← All companies ← BTDR Manual BTG → ← BKV Oil & Gas Producers CHRD →
BTE, Baytex Energy Corp
An oil and gas business, whose fortunes rise and fall with a price it does not set.
Approximately 85% of our production is weighted toward crude oil and NGLs.
The business
What it sells, where the money comes from, the kind of company it is.
The business in brief
read the 10-K →What this business is and what moves its needle, from its own SEC filings.
- Situation
- Unprofitable. No sustained operating profit across the record; an earnings multiple has nothing to rest on. What the record does show is revenue, the gross-margin trajectory, and the burn against the cash on hand. Capital build-out. Capital spending has surged to 81% of sales, today's earnings are charged less depreciation than tomorrow's will be. Cyclical. Margins collapse and recover repeatedly across the record; a single year, good or bad, misstates the through-cycle earning power.
- What moves the needle
- Operating margin has run about 3.2% through the cycle, a thin margin, where volume, cost discipline and the price it gets all bear on the result. The margin is cyclical, swinging between −305% and 118% over the years, so the through-cycle figure carries more than any single year — and the balance sheet at the trough more than the peak. Capital spending runs about 37% of sales, so the return earned on what it sinks into that plant weighs as much as the margin. Read this kind of business on the commodity price, and the cost to lift a barrel. On its own account, the filing leans hardest on pricing power & competition, set against the numbers in what the filing emphasizes, below.
Every line is arithmetic on the company's filings, shown in full in the sections below.
The record
Ten years of arithmetic, read across the cycle.
The record, 2019–2025
realized figures from each filing · older years to the left| 2019’19 | 2020’20 | 2021’21 | 2022’22 | 2023’23 | 2024’24 | 2025’25 | TTMTTMDec 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Income statement | ||||||||
| C$1.5B | C$812M | C$1.5B | C$2.3B | C$2.7B | C$1.6B | C$1.5B | C$1.5B | RevenueRevenue |
| C$47M | (C$2.5B) | C$1.8B | C$996M | (C$324M) | C$562M | (C$158M) | (C$158M) | Operating incomeOp. inc. |
| 3.2% | −304.8% | 118.1% | 42.8% | −12.0% | 34.9% | −10.7% | −10.7% | Operating marginOp. mgn |
| (C$12M) | (C$2.4B) | C$1.6B | C$856M | (C$233M) | C$237M | (C$604M) | (C$604M) | Net incomeNet inc. |
| — | — | 5% | 4% | — | 25% | — | — | Effective tax rateTax rate |
| Cash flow & returns | ||||||||
| C$835M | C$353M | C$712M | C$1.2B | C$1.3B | C$1.9B | C$1.5B | C$1.5B | Operating cash flowOp. cash |
| C$732M | C$486M | C$465M | C$587M | C$1.0B | C$1.4B | C$1.3B | C$1.3B | DepreciationDeprec. |
| C$116M | C$2.3B | (C$1.4B) | (C$270M) | C$481M | C$286M | C$825M | C$825M | Working capital & otherWC & other |
| C$549M | C$276M | C$310M | C$515M | C$1.0B | C$1.3B | C$1.2B | C$1.2B | CapexCapex |
| 37.0% | 34.0% | 20.3% | 22.1% | 37.3% | 77.9% | 81.4% | 81.4% | Capex / revenueCapex/rev |
