Filing Flows › Companies › Valero Energy › Analysis traps
Valero Energy (VLO): analysis traps
Where its figures could mislead a reader, and what to check before taking them at face value · Data: Q3 2026, to Sep 30, 2026, filed Oct 28, 2026; rules v1.1
Valero Energy (VLO): 1 rule of 10 triggered on the filings to Sep 30, 2026: low P/E at a cyclical peak = undervalued. 1 to review; 2 with insufficient data; 2 not applicable. Each is a question to verify, with the normal explanation that would produce the same figures.
Check these first
Low P/E at a cyclical peak = undervalued Triggered · severity high · confidence medium
The shares trade at 7.7× this year's net income of $12.9B, but that profit is at a high: the median of the last eight fiscal years is $2.8B, on which the same market value is 36.1×. A low multiple of peak profit is not a low multiple of normal profit.
Innocent reading: The business has changed for good (a merger, a new line, a pricing regime) and the old years are not its normal.
A precise DCF value = the true value To review · confidence high
The DCF's point value is 1,376.43 a share (price 351.23); 76% of it is the terminal value, a number about years no one has seen. Moving operating margin by ±3 pts alone takes it from 1,021.25 to 1,731.62; across every method the research ran the range is 21 to 5,961. The value is a range; the decimals are not information.
Innocent reading: A stable, mature business with a narrow range of outcomes, where the point value is a fair summary.
Every rule
A01 FCF growth = the business improved Insufficient data
fewer than two fiscal years with operating cash flow and capital expenditure on file
A07 Stock compensation added back = no economic cost Not triggered confidence high
Stock compensation is 0.1% of revenue: small enough that adding it back changes little.
The figures and how they are read
| Fiscal year | FY2025 |
| Stock compensation | $117M |
| Revenue | $122.7B |
| SBC / revenue | +0.1% |
| Buybacks | $2.6B |
| Buybacks / SBC | 22.2 |
| Diluted shares, year before | 322.0M shares |
| Diluted shares | 309.0M shares |
| Diluted shares: change | -4.0% |
SBC / revenue from the cash flow statement's add-back; the diluted weighted share count year over year; buybacks from the financing section
Source: FY2025 (stock compensation, buybacks and the diluted share count, fiscal year)
B02 Receivables growing = future cash is certain Not triggered confidence medium
Receivables grew 43% against revenue 43% in Q3 2026; DSO 29 against a median of 32: collections are keeping pace with sales.
The figures and how they are read
| Quarter | Q3 2026 |
| Revenue, year over year | +43.3% |
| Receivables, year over year | +42.7% |
| Quarter before | Q2 2026 |
| Revenue y/y, quarter before | +48.8% |
| Receivables y/y, quarter before | +25.8% |
| Days sales outstanding | 28.6 |
| DSO, median of eight quarters | 32.4 |
| Receivables | $14.7B |
| Revenue | $46.1B |
receivables and revenue against the same quarter a year earlier; DSO = receivables / quarterly revenue × days, against the median of the eight quarters before
Source: Q3 2026 (receivables and revenue) · Q3 2025 (the same quarter a year earlier)
B08 Adjusted profit = economic profit Insufficient data
no reconciliation table read from the releases yet and fewer than three quarters with both an adjusted and a GAAP EPS
C02 Low net debt = no refinancing risk Not triggered confidence medium
$695M comes due within a year, 37.1× covered by cash and investments of $9.8B plus $16.0B of free cash flow.
The figures and how they are read
| Cash and investments | $9.8B |
| Debt | $8.3B |
| Net debt | −$1.6B |
| Due within a year | $695M |
| Read from | the debt maturity table |
| Free cash flow, twelve months | $16.0B |
| Cash plus free cash flow | $25.8B |
| Coverage of what is due | 37.1 |
| Due in the second year | $564M |
| Balance sheet date | 2026-09-30 |
due within a year from the maturity table (else the current portion of debt), against cash and investments plus free cash flow over the last twelve months (zero if negative); no credit lines assumed
Source: FY2025 (debt maturities, cash and investments)
D03 EPS growth = profit growth Not triggered confidence high
EPS rose 576% and net income rose 524% in Q3 2026; the share count fell 7.8%: EPS growth follows profit growth.
