Helmerich & Payne
HP on NYSE. Helmerich & Payne sells computers and printers to people and businesses. Market value $4.0bn.
Price checks use the past 12 months to June 2026. Quality checks use five annual reports, the latest for the year to September 2025.
Recent profit includes a one-time gain, so we price the company excluding that gain.
Recent profit includes a big one-time charge, so we price the company excluding that charge.
Should I look at this?
Look carefully before going further
Why it could be worth it
Read the warning sign in its own filings
This is not advice. Check the numbers below.
For every $100 of what the whole company costs, it produced $7.96 of spare cash in the past 12 months. A savings account pays about $4.
You pay 47.1 years of operating profit for the business. The average large US company costs around 18.
Each dollar kept in the business earns 1 cents a year. Above 10 is good.
Quality score: 59 of 100. Price score: 33 of 100. Our list needs 70 on quality and 60 on price.
$39.61 a share, 82% above its 1-year low
Over the past year the price has ranged from $21.73 to $48.17.
Dividend: 2.5% a year
Paid every year for at least 5 years
Prices from Tuesday’s close (6 October).
Five years of cash, in billions
Spare cash swings from quarter to quarter here: $315 million in the past 12 months, $117 million in the year to September 2025.
| Revenue | |||||
| Revenue | $1.2bn | $2.1bn | $2.9bn | $2.8bn | $3.7bn |
| Operating margin | |||||
| Operating margin | -35.2% | 2.2% | 19.8% | 16.6% | 0.1% |
| Debt to equity | |||||
| Debt to equity | 0.35 | 0.20 | 0.20 | 0.61 | 0.73 |
| Shares outstanding | |||||
| Shares outstanding | 0.11bn | 0.10bn | 0.10bn | 0.10bn | 0.10bn |
Health checks
- Free cash flow positive3 of 4 years
- Accounting looks honest (Beneish)Nothing unusual
- Financial strength (Piotroski)3 of 9
- Profit backed by cash (accruals)No
- Debt0.73× equity
- Revenue growth, five yearsStrong, 16.1% a year
- Buying back its own sharesYes, 5% fewer since 2021
The quarter to June 2026
How the business did, compared with the same quarter a year earlier.
- Sales: $1 billion last quarter, about the same as a year ago.
- Profit: $76 million, after a loss of $163 million a year ago.
- It keeps 2 cents of each $1 of sales as operating profit, down from 3 cents a year earlier.
- Spare cash over the past 12 months: $315 million, up from $37 million.
- 1% more shares than a year ago. Each share owns a bit less of the company.
- Debt is $1.7 billion more than cash, down from $2 billion a year ago.
- Sales grew on a year ago in 2 of the last 4 quarters.
| Quarter to | Amount |
|---|---|
| September 2024 | $694m |
| December 2024 | $677m |
| March 2025 | $1.0bn |
| June 2025 | $1.0bn |
| September 2025 | $1.0bn |
| December 2025 | $1.0bn |
| March 2026 | $932m |
| June 2026 | $1.0bn |
| Quarter to | Amount |
|---|---|
| September 2024 | $75m |
| December 2024 | $55m |
| March 2025 | $2m |
| June 2025 | -$163m |
| September 2025 | -$57m |
| December 2025 | -$97m |
| March 2026 | -$59m |
| June 2026 | $76m |
From the company's quarterly reports to the SEC.
Dates
- Next results (estimated)
- n/a
- Last annual report (10-K)
- 21 November 2025
- Next quarterly (estimated, 10-Q)
- 5 November 2026
Who owns it
3 long-term investors we follow own it, unchanged from 3 last quarter. 373 funds in all.
- Fairfax FinancialPrem Watsa
- Value
- $38m
- Share of fund
- 1.5%
| Fund | Value | Share of that fund | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fairfax FinancialPrem Watsa | $38m | 1.5% | |
| Tweedy, BrowneTweedy Browne partners | $2m | 0.1% | Added |
| Gotham Asset ManagementJoel Greenblatt | $262,084 | <0.1% | Added |
Largest holders overall
- BlackRock$513mAdded
- State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance$257m
- Vanguard Portfolio Management$202m
- Dimensional Fund Advisors LP$193mAdded
- State Street$148mAdded
- Vanguard Capital Management$136m
- American Century Companies$126mAdded
- Invesco$123mAdded
- Geode Capital Management$93mAdded
- Earnest Partners$90mCut
From 13F filings for the quarter ended 30 June 2026.
Big holders and activists
3 investors own more than 5%.
- BlackRock, Inc.Passive investor14.4%−1.3 ptsSince 30 June 2025
- Vanguard Portfolio ManagementPassive investor6.2%Since 31 March 2026
- Dimensional Fund Advisors LPPassive investor5.2%+0.2 ptsSince 31 December 2025
- The Vanguard GroupPassive investorSold down below 5%Since 13 March 2026
| Holder | Stake | Since | |
|---|---|---|---|
BlackRock, Inc. Passive investor | 14.4%−1.3 pts | 30 June 2025 | |
Vanguard Portfolio Management Passive investor | 6.2% | 31 March 2026 | |
Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Passive investor | 5.2%+0.2 pts | 31 December 2025 | |
The Vanguard Group Passive investor | Sold down below 5% | 13 March 2026 |
From Schedule 13D and 13G filings: anyone owning more than 5% must file one.
What insiders did
No insider bought shares on the open market in the last 12 months. 4 sold $11m, $825,000 of it under preset trading plans.