| C$286M | C$77M | C$402M | C$658M | C$283M | C$652M | C$281M | C$281M | Owner earningsOwner earn. |
| 19.2% | 9.5% | 26.3% | 28.3% | 10.4% | 40.4% | 19.0% | 19.0% | Owner earnings marginOE mgn |
| C$286M | C$77M | C$402M | C$658M | C$283M | C$652M | C$281M | C$281M | Free cash flowFCF |
| 19.2% | 9.5% | 26.3% | 28.3% | 10.4% | 40.4% | 19.0% | 19.0% | Free cash flow marginFCF mgn |
| — | — | — | C$0 | C$38M | C$72M | C$69M | C$69M | Dividends paidDiv. paid |
| — | — | C$0 | C$159M | C$222M | C$222M | C$29M | — | BuybacksBuybacks |
| -0% | -422% | 73% | 28% | -6% | 6% | -25% | -25% | Return on equityROE |
| — | — | — | 28% | −7% | 4% | −28% | −28% | Retained to equityRetained/eq |
| Balance sheet | ||||||||
| C$6M | C$0 | C$0 | C$5M | C$56M | C$17M | C$953M | C$953M | Cash & investmentsCash+inv |
| C$174M | C$107M | C$173M | C$222M | C$339M | C$387M | C$135M | C$135M | ReceivablesReceiv. |
| — | — | C$191M | C$227M | C$477M | C$512M | C$236M | C$236M | Accounts payablePayables |
| C$174M | C$107M | (C$17M) | (C$5M) | (C$138M) | (C$125M) | (C$101M) | (C$101M) | Operating working capitalOper. WC |
| C$185M | C$113M | C$182M | C$244M | C$440M | C$450M | C$1.2B | C$1.2B | Current assetsCur. assets |
| C$233M | C$199M | C$339M | C$289M | C$558M | C$574M | C$330M | C$330M | Current liabilitiesCur. liab. |
| 0.8× | 0.6× | 0.5× | 0.8× | 0.8× | 0.8× | 3.6× | 3.6× | Current ratioCurr. ratio |
| C$5.9B | C$3.4B | C$4.8B | C$5.1B | C$7.5B | C$7.8B | C$3.3B | C$3.3B | Total assetsAssets |
| 0.4× | -19.7× | 16.2× | 9.5× | -1.7× | 2.3× | -0.5× | -0.5× | Interest coverageInt. cov. |
| C$2.9B | C$578M | C$2.2B | C$3.0B | C$3.8B | C$4.2B | C$2.4B | C$2.4B | Shareholders’ equityEquity |
| Per share | ||||||||
| 557M | 561M | 564M | 558M | 705M | 803M | 769M | 769M | Shares out (diluted)Shares |
| C$2.67 | C$1.45 | C$2.71 | C$4.17 | C$3.85 | C$2.01 | C$1.93 | C$1.93 | Revenue / shareRev/sh |
| C$-0.02 | C$-4.35 | C$2.86 | C$1.53 | C$-0.33 | C$0.29 | C$-0.78 | C$-0.78 | EPS (diluted)EPS |
| C$0.51 | C$0.14 | C$0.71 | C$1.18 | C$0.40 | C$0.81 | C$0.37 | C$0.37 | Owner earnings / shareOE/sh |
| C$0.51 | C$0.14 | C$0.71 | C$1.18 | C$0.40 | C$0.81 | C$0.37 | C$0.37 | Free cash flow / shareFCF/sh |
| — | — | — | C$0.00 | C$0.05 | C$0.09 | C$0.09 | C$0.09 | Dividends / shareDiv/sh |
| C$0.99 | C$0.49 | C$0.55 | C$0.92 | C$1.44 | C$1.56 | C$1.57 | C$1.57 | Cap. spending / shareCapex/sh |
| C$5.29 | C$1.03 | C$3.92 | C$5.43 | C$5.43 | C$5.19 | C$3.11 | C$3.11 | Book value / shareBVPS |
| 6-yr | 5-yr | |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue / share | −5.3%/yr | +5.9%/yr |
| Owner earnings / share | −5.5%/yr | +21.5%/yr |
| Capital spending / share | +8.0%/yr | +26.1%/yr |
| Book value / share | −8.5%/yr | +24.7%/yr |
Where the cash went
ReinvestBuybacksDividendsAcquisitionsRetainedEach year's operating cash, by what management did with it: the mix, and how it drifts.
Net income is the accountant's number; owner earnings is the cash an owner could take out. The walk between them, off the cash-flow statement, and whether the gap is widening or holding.
