KEX - Kirby's Business Needs A Little More Time But The Stock Has Recovered

• Kirby's Marine businesses saw weak utilization in Q4'20, and that weakness will only improve modestly in the first half, but a stronger recovery should emerge later in 2021.
• I expect Kirby's Marine operations to be back to pre-pandemic levels in 2023, and possibly sooner given increased chemical production capacity put in place before the pandemic.
• The Distribution and Services business should also recover, with ongoing weakness in fracking equipment demand offset by recovering on-highway, marine, and industrial power gen markets.
• With a strong price recovery, the argument for Kirby shares is now more about momentum and a faster/stronger recovery than undervaluation.

For further details see: