USA Compression Partners, LP USAC
USA Compression Partners posted a Q2 2026 earnings and revenue beat with maintained full-year guidance, and 2025 full-year results show revenue of $998M (up 5.0% YoY) with FCF inflecting to $277M from $136M in 2024 as CapEx moderated to $117M. However, gross margin collapsed to 38.5% in 2025 from 67.5% in 2024 — a structural shift likely tied to the J-W acquisition cost structure — while total debt of $2.55B and negative book equity of -$113M underscore balance-sheet fragility.
The partnership trades at a 42% P/E discount to peers but a 34% EV/EBITDA premium, making the valuation picture mixed; with insider buying at recent prices and improving smart-money flow (fund count rising to 16 as of Q2 2026), the setup is constructive but not clean enough to justify a buy until gross-margin normalization is confirmed.
What could go wrong
- Gross margin compression. Gross margin fell to 38.5% in 2025 from 67.5% in 2024, a dramatic shift that could signal permanent cost-structure changes from the J-W acquisition or rising input costs that erode unit economics.
- Leverage and negative equity. Total debt of $2.55B against negative stockholders' equity of -$113M as of FY2025 leaves minimal cushion; any revenue softness or rate-driven interest expense increase could pressure coverage.
- EV/EBITDA premium to peers. EV/EBITDA of 10.2 is 34% above the peer median of 7.6, suggesting the market has priced in acquisition synergies that may not fully materialize.
- CapEx re-acceleration. FCF improvement to $277M in 2025 depended on CapEx falling to $117M from $205M in 2024; if fleet expansion needs resurface, FCF could compress again.
What would change my mind
Where this comes from: Zacks news article 2026-08-11; MarketBeat earnings call highlights 2026-08-09 · FMP fundamentals FY2025 · derived_metrics FY2025 vs FY2024 · FMP fundamentals FY2025. Orin's read on USAC; not advice.
Twelve months actual closes to 2026-09-24 · actual filings
50-day average 200-day average · volume below
On file
All USAC filingsLargest holders · 13F Q2 2026
Money flow| Filer | Position | Of fund |
|---|---|---|
| Invesco | $322.3M | 0.0% of fund |
| Mirae Asset Global Etfs Holdings | $163.5M | 0.2% of fund |
| Goldman Sachs Group | $104.3M | 0.0% of fund |
| Morgan Stanley | $74.8M | 0.0% of fund |
| Jpmorgan Chase & | $67.9M | 0.0% of fund |
| Blackstone | $17.6M | 0.1% of fund |
19 filers · quarter ended Q2 2026 · positions, not flows
Insiders, last 24 months: 74 Form 4 filings, net −$2.1M. Of the 50 on hand, 8 were open-market purchases and 1 a sale— the rest are grants, option exercises and tax withholding.
Ask Orin about USAC
Orin answers questions about USAC from its filings, transcripts and numbers — with the source behind every claim. Your own desk starts with 3 free days, card required.
Start 3 free days →Where it trades
| Metric | Now | Own median | Sector |
|---|---|---|---|
| P/E | 23.9× | — | 51.1× |
| EV/EBITDA | 9.9× | — | — |
| P/S | 3.15× | — | — |
| P/B | 12.9× | — | — |
2.2%
free-cash-flow growth every year for 10 years, discounted at 10%, is what today’s price implies — starting from $0.3B of trailing free cash flow. It is an assumption the market is making, not a forecast Orin is making.
What Wall Street published
$30
$29 – $31 · +18% against today's price
- 8 buy or overweight
- 7 hold
- 4 underweight or sell
The analysts’ consensus and their own ratings, not Orin’s. A target is a twelve-month opinion published by the firm that wrote it.
Against the companies it is compared to
| Company | Market cap | P/E | EV/EBITDA | Gross | Net | ROE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USACUSA Compression Partners, LP | $4B | 23.9× | 9.9× | 44.7% | 12.4% | 141% |
| KGSKodiak Gas Services, Inc. | $5B | 60.0× | 8.7× | 40.1% | 5.8% | 6% |
| KNTKKinetik Holdings Inc. | $4B | 18.8× | 5.3× | 40.1% | 25.3% | -37% |
The median is of the 2 peers listed above and nothing else — check it against the column. This company trades 39.5% below it. The peer set is the vendor’s, so a company can appear here that a person would not have chosen.
What it has traded at
What its sector has traded at
Two scales, drawn separately on purpose: a sector median and one company’s multiple are not the same number and putting them on one axis invites a comparison neither series supports.
Every estimate on one scale
The vertical rule is the current price. Ranges and point estimates are the backend’s, published as they were calculated; an arrow means the estimate sits beyond this scale, and its number is on the right.