In fiscal 2025 the business turned a C$604M loss into C$281M of owner earnings: more cash than the profit line showed, after the non-cash charges and the capital it put back in.
| FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reported net income | (C$604M) | C$237M | (C$233M) | C$856M | C$1.6B |
| Depreciation & amortizationnon-cash charge added back | +C$1.3B | +C$1.4B | +C$1.0B | +C$587M | +C$465M |
| Working capital & othertiming of cash in and out, other non-cash items | +C$825M | +C$286M | +C$481M | −C$270M | −C$1.4B |
| Cash from operations | C$1.5B | C$1.9B | C$1.3B | C$1.2B | C$712M |
| Capital expenditurecash put back in to keep running and to grow | −C$1.2B | −C$1.3B | −C$1.0B | −C$515M | −C$310M |
| Owner earnings | C$281M | C$652M | C$283M | C$658M | C$402M |
| Owner-earnings marginowner earnings ÷ revenue | 19% | 40% | 10% | 28% | 26% |
Owner earnings is the cash an owner could pull out without starving the business: operating cash less the capital it must spend to hold its position .
Maintenance capex is estimated as depreciation where a growing business invests above it; free cash flow is the figure the scorecard's free-cash margin reads.
Quality & stewardship
Returns, the balance sheet, capital allocation, and pay.
Owner’s Scorecard
Will it survive?
- Can it pay its interest? -0.5×Does not cover its interestOperating income (C$158M) ÷ interest expense C$322M
What this means
A full year of operating profit didn't cover the interest bill. This is the zombie zone: the business depends on refinancing, asset sales, or forbearance to service its debt.
- Debt under-captured — leverage unknown, not low
What this means
This company pays far more interest than its tagged debt implies (the rest sits under segment dimensions the data source strips), so its net cash or net debt cannot be read honestly: the gap is unknown, not zero, and 'net cash' here would be exactly the fiction the figure is meant to prevent. Judge it on the record and owner earnings instead.
- Not enough data
What this means
The filing data didn't include the inputs for this check.
Is it a good business?
- Debt under-capturedIndustry peers: median 7%
What this means
This company's interest bill implies far more debt than its filings tag at the consolidated level (the rest sits under segment dimensions the data source strips), so invested capital, and the return on it, cannot be read honestly. Judge this one on Owner Earnings and the record instead.
- High through the cycle7-yr median margin, range 10%–40%; latest C$281M = operating cash C$1.5B − maintenance capex C$1.2BIndustry peers: median 23%
What this means
What an owner could take out without starving the business: operating cash less the maintenance capital it must spend to hold its position — Buffett's owner earnings. That's 19% of revenue this year, a 19% median across 7 years.
- Are earnings backed by cash? C$1.5BLoss, but cash-generativeNet income (C$604M) · cash from operations C$1.5B
What this means
The company reported a net loss, so a conversion ratio isn't meaningful. What matters then is whether operations still threw off cash, here, they did.
How is the cash used?
- Reinvests most of itDividends + buybacks C$99M ÷ Owner Earnings C$281M — this fiscal year
What this means
Of C$281M Owner Earnings, C$99M (35%) went back to shareholders, C$69M dividends, C$29M buybacks. Returning most of it is the mark of a mature business with little left to reinvest at a high return; reinvesting most could mean a long runway, or empire-building. The split doesn't say which; the return earned on it (see ROIC) does. This year's proportion is 35%; across the record (2019–2025) it is 31%, the capital-allocation section below.
- Investing or harvesting? 0.95×MaintainingCapex C$1.2B ÷ depreciation C$1.3B
What this means
Descriptive, not a grade. Above ~1× means investing faster than assets wear out (growth, or, sustained for years, today's earnings carrying less depreciation than tomorrow's will). Below means spending less than it's wearing out (efficiency, or a melting asset base). The ratio won't tell you which; the filings will.
Graham’s defensive tests · 1 of 3 met
Graham’s numerical criteria for the defensive investor (The Intelligent Investor, ch. 14), run on the filings. A floor of safety, not a buy signal; many fine modern businesses fail his strictest liquidity rules by design.
