Should I Buy KEX? KEX 2026 Analysis - Intellectia AI™

Loading...

Should You Buy Kirby Corp (KEX) Today? Analysis, Price Targets, and 2026 Outlook.

Conclusion

Buy

Latest Price

122.380

1 Day change

3.06%

52 Week Range

132.180

Analysis Updated At

2026/02/05

Should I buy Analysis is updated weekly. For real time "Should I Buy" analysis, please sign up to get free answers.

Buy now for a near-term rebound setup: price is down on a headline-driven revenue miss, but fundamentals and Street sentiment remain constructive.
Technicals are not strongly bullish yet, but KEX is trading closer to support than resistance, improving the risk/reward for an impatient entry.
Net: upside skew over the next few weeks/month outweighs the near-term choppiness implied by options positioning and bearish MACD.

Technical Analysis

Price context (pre-market): 121.51, below Pivot 123.928 → currently trading in a weak-to-neutral zone.
Trend/Momentum: MACD histogram -1.417 (below 0) but negatively contracting → downside momentum is fading, which often precedes stabilization.
RSI(6): 41.77 (neutral/soft) → not oversold, but closer to the lower range, leaving room for a bounce.
Moving averages: converging → suggests consolidation/transition rather than a strong trend; a reclaim of ~123.9 would improve the bullish case.
Key levels: Support S1 117.365 (near-term downside reference); Resistance first meaningful level R1 130.491 (bounce target area).

Options Data

Bearish

Open Interest Put-Call Ratio

Bullish

Option Volume Put-Call Ratio

Positioning: Put/Call open interest ratio 1.88 (puts > calls) → defensive/hedged sentiment, not euphoric.
Activity: very low option volume (todays_volume=1; volume put-call ratio 0.0) → sentiment read is mostly from open interest rather than fresh trading.
Volatility: 30D IV 31.26 vs historical vol 29.05 (slightly higher IV) with IV percentile 48 → options pricing is not extreme; no major fear spike.
Interpretation: options market is leaning cautious, but not signaling panic; a rebound can still occur if spot price stabilizes above support.

Technical Summary

dotted line Image

Sell

3

Buy

8

Positive Catalysts

- Segment momentum: power generation revenue +10% sequentially and +47% YoY (a meaningful growth engine).

Neutral/Negative Catalysts

- Earnings headline: Q4 revenue missed expectations (despite EPS beat), which triggered a sharp pre-market selloff.
- Guidance: wide 2026 earnings guidance range (per analyst commentary) can cap near-term multiple expansion.
- Technical overhang: price below pivot with MACD still negative → risk of additional drift toward S1 (117.37).
- Broader tape: pre-market S&P 500 -0.5% adds near-term risk-off pressure.
- Short-horizon pattern stats: modeled next-day bias is slightly negative (-0.88% probability-weighted move).

Financial Performance

Latest quarter: 2025/Q4.
Revenue: $851.8M, +6.16% YoY (growth, but slightly short of expectations per news).
Profitability: Net income $91.81M, +114.43% YoY; EPS $1.68, +127.03% YoY → strong earnings leverage.
Margins: Gross margin 26.24%, +7.19% YoY → improving operating quality.
Read-through: underlying fundamentals strengthened meaningfully even with the revenue miss; supports buying dips rather than chasing strength.

Growth

Profitability

Efficiency

Analyst Ratings and Price Target Trends

Recent trend: multiple price target raises in Jan 2026 with consistently bullish ratings.
Wolfe Research (2026-01-30): PT to $136 (from $134), Outperform; sees favorable barge supply and Venezuela upside.
Citi (2026-01-30): PT to $147 (from $145), Buy; maintains constructive stance.
Citi (2026-01-20): PT to $145 (from $131), Buy; highlights Venezuela opportunity.
BofA (2026-01-09): PT to $142 (from $127), Buy; positive cyclical transport exposure into 2026.
Wall Street pros: improving utilization, supply dynamics, Venezuela optionality, and segment growth.
Wall Street cons: near-term volatility from guidance range and revenue sensitivity.

Intellectia Proprietary Trading Signals:

Influential/Political trading check:

Congress trading (last 90 days): No recent congress trading data available.
Insider trend: Neutral (no significant activity last month).

People Also Watch