Liberty Energy Inc. jumped 24.5% this week to $32.74 as Wall Street raised targets across the board following a strong quarterly print. Short interest remains modest at 8.2% of float while options sentiment has turned decisively bullish.
LBRT closed at $32.74 on April 24, up 1.3% on the day. The stock surged 24.5% over the past week and 10.2% over the month. The stock now trades well above the average analyst target of $31.08, reflecting renewed confidence in the oilfield services recovery.
Short interest stood at 13.25 million shares as of April 23, representing 8.2% of the free float. That's up 2.2% from the prior day but down 3.2% over the week. Over the past month short interest climbed 16.8%, with shares short peaking at 13.69 million on April 15—the highest reading in the 30-day window.
Cost to borrow sits at 0.53%. CTB rose 23.6% over the week, hitting 0.54% on April 22—the highest level since April 13. The 30-day history shows CTB ranging from 0.43% to 0.54%, with the current level near the upper end of that band.
Utilisation hit 9.7% on April 23, up from 8.3% the day prior. That's well below the 52-week high of 15.84% reached on April 1. The 30-day chart shows a sharp decline from the April 1 peak—utilisation dropped as low as 5.4% on March 17 before recovering toward current levels.
The put/call ratio dropped to 0.75 on April 24, down sharply from the 20-day mean of 1.01. The z-score sits at -2.23, indicating an extreme tilt toward bullish call buying. Over the past month the PCR declined from 1.38 in mid-March to the current level, the lowest in the 30-day window. The 52-week range is 0.19 to 1.51.
Wall Street raised price targets aggressively this week. UBS analyst Josh Silverstein lifted his Buy-rated target from $34 to $40 on April 24. That same day Stifel's Stephen Gengaro raised his Buy target from $28 to $37. Morgan Stanley's Connor Lynagh bumped his Overweight target from $30 to $34 on April 15, while Barclays' Eddie Kim raised his Equal-Weight target from $23 to $24 on April 9.
Goldman Sachs analyst Neil Mehta upped his Neutral target from $26 to $30 on March 4. Citigroup's Scott Gruber raised his Buy target from $21 to $32 on February 17. Piper Sandler's Derek Podhaizer upgraded the stock from Neutral to Overweight and lifted his target from $17 to $32 on February 2.
The average target now sits at $31.08, just below the current price.
According to Benzinga's bull case, Liberty is well-positioned for growth as LNG demand accelerates and oil-directed completions improve. Q4 2025 revenue of $1.04 billion exceeded projections. The company's balance sheet supports investment in lower-emission technologies. The bear case notes that full-year 2026 adjusted EBITDA is expected to decline year-over-year due to rising development and overhead costs. Adjusted EPS of $0.08 per share fell from $0.26 and $0.31 in the prior year, and Q1 2026 revenue and EBITDA are expected to decline sequentially.
The P/E ratio sat at -112.0 as of April 24, down 37.1 points over the past month. The P/B ratio reached 2.92, up 0.36 points over 30 days. EV/EBITDA climbed to 10.15, up 0.40 points over the month.
Liberty scores in the 90th percentile for analyst recommendation differential, indicating strong buy-side conviction. The dividend score ranks in the 87th percentile. EPS momentum sits in the 9th percentile on a 90-day basis and the 7th percentile on a 30-day basis. The short score rank sits at the 19th percentile, while days to cover ranks at the 22nd percentile. Utilisation ranks in the 40th percentile.
Vanguard added 994,280 shares in Q1, bringing its stake to 18.1 million shares (11.2% of the company). BlackRock added 199,130 shares to reach 24.4 million (15.0%). Dimensional Fund Advisors lifted its position by 189,829 shares to 8.8 million (5.4%).
Active managers also added exposure. American Century boosted its stake by 413,742 shares to 7.2 million (4.5%). Millennium Management added 2.5 million shares in Q4 to reach 3.3 million shares (2.0%). Ensign Peak Advisors added 1.3 million shares in Q4, bringing its holding to 2.9 million (1.8%). T. Rowe Price increased its position by 953,642 shares to 2.7 million (1.6%). Van Eck added 631,095 shares to reach 2.4 million (1.5%). Eventide Asset Management initiated a 2.0 million share position in Q4.
Insiders sold $7.0 million net over the past 90 days. On April 1, CEO Ron Gusek sold 71,676 shares at $27.92 for proceeds of $2.0 million. CFO Michael Stock sold 67,360 shares at $27.92 for $1.9 million. Chief Legal Officer Raymond Elliott sold 33,726 shares at $27.92 for $941,630. Chief Accounting Officer Ryan Gosney sold 23,367 shares at $27.92 for $652,407.
The same executives received stock awards on April 1. Gusek received 102,914 shares, Stock received 102,914 shares, Elliott received 42,050 shares, and Gosney received 26,124 shares.
Independent Director Arjun Murti purchased 9,696 shares at $25.79 for $250,011 on February 17.
Liberty held an earnings event on April 22–23. The company suspended its quarterly dividend in 2020 after paying $0.05 per share quarterly through early that year.
See the live data behind this article on ORTEX.
Open LBRT on ORTEX →ORTEX Market Intelligence content is generated by AI from a snapshot of ORTEX's proprietary data. Content is informational only and does not constitute investment advice.