- Adequate size —Revenue ≥ $2B (a dollar floor) · C$1.5B
What this means
Big enough to weather a storm. Graham's floor is a dollar figure — about $2B of revenue as a conservative modern stand-in. This company reports in its home currency and we carry no exchange rate, so we show the figure and leave the size bar for you to apply rather than convert it with a number we don't have.
- Strong liquidity PassCurrent ratio ≥ 2× · 3.61×
What this means
Current assets at least twice current liabilities, near-term bills covered without touching the business. Strict by design: many cash-rich modern firms run leaner and miss it, holding their cushion in longer-dated securities.
- Conservative debt —Debt ≤ working capital · —
What this means
The filings tag only a fraction of the debt this company's interest bill implies (much of it sits under segment dimensions the data source strips), so this test can't be run honestly.
- Earnings stability MissA profit every year (7-yr record) · 4 loss years
What this means
Graham wanted earnings in each of the past ten years, the stability a defensive owner leans on.
- Dividend record MissUninterrupted dividends · 3 of 7 yrs
What this means
An unbroken dividend was Graham's mark of durability. He wanted twenty years; the filings show about ten, and a single suspension breaks the streak. Non-payers, many fine modern compounders, fall outside his defensive net by design.
- Earnings growth —Earnings +33% over the record · —
What this means
Earnings were negative early in the record, a growth rate isn't meaningful.
- Moderate price —P/E ≤ 15 and P/E × P/B ≤ 22.5 · decided by the price
What this means
Graham's valuation gate, the wall he kept between a sound business and a sound investment. Three-year average earnings are C$-0.26/share (latest year C$-0.79), the averaged base the calculator's gate runs on, and book value is C$3.12/share. Enter a price in “What the price implies” just below for the P/E, P/B, and whether it clears. But this is the rule Buffett outgrew: there's no hard P/E law, and a wonderful business can deserve a far richer multiple if the thesis holds, treat it as the bargain-hunter's floor, not a verdict on the price.
Durability & moat, 2019–2025
Whether the record’s returns held, and what the capital reinvested earned.
- Profitable years 3 of 7
What this means
Lost money in 4 year(s), look at what happened there before trusting the average.
- Operating margin −61% → 4% (3-yr avg ends)
In the filing’s words The margin widened even though the filing names price competition — the gain came from volume or cost, not pricing power. Read where.
What this means
Through the cycle the operating margin widened — about −61% early to 4% lately, median 3% — pricing power intact or improving.
- Owner earnings growth +17%/yr
What this means
Owner earnings grew about 17% a year over the record.
- Worst year 2020 · −304.8% op. margin
What this means
Operations went underwater in 2020, understand why before trusting the good years.
- Share count +5.5%/yr
What this means
The share count is rising, dilution works against you on a per-share basis.
- Dividend record rising
What this means
Paid and raised the dividend across the record, the continuity Graham prized.
All figures as filed; the source filing is linked above.
Current Position
as of fiscal year-end, Dec 31, 2025Can the business pay what it owes this year, off the freshest balance sheet: the quality of the assets, the debt actually coming due, and what a low ratio means here.
- Cash & short-term investmentsC$953M
- ReceivablesC$135M
- Other current assetsC$102M
- Accounts payableC$236M
- Other current liabilitiesC$94M
From the company's latest filing.
How the cash was used, 2019–2025
Over the record, the business generated C$7.8B of operating cash; how management split it reads as a reinvestor, most operating cash is plowed back into the business.
- ReinvestedC$5.1B · 66%
- DividendsC$179M · 2%
- BuybacksC$633M · 8%
- Retained (debt / cash)C$1.8B · 24%
- Returned to ownersC$811M
31% of the owner earnings the business produced over the span, C$179M as dividends and C$633M as buybacks.
- Average price paid for buybacks—
Buybacks ran C$633M over the span, but the filings don't tag the share count needed to deduce the average price paid.
