25: $3.7B
Q3'25: $3.9B
Q4'25: $3.4B
Q1'26: $4.2B
Q2'26: $5.6B
$0$2.0B$4.0B
23
24
24
25
26

Net income by quarter

Q2'23: $556.0M
Q3'23: $915.0M
Q4'23: $960.0M
Q1'24: $768.0M
Q2'24: $837.0M
Q3'24: $659.0M
Q4'24: $1.1B
Q1'25: $1.4B
Q2'25: $699.0M
Q3'25: $1.0B
Q4'25: −$1.5B
Q1'26: $25.0M
Q2'26: $1.9B
−$1.0B$0$1.0B
23
24
24
25
26
QuarterRevenueYoYNet incomeYoYEPSOCF
Q2'26$5.6B+51.2%$1.9B+169.2%6.65$3.6B
Q1'26$4.2B+4.7%$25.0M−98.2%0.08$1.8B
Q4'25 *$3.4B−9.0%−$1.5B−235.8%-4.99$2.3B
Q3'25$3.9B+48.4%$1.0B+54.5%3.51$2.4B
Q2'25$3.7B+48.1%$699.0M−16.5%2.38$1.7B
Q1'25$4.0B+81.8%$1.4B+82.9%4.83$2.4B
Q4'24 *$3.7B+63.2%$1.1B+11.9%3.40$2.3B
Q3'24$2.6B+13.0%$659.0M−28.0%3.19$1.2B
Q2'24$2.5B+31.0%$837.0M+50.5%4.66$1.5B
Q1'24$2.2B+17.1%$768.0M+7.9%4.28$1.3B
Q4'23 *$2.3B+13.2%$960.0M−4.7%5.34$1.6B
Q3'23$2.3B−3.2%$915.0M−22.7%5.07$1.4B
Q2'23$1.9B−31.1%$556.0M−60.7%3.05$1.5B

Track record

Compound annual growth by period. For debt and share count, negative is the good direction.

Series3y5y10y15y
Revenue+16.2%+40.4%
Operating cash flow+11.5%+32.8%
Free cash flow+11.5%+32.8%
EPS (diluted)−38.5%+25.5%
Equity+35.1%+33.3%
LT debt+30.1%+19.5%
Diluted shares+17.9%+12.8%
Stock price+14.6%+26.8%+10.9%

$100, 3 years ago

$150vs $176 in SPY

14.6% vs 20.7%/yr

$100, 5 years ago

$328vs $181 in SPY

26.8% vs 12.6%/yr

$100, 10 years ago

$282vs $412 in SPY

10.9% vs 15.2%/yr

The $1 test — market value created per $1 of earnings retained (Buffett's hurdle: at least $1)

Last 5 years

$4.59

$39.7B created / $8.7B retained

Quality & capital discipline

Cash-based returns and how management deploys capital

Cash ROIC

17.3%

OCF ÷ (equity + debt)

OCF / EV yield

12.1%

MC vs 10× OCF

0.67

≤1 = priced under 10× OCF

Debt / FCF

1.6y

SBC / FCF

Owner earnings

$8.8B

OCF − capex − SBC

OE yield

14.8%

Share count 5y

+16.2%

per year; negative = buybacks

Capital intensity

456.7%

net PP&E ÷ revenue

Sales efficiency

$4.27

new PP&E per $1 new revenue, 5y

Growth engine (5y): reinvested 115.7% of operating cash flow at an incremental return of 18.3% — an organically fundable growth rate of about 21.2% per year (growth ≈ reinvestment rate × incremental ROIC).

Checklist

16 of 24 checks pass · 67%. Checks with structurally missing inputs are excluded.

Growth & Consistency

5/6

  • Revenue growth

    40.4% · 5y CAGR ≥ 5%

    pass
  • EPS growth

    · 5y CAGR ≥ 5%

    na
  • FCF growth

    32.8% · 5y CAGR ≥ 5%

    pass
  • Revenue rises consistently

    7 of 9 · up in ≥ 7 of last 10 years

    pass
  • FCF consistently positive

    10 of 10 · positive in ≥ 8 of last 10 years

    pass
  • Profitable every year

    8 of 10 · net income > 0 in ≥ 8 of last 10

    pass
  • Cash flow keeps up with sales

    32.8% vs 40.4% · OCF CAGR ≥ 0.9× revenue CAGR

    fail

Profitability

4/6

  • Net margin

    11.1% · ≥ 8%

    pass
  • Operating margin

    8.4% · ≥ 10%

    fail
  • Gross margin stable or rising

    · no drop > 2 pts over 3y

    na
  • Return on equity

    4.5% · ≥ 12%

    fail
  • Cash ROIC

    17.3% · ≥ 12%

    pass
  • FCF margin

    58.3% · ≥ 5%

    pass
  • Earnings back their cash

    OCF $8.8B vs NI $1.7B · OCF ≥ net income (latest FY)

    pass

Balance Sheet

3/5

  • Debt payable from cash flow

    1.6y · LT debt ≤ 3× FCF

    pass
  • Cash cushion

    1% · cash ≥ 50% of LT debt

    fail
  • Leverage

    0.37 · LT debt ≤ 1.5× equity

    pass
  • Equity positive and compounding

    $37.0B · equity > 0 and grew over ~5y

    pass
  • Interest burden

    19% · interest ≤ 15% of operating income

    fail

Capital Allocation

2/3

  • Share count flat or shrinking

    16.2% · ≤ +0.5%/yr over ~5y

    fail
  • Stock comp restrained

    · SBC ≤ 15% of FCF

    na
  • Distributions funded by FCF

    13% · dividends + buybacks ≤ 100% of FCF

    pass
  • Repurchases are a habit

    6 of 10 · buybacks in ≥ 5 of last 10 years

    pass

Valuation Discipline

2/4

  • FCF yield

    14.8% · ≥ 3%

    pass
  • Earnings multiple

    35.5 · P/E ≤ 25

    fail
  • Price asks less than history delivered

    -7.6% vs 43.8% · implied FCF growth ≤ historical FCF CAGR

    pass
  • Shareholder yield

    2.0% · dividends + buybacks ≥ 2% of market cap

    fail

Red flags

Mechanical checks — a flag is a question to investigate, not a verdict

Shareholder dilution

Diluted share count has grown by more than 2% per year over ~5 years.

Financial data

As filed in 10-Ks; per-share figures split-adjusted. $ in millions.

FYRevenueGross profitOp incomeNet incomeEPSOCFCapExFCFDividendsBuybacksSBCCashLT debtEquityShares
202515,0261,2661,6645.738,7588,7581,15610413,72636,972289
202411,0664,3963,33815.536,4136,4131,5789596516112,07537,736214
20238,4124,5703,14317.345,9205,9201,444840545826,64116,625180
20229,5666,5084,38624.616,3256,3251,5721,098551576,23815,009177
20216,7474,0012,18212.243,9443,944312431516546,64212,088177
20202,756-5,476-4,517-28.612,1182,11823698371045,6248,794158
20193,8876952401.472,7392,739112593481235,37113,249164
20182,1301,0118468.061,5651,565370272154,46413,700105
20171,2056054824.9488988900261121,4775,25598
2016527-69-165-2.203323320261,6671,1063,69775

Some concepts are structurally absent for certain industries (banks report no gross profit or capex). Missing ≠ zero.