MMarketMath

VLO

Fast growerQuality: Medium (53/100)1 red flag

Valero Energy · Energy · Oil & Gas Refining & Marketing

$346.00

52w 144.30 – 353.00

20y monthly, adjusted

Mkt cap

$99.6B

P/E

42.9

P/FCF

17.3

FCF yield

5.8%

ROE

9.9%

Shldr yield

4.0%

div 1.4% + bb 2.6%

What today's price assumes

At $99.6B, the market is pricing in 5.7% annual free-cash-flow growth for the next decade (10% discount rate, 2.5% terminal growth). Over the last ten years, FCF actually grew 5.7% per year — expectations are roughly in line with history.

Simple DCF per-share range: $308 · $349 · $435 (4% / base / optimistic growth). An estimate, not a target.

Adjust the assumptions yourself →

Historical multiple lens

At its own median P/OCF of 5.3× across 10 years, VLO would trade near $107/share (25th–75th percentile: $99–$128); it trades at 17.1× 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

−11.4%

Rev 5y

+13.6%

Rev 10y

+5.5%

EPS 5y

EPS 10y

+4.9%

FCF 5y

FCF 10y

+5.7%

Fundamentals

Fiscal 2016–2025, from SEC filings

Revenue

2016: $75.7B
2017: $94.0B
2018: $117.0B
2019: $108.3B
2020: $64.9B
2021: $114.0B
2022: $176.4B
2023: $144.8B
2024: $129.9B
2025: $122.7B
$0$50.0B$100.0B$150.0B
16
18
20
22
24

Net income

2016: $2.3B
2017: $4.1B
2018: $3.1B
2019: $2.4B
2020: −$1.4B
2021: $930.0M
2022: $11.5B
2023: $8.8B
2024: $2.8B
2025: $2.3B
$0$5.0B$10.0B
16
18
20
22
24

Free cash flow

2016: $3.5B
2017: $4.1B
2018: $995.0M
2019: $2.7B
2020: −$1.5B
2021: $3.4B
2022: $9.8B
2023: $7.3B
2024: $4.6B
2025: $5.8B
$0$5.0B
16
18
20
22
24

Diluted shares (lower is better)

2016: 464.0M
2017: 444.0M
2018: 428.0M
2019: 414.0M
2020: 407.0M
2021: 407.0M
2022: 396.0M
2023: 353.0M
2024: 322.0M
2025: 309.0M
0200.0M400.0M
16
18
20
22
24

Margins

0%5%1618202224
Net marginFCF marginGross margin

Capital returned (dividends + buybacks)

2016: $2.4B
2017: $2.6B
2018: $3.1B
2019: $2.3B
2020: $1.8B
2021: $1.6B
2022: $6.1B
2023: $6.6B
2024: $4.3B
2025: $4.0B
$0$2.0B$4.0B$6.0B
16
18
20
22
24

Cash vs long-term debt

$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: $34.5B
Q3'23: $38.4B
Q4'23: $35.4B
Q1'24: $31.8B
Q2'24: $34.5B
Q3'24: $32.9B
Q4'24: $30.8B
Q1'25: $30.3B
Q2'25: $29.9B
Q3'25: $32.2B
Q4'25: $30.4B
Q1'26: $32.4B
Q2'26: $44.5B
$0$20.0B$40.0B
23
24
24
25
26

Net income by quarter

Q2'23: $1.9B
Q3'23: $2.6B
Q4'23: $1.2B
Q1'24: $1.2B
Q2'24: $880.0M
Q3'24: $364.0M
Q4'24: $281.0M
Q1'25: −$595.0M
Q2'25: $714.0M
Q3'25: $1.1B
Q4'25: $1.1B
Q1'26: $1.3B
Q2'26: $3.7B
$0$2.0B
23
24
24
25
26
QuarterRevenueYoYNet incomeYoYEPSOCF
Q2'26$44.5B+48.8%$3.7B+421.0%12.62$5.6B
Q1'26$32.4B+7.0%$1.3B4.22$1.4B
Q4'25 *$30.4B−1.2%$1.1B+303.6%3.66$2.1B
Q3'25$32.2B−2.2%$1.1B+200.8%3.53$1.9B
Q2'25$29.9B−13.3%$714.0M−18.9%2.28$936.0M
Q1'25$30.3B−4.7%−$595.0M−147.8%-1.90$952.0M
Q4'24 *$30.8B−13.2%$281.0M−76.6%0.98$1.1B
Q3'24$32.9B−14.4%$364.0M−86.1%1.14$1.3B
Q2'24$34.5B−0.1%$880.0M−54.7%2.71$2.5B
Q1'24$31.8B−12.8%$1.2B−59.4%3.75$1.8B
Q4'23 *$35.4B−15.2%$1.2B−61.4%3.74$1.2B
Q3'23$38.4B−13.6%$2.6B−6.9%7.49$3.3B
Q2'23$34.5B−33.2%$1.9B−58.6%5.40$1.5B