The figures and how they are read
| Quarter | Q3 2026 |
| Quarter before | Q3 2025 |
| EPS, year before | $3.54 |
| EPS | $23.96 |
| Net income, year before | $1.1B |
| Net income | $6.8B |
| Diluted shares, year before | 309.0M shares |
| Diluted shares | 285.0M shares |
| EPS growth | +576.0% |
| Net income growth | +523.6% |
| Diluted shares: change | -7.8% |
| eps from profit | $18.55 |
| eps from share count | $1.86 |
EPS and net income against the same quarter a year earlier; the EPS bridge attributes the change to profit first, then to the share count (the order is fixed and disclosed)
Source: Q3 2026 (net income, diluted shares, EPS) · Q3 2025 (the same quarter a year earlier)
E02 Low P/E at a cyclical peak = undervalued Triggered severity high · confidence medium
The shares trade at 7.7× this year's net income of $12.9B, but that profit is at a high: the median of the last eight fiscal years is $2.8B, on which the same market value is 36.1×. A low multiple of peak profit is not a low multiple of normal profit.
The figures and how they are read
| market value | $100.1B |
| net income ttm | $12.9B |
| pe ttm | 7.70 |
| net income median fy | $2.8B |
| pe mid cycle | 36.10 |
| net income peak fy | $11.5B |
| years | FY2018 / 3122.0; FY2019 / 2422.0; FY2020 / -1421.0; FY2021 / 930.0; FY2022 / 11528.0; FY2023 / 8835.0; FY2024 / 2770.0; FY2025 / 2348.0 |
| down years in window | 5 |
P/E on the trailing twelve months' net income against the P/E on the median net income of the last eight fiscal years (a mid-cycle stand-in); 'at a peak' = this year's profit at or above 90% of the best year and at least 1.3× the median
Source: Q3 2026 (net income, trailing twelve months)
What would explain it innocently
- The business has changed for good (a merger, a new line, a pricing regime) and the old years are not its normal
- The market is right that profit will fall, and the price already says so
- Capacity has left the industry, so the cycle's trough is higher than before
What to look for in the filing
- Where the industry's prices and volumes stand against their own history
- Capacity on order across the industry
- Management's view of the cycle in the MD&A
What would show the trap does not apply
- Profit holds at this level through the next two years (the eight-year peak was a new base, not a top)
- The industry's capacity and prices stay where they are rather than reverting
Look again: next filing.
E07 A precise DCF value = the true value To review confidence high
The DCF's point value is 1,376.43 a share (price 351.23); 76% of it is the terminal value, a number about years no one has seen. Moving operating margin by ±3 pts alone takes it from 1,021.25 to 1,731.62; across every method the research ran the range is 21 to 5,961. The value is a range; the decimals are not information.
The figures and how they are read
| dcf value | 1,376.43 |
| price | 351.23 |
| terminal value share | +75.5% |
| swing by input | Operating margin / ±3 pts / 1021.25 / 1731.62; Revenue growth (each year) / ±5 pts / 1138.76 / 1656.19; WACC / ±1 pt / 1176.12 / 1657.76; Tax rate / ±5 pts / 1288.97 / 1463.9 |
| range all methods | 20.89; 5961.23 |
the DCF's point value against the share of it that is the terminal value and the value at each input moved by one step (growth ±5 pts, WACC ±1 pt, margin ±3 pts …); the range across every method the research ran
Source: 2026-11-08 (valuation research)
What would explain it innocently
- A stable, mature business with a narrow range of outcomes, where the point value is a fair summary
- The inputs that matter most are themselves well known (a regulated return, a long contract)
What to look for in the filing
- Which input you believe differs from the research's and why
- What the price implies for growth (the reverse DCF on the fair-value page)
What would show the trap does not apply
- The DCF's value is robust to the terminal growth and discount rate (the range's low end is still above the price)
- The company's cash flows over the next three years track the DCF's early years
Look again: next filing.
J06 A bank's low P/E and high profit = safe Not applicable
not a bank
J08 A REIT's low net income = the dividend is unsafe Not applicable
not a REIT
What the statuses mean
Triggered: the filings show the pattern; read the normal explanations and the missing evidence before concluding anything. To review: one quarter or a weak signal; a reader's judgement, not a pattern. Not triggered: the pattern is absent on these figures. Insufficient data: the filings read so far do not hold what the rule needs; this is not a clean bill. Not applicable: the rule is not meant for this kind of company (a bank's working capital, a loss-making quarter's EPS growth). Out of date: the latest filing is more than fifteen months old.
Severity is what the pattern could mean for cash, value or solvency; confidence is how reliable the inputs and the reading are. The two are kept apart.
Record a view
A reader's judgement, grounds, what would change it and the next review; kept in the browser (needs JavaScript).
Every rule and the companies it triggers on → Valero Energy: cash flow → Earnings quality score →
Each rule reads the company's own filings by a fixed formula and says what would explain the same figures innocently. A triggered rule is a question to verify, not a finding of manipulation, and not a view on the stock. Missing data is shown as missing, never as clear. Not investment advice.