- Net change in share count38.1%
The diluted count rose from 557M to 769M: issuance (stock pay, deals) outran any buybacks, so owners were diluted on net.
- Dividend recordC$0.09/sh
Paid in 3 of the years on record. It was never cut over the span.
Buybacks are gross of stock issued to staff; the share-count line above is the net of that, the figure that decides whether owners gained. The average price paid blends a year of purchases (and any accelerated repurchase), so it is close, not exact. The record of where the cash went and on what terms.
What an owner would ask, FY2025
read the 10-K →- Which reported numbers are a judgment call?Management names Income taxes, Stock compensation as critical estimates
each rests partly on management's judgment; the filing's note sets out the assumptionsverify →
The questions the record and the charts do not answer on their own; each carries the figure and the place to look.
Peers, Oil & Gas Producers
The same industry, side by side on owner economics. Each column names the period it is read over; the group median at the foot is the line to read each figure against.
| Company | Revenuelatest FY, USD | Gross marginmedian over the record | Op. marginmedian over the record | ROICmedian over the record | Owner earn. marginmedian over the record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CRKComstock Resources Inc. | $2.2B | — | 16.7% | -0% | 16% |
| VISTVista Energy S.A.B. de C.V. | $1.6B | — | 31.6% | 19% | 32% |
| GPORGulfport Energy | $1.4B | 69% | 0.5% | 7% | 23% |
| MGYMagnolia Oil & Gas | $1.3B | — | 41.2% | 19% | 32% |
| KOSKosmos Energy Ltd. Common Shares (DE) | $1.3B | — | -5.2% | -1% | 12% |
| BTEBaytex Energy Corp | $1.1B | — | 3.2% | — | 19% |
| BKVBKV Corporation | $894M | — | 19.8% | 7% | -2% |
| HPKHighPeak Energy Inc. | $863M | — | 34.0% | 11% | 59% |
| Group median | — | — | 18.3% | — | 21% |
The price
What a price has to assume.
What the price implies
reverse-DCFEnter the US price, in dollars: the NYSE/Nasdaq quote you hold. Baytex Energy Corp's US listing is the ordinary share itself; figures in this tool are translated at CAD 1 = $0.723 (2026-08-20, reference rate); the dollar quote then reconciles exactly. The record tables elsewhere on this page remain as filed, in CAD.
Type today's close and see the owner-earnings growth you'd have to believe to justify it, beside what Baytex Energy Corp has delivered.
Through the cycle, Baytex Energy Corp earns about $206M on its 19.2% median owner-earnings margin. This year’s 19.0% margin runs in line with that. Normalize, below, values the price on that through-cycle figure rather than the latest year.
—
9.0% = the 4.71% 10-year Treasury (Aug 18, 2026) + 4.29 points of equity premium. The rate you require is yours to set.
Enter a price above to run it.
A dated snapshot of the price you typed, the assumptions you set, and what the page showed for them. A snapshot is never edited after it is saved. Your notebook is yours alone — the commitment states what is stored and what we will never do.
Graham capped the multiple at 15×; Buffett and Munger let that rule go: a wonderful business can deserve 50× if the thesis holds. The gate marks the bargain-hunter's floor.
Prefilled with the 10-year Treasury (4.71%, as of Aug 18, 2026). Edit it for today’s exact figure, or a AAA corporate yield.
Graham measured a stock against the bond you could own instead, the heart of his margin of safety. Enter a price above to weigh the owner-earnings yield against this bond.
Owner earnings $203M on 766M shares outstanding, per the 40-F cover, as of 2025-12-31; net cash $689M. The base is the latest year by default; Normalize values it on the through-cycle median owner-earnings margin (to avoid paying on a peak year). Net of stock comp treats option pay as the expense it is. The dials set the multiple a growth belief justifies; the price, and every dollar on this page, is yours.
Manual order: ← BTDR its page in the Manual BTG →
Industry order: ← BKV the Oil & Gas Producers chapter CHRD →