Track record

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

Series3y5y10y15y
Revenue−11.4%+13.6%
Operating cash flow−22.6%+43.8%
Free cash flow−16.0%+13.8%
EPS (diluted)−36.1%+4.4%
Equity+0.2%+4.8%
LT debt−3.7%−8.7%
Diluted shares−7.9%−5.4%
Stock price+42.5%+43.5%+24.8%+24.8%

$100, 3 years ago

$289vs $176 in SPY

42.5% vs 20.7%/yr

$100, 5 years ago

$609vs $181 in SPY

43.5% vs 12.6%/yr

$100, 10 years ago

$917vs $412 in SPY

24.8% vs 15.2%/yr

$100, 15 years ago

$2,786vs $813 in SPY

24.8% vs 15.0%/yr

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

Last 5 years

$1.91

$36.4B created / $19.0B retained

Quality & capital discipline

Cash-based returns and how management deploys capital

Cash ROIC

18.2%

OCF ÷ (equity + debt)

OCF / EV yield

5.6%

MC vs 10× OCF

1.73

≤1 = priced under 10× OCF

Debt / FCF

1.4y

SBC / FCF

2.0%

Owner earnings

$5.7B

OCF − capex − SBC

OE yield

5.7%

Share count 5y

−4.4%

per year; negative = buybacks

Capital intensity

net PP&E ÷ revenue

Sales efficiency

$0.09

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

Checklist

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

Growth & Consistency

4/5

  • Revenue growth

    13.6% · 5y CAGR ≥ 5%

    pass
  • EPS growth

    · 5y CAGR ≥ 5%

    na
  • FCF growth

    · 5y CAGR ≥ 5%

    na
  • Revenue rises consistently

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

    fail
  • FCF consistently positive

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

    pass
  • Profitable every year

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

    pass
  • Cash flow keeps up with sales

    43.8% vs 13.6% · OCF CAGR ≥ 0.9× revenue CAGR

    pass

Profitability

2/6

  • Net margin

    1.9% · ≥ 8%

    fail
  • Operating margin

    2.6% · ≥ 10%

    fail
  • Gross margin stable or rising

    · no drop > 2 pts over 3y

    na
  • Return on equity

    9.9% · ≥ 12%

    fail
  • Cash ROIC

    18.2% · ≥ 12%

    pass
  • FCF margin

    4.7% · ≥ 5%

    fail
  • Earnings back their cash

    OCF $5.8B vs NI $2.3B · OCF ≥ net income (latest FY)

    pass

Balance Sheet

4/5

  • Debt payable from cash flow

    1.4y · LT debt ≤ 3× FCF

    pass
  • Cash cushion

    57% · cash ≥ 50% of LT debt

    pass
  • Leverage

    0.35 · LT debt ≤ 1.5× equity

    pass
  • Equity positive and compounding

    $23.7B · equity > 0 and grew over ~5y

    pass
  • Interest burden

    17% · interest ≤ 15% of operating income

    fail

Capital Allocation

4/4

  • Share count flat or shrinking

    -4.4% · ≤ +0.5%/yr over ~5y

    pass
  • Stock comp restrained

    2% · SBC ≤ 15% of FCF

    pass
  • Distributions funded by FCF

    69% · dividends + buybacks ≤ 100% of FCF

    pass
  • Repurchases are a habit

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

    pass

Valuation Discipline

2/4

  • FCF yield

    5.8% · ≥ 3%

    pass
  • Earnings multiple

    42.9 · P/E ≤ 25

    fail
  • Price asks less than history delivered

    5.7% vs 5.7% · implied FCF growth ≤ historical FCF CAGR

    fail
  • Shareholder yield

    4.0% · dividends + buybacks ≥ 2% of market cap

    pass

Red flags

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

Revenue declining

Latest fiscal-year revenue fell more than 3% versus the prior year.

Financial data

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

FYRevenueGross profitOp incomeNet incomeEPSOCFCapExFCFDividendsBuybacksSBCCashLT debtEquityShares
2025122,6873,1812,3487.575,8265,8261,4052,5981174,6888,26123,725309
2024129,8813,7552,7708.586,6832,0574,6261,3842,8751004,6578,08524,512322
2023144,76611,8588,83524.929,2291,9167,3131,4525,1361075,4249,21826,346353
2022176,38315,69011,52829.0412,5742,7379,8371,5624,5771034,8629,24123,561396
2021113,9772,1309302.275,8592,4583,4011,60227884,12211,95018,430407
202064,912-1,579-1,421-3.509482,436-1,4881,600156803,31313,01318,801407
2019108,3243,8362,4225.845,5312,8462,6851,492777892,5838,88121,803414
2018117,0334,5723,1227.294,3713,3769951,3691,708862,9828,50321,667428
201793,9803,5634,0659.165,4821,3534,1291,2421,372775,8508,31021,991444
201675,6593,5342,2894.944,8201,2783,5421,1111,336684,8167,92620,024464

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