- Lennox MichaelEVP, WESTERN HEMISPHERE LANDSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 1 September 2026
- Shares
- 10,000
- Price
- $45.00
- Value
- $450,000
- HELMERICH HANSDirectorSold
- Date
- 20 August 2026
- Shares
- 94,470
- Price
- $43.90
- Value
- $4m
- Hair Cara M.SVP, CORP. SERVICES & CLOSold
- Date
- 17 August 2026
- Shares
- 11,149
- Price
- $44.27
- Value
- $493,566
- Momper Sara MarieVP, CAOSold
- Date
- 14 August 2026
- Shares
- 5,054
- Price
- $44.28
- Value
- $223,791
- Lennox MichaelEVP, WESTERN HEMISPHERE LANDSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 10 August 2026
- Shares
- 5,000
- Price
- $40.00
- Value
- $200,000
- Lennox MichaelEVP, WESTERN HEMISPHERE LANDSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 22 July 2026
- Shares
- 5,000
- Price
- $35.00
- Value
- $175,000
- Hair Cara M.SVP, CORP. SERVICES & CLOSold
- Date
- 18 May 2026
- Shares
- 28,345
- Price
- $41.45
- Value
- $1m
- Hair Cara M.SVP, CORP. SERVICES & CLOSold
- Date
- 19 March 2026
- Shares
- 58,771
- Price
- $36.62
- Value
- $2m
- HELMERICH HANSDirectorSold
- Date
- 19 December 2025
- Shares
- 75,000
- Price
- $28.12
- Value
- $2m
- Momper Sara MarieVP, CAOSold
- Date
- 3 December 2025
- Shares
- 6,681
- Price
- $30.23
- Value
- $201,967
| Date | Who | Did | Shares | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 September 2026 | Lennox Michael EVP, WESTERN HEMISPHERE LAND | Sold under a preset trading plan | 10,000 | $45.00 | $450,000 |
| 20 August 2026 | HELMERICH HANS Director | Sold | 94,470 | $43.90 | $4m |
| 17 August 2026 | Hair Cara M. SVP, CORP. SERVICES & CLO | Sold | 11,149 | $44.27 | $493,566 |
| 14 August 2026 | Momper Sara Marie VP, CAO | Sold | 5,054 | $44.28 | $223,791 |
| 10 August 2026 | Lennox Michael EVP, WESTERN HEMISPHERE LAND | Sold under a preset trading plan | 5,000 | $40.00 | $200,000 |
| 22 July 2026 | Lennox Michael EVP, WESTERN HEMISPHERE LAND | Sold under a preset trading plan | 5,000 | $35.00 | $175,000 |
| 18 May 2026 | Hair Cara M. SVP, CORP. SERVICES & CLO | Sold | 28,345 | $41.45 | $1m |
| 19 March 2026 | Hair Cara M. SVP, CORP. SERVICES & CLO | Sold | 58,771 | $36.62 | $2m |
| 19 December 2025 | HELMERICH HANS Director | Sold | 75,000 | $28.12 | $2m |
| 3 December 2025 | Momper Sara Marie VP, CAO | Sold | 6,681 | $30.23 | $201,967 |
From Form 4 filings: insiders must report trades in their own company's shares within two days.
Warning signs in its filings
Problems the company itself reported to the SEC, in its own words.
1 serious warning sign in Helmerich & Payne’s filings.
We look for five warning signs: doubt it can keep going, weak checks on its own accounts, a notice that its past accounts can't be relied on, a change of auditor, and one customer bringing in a big share of sales. We don't check lawsuits, investigations or debt yet.
We checked the auditor's report, internal controls, restatement notices, auditor changes and big customers in the 10-K filed 21 Nov 2025, plus the 10-Q filed 6 Aug 2026 and 11 later 8-Ks.
Weak checks on its own accounts
SeriousThe company said its checks on its own accounts did not work at year end. Mistakes could slip into the numbers.
“Based on that evaluation, and as a result of the material weakness in internal control over financial reporting described below, the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures as of the end of the period covered by this report were not effective.”
Show the full paragraph
Our management, with the participation of our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, evaluated the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures as of the end of the period covered by this report. Based on that evaluation, and as a result of the material weakness in internal control over financial reporting described below, the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures as of the end of the period covered by this report were not effective. We believe that a controls system, no matter how well designed and operated, cannot provide absolute assurance that the objectives of the controls system are met, and no evaluation of controls can provide absolute assurance that all control issues and instances of fraud, if any, within a company have been detected. A material weakness is a deficiency, or combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis.
From the 10-K filed 21 November 2025, Item 9A. Controls and Procedures. Read it in the filing
A 10-K is the yearly report every US company files with the SEC. An 8-K is a short notice of a big event.
What could go wrong
- It isn't cheap on profits: 47.1× operating profit.
Whether the price already reflects the risks is what the deep dive is for.
The deep dive
Everything above is arithmetic on public filings. The deep dive reads the last ten years of annual reports, the proxy statements, and the earnings calls, then argues the case the way Buffett, Klarman, and Hohn would, and checks every claim against the source.
- What the business is worth, as a range, and the margin of safety at today’s price
- Prices to start buying, buy, and buy hard
- The three things that would make this a mistake
- Every number footnoted to the filing it came from
Your first deep dive is free.
Not advice. Numbers on this page come from SEC filings and are updated each night; prices are updated again after the US market closes. The five-year figures are rounded.