Conocophillips
Through the investors’ lenses
Each of these investors has said in public what they look at before buying. Click a name to see how this company measures up — a tick where it passes one of their tests, a cross where it does not.
Warren Buffett 3/3
| Measure | COP | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Owner earnings | — | positive | — |
| Return on equity | 12.4% | median 11.7% | ✓ |
| Debt to equity | 0.36x | median 0.79x | ✓ |
| Operating margin | 24.4% | median 15.0% | ✓ |
Passes 3 of 3. To be clear: Warren Buffett has never said anything about Conocophillips. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
Terry Smith 4/4
| Measure | COP | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Return on capital employed | 14.4% | median 10.1% | ✓ |
| Cash conversion | 2.48x | median 1.78x | ✓ |
| Operating margin | 24.4% | median 15.0% | ✓ |
| Debt to equity | 0.36x | median 0.79x | ✓ |
Passes 4 of 4. To be clear: Terry Smith has never said anything about Conocophillips. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
Charlie Munger 3/3
| Measure | COP | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Return on capital employed | 14.4% | median 10.1% | ✓ |
| Return on equity | 12.4% | median 11.7% | ✓ |
| Operating margin | 24.4% | median 15.0% | ✓ |
Passes 3 of 3. To be clear: Charlie Munger has never said anything about Conocophillips. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
Chuck Akre 3/4
| Measure | COP | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Return on equity | 12.4% | median 11.7% | ✓ |
| Debt to equity | 0.36x | median 0.79x | ✓ |
| Cash conversion | 2.48x | median 1.78x | ✓ |
| Return on equity, sustained | 7 of 10 | 8 of 10 above median | ✗ |
Passes 3 of 4. To be clear: Chuck Akre has never said anything about Conocophillips. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
Philip Fisher 3/4
| Measure | COP | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Operating margin | 24.4% | median 15.0% | ✓ |
| Net margin | 15.4% | median 10.2% | ✓ |
| Return on capital employed | 14.4% | median 10.1% | ✓ |
| Operating margin, held or improving | 24.4% | 10-yr median 27.4% | ✗ |
Passes 3 of 4. To be clear: Philip Fisher has never said anything about Conocophillips. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
Walter Schloss 2/2
| Measure | COP | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current ratio | 1.30x | median 1.25x | ✓ |
| Debt to equity | 0.36x | median 0.79x | ✓ |
Passes 2 of 2. To be clear: Walter Schloss has never said anything about Conocophillips. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
Benjamin Graham 0/3
| Measure | COP | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current ratio | 1.30x | 2.00x published | ✗ |
| Long-term debt to working capital | 6.30x | 1.00x published | ✗ |
| Positive earnings, ten years running | 5 yrs | 10 published | ✗ |
Passes 0 of 3. To be clear: Benjamin Graham has never said anything about Conocophillips. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
Joel Greenblatt 1/1
| Measure | COP | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Return on capital employed | 14.4% | median 10.1% | ✓ |
Passes 1 of 1. To be clear: Joel Greenblatt has never said anything about Conocophillips. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
Peter Lynch 2/2
| Measure | COP | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debt to equity | 0.36x | median 0.79x | ✓ |
| Net margin | 15.4% | median 10.2% | ✓ |
Passes 2 of 2. To be clear: Peter Lynch has never said anything about Conocophillips. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
Free cash flow is not shown for this company. It cannot be computed from what this company files — the inputs are absent from its XBRL, not zero. The figure marked in the table is operating cash flow instead.
| Basis | Payout | Why |
|---|---|---|
| GAAP earnings | 50.1% | whySwings with the commodity price, not the business. |
| Operating cash flow | 20.2% | whyBefore capital spending. |
No free cash flow figure is shown. This company does not report the inputs for it in its XBRL filings — capital expenditure, in particular, is often folded into a single investing total rather than tagged on its own. The figure is absent from the filings, not zero, and inventing one from a balance-sheet movement would be a guess dressed as a measurement.
Spread between highest and lowest: 29.9 percentage points. Same filings, different denominators.
Coverage rating 51 / 100 — Tight. ? Peer standing · not rankedDirection 18/30Stability 8/20
Operating cash flow payout, last 6 years
| Fiscal year | Payout |
|---|---|
| 2025-12-31 | 20.2% |
| 2024-12-31 | 18.1% |
| 2023-12-31 | 28.0% |
| 2022-12-31 | 20.2% |
| 2021-12-31 | 13.9% |
| 2020-12-31 | 38.1% |
The arithmetic
- GAAP earnings — dividends declared per share $3.18 ÷ diluted EPS $6.35
- Operating cash flow — dividends paid $3,995m ÷ operating cash flow $19,796m
Where the figures came from
- 10-K filed 2026-02-17 · accession 0001163165-26-000009
All public at sec.gov — you should not have to take our word for it.
Computed straight from SEC XBRL. A number that looks wrong to you is more useful to us than agreement — tell us.
What the operating cash flow payout ratio measures, and where every company here sits on it.
Also on: rated tight · when it files.
When this changes
Every figure above is recomputed whenever Conocophillips files. The monthly letter carries what filed, what moved, and one finding computed across every company here.