Is It Too Late To Reassess Phillips 66 (PSX) After Its 95% One Year Surge?
Phillips 66 PSX | 159.25 | -1.13% |
- Investors may be wondering if Phillips 66 at around US$174.70 still offers value after a strong run, or if the easy gains are already behind it.
- The stock has returned 33.8% year to date and 95.0% over the last year, with a 5.3% gain over the past month and a 4.1% pullback in the last week, which may hint at shifting sentiment.
- Recent attention on Phillips 66 has focused on its role within the broader energy sector, including its refining and midstream operations. This often shapes how investors think about resilience through different market cycles. News flow around energy policy, fuel demand, and capital allocation has added context to the recent share price moves and keeps valuation firmly in the spotlight.
- Simply Wall St assigns Phillips 66 a valuation score of 4 out of 6. The rest of this article will unpack what that means using different valuation approaches and will also point to a more complete way to think about value at the end.
Approach 1: Phillips 66 Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) Analysis
A Discounted Cash Flow, or DCF, model looks at the cash Phillips 66 is expected to generate in the future and then discounts those amounts back to today, giving an estimate of what the whole business could be worth right now.
For Phillips 66, the model uses a 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity approach based on cash flow projections. The latest twelve month Free Cash Flow is about $3.0b. Analyst estimates and Simply Wall St extrapolations point to projected Free Cash Flow of $7.4b in 2030, with detailed projections each year from 2026 through 2035. These cash flows are all discounted back to today using this model.
Based on these cash flows, the DCF model suggests an estimated intrinsic value of around $402.75 per share. Compared with a current share price of about $174.70, this implies the stock is 56.6% undervalued according to this cash flow based approach.
Result: UNDERVALUED
Our Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) analysis suggests Phillips 66 is undervalued by 56.6%. Track this in your watchlist or portfolio, or discover 61 more high quality undervalued stocks.
Approach 2: Phillips 66 Price vs Earnings
For profitable companies, the P/E ratio is a straightforward way to link what you pay for each share to the earnings that support it, which is why it is a common starting point for many investors.
What counts as a “normal” P/E often reflects how the market views a company’s earnings growth potential and risk profile. Higher growth or lower perceived risk usually matches with a higher multiple, and the reverse holds for slower growth or higher risk.
Phillips 66 is currently trading on a P/E of 15.94x. That is close to the Oil and Gas industry average P/E of 15.66x and below the 24.53x peer average included in this dataset, which suggests peers as a group trade on a higher earnings multiple.
Simply Wall St also calculates a “Fair Ratio” for Phillips 66 of 23.44x. This proprietary metric estimates the P/E that might be reasonable given factors such as earnings growth, industry, profit margin, company size and specific risks. This makes it more tailored than a simple comparison against peers or the broad industry.
Comparing the Fair Ratio of 23.44x with the current P/E of 15.94x indicates that the shares screen as undervalued on this earnings based approach.
Result: UNDERVALUED
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Upgrade Your Decision Making: Choose your Phillips 66 Narrative
Earlier it was mentioned that there is an even better way to understand valuation. Narratives on Simply Wall St let you turn your view of Phillips 66 into a clear story that links assumptions about future revenue, earnings and margins to a forecast and a Fair Value. This is then compared with the current price so you can judge whether the gap looks attractive or stretched. All of this is available within an easy tool on the Community page that automatically refreshes when new earnings or news arrive. This is why one Phillips 66 Narrative can be cautious with a Fair Value of about US$165.45, while another leans optimistic at about US$213.00, and a third sits in between at about US$268.71. This gives you a concrete sense of how different views on the same company translate into different estimates of what the shares might be worth.
For Phillips 66, here are previews of two leading Phillips 66 Narratives to make comparison easier:
Fair value around US$268.71 per share.
At the last close of US$174.70, this narrative implies the shares trade at roughly a 35.0% discount to that fair value.
Revenue growth assumption: 3.0%.
- Sees Phillips 66 as a major energy player with an integrated model across refining, marketing and transportation that can support higher profit margins over time.
- Emphasizes efficiency, cost control and selective growth projects in areas such as chemicals, midstream and renewables as key levers for improving profitability.
- Highlights balance sheet strength, cash flow and capital returns such as dividends and buybacks as reasons some investors view the shares as undervalued.
Fair value around US$165.45 per share.
At the last close of US$174.70, this narrative implies the shares trade at roughly a 5.3% premium to that fair value.
Revenue growth assumption: 3.37%.
- Frames Phillips 66 around midstream growth, refining upgrades and acquisitions, but suggests current pricing already reflects much of this execution.
- Points to macro headwinds, refinery turnarounds, tax credit changes and reliance on midstream as factors that could pressure earnings and margins.
- Notes that the analyst consensus fair value of about US$165.45 is close to the current price, so return expectations from here may be more limited if those assumptions prove accurate.
If you want to see how other investors are balancing these bull and bear cases, and to build a version that matches your own assumptions on earnings, margins and valuation, To see how these results tie into long-term growth, risks, and valuation, check out the full range of community narratives for Phillips 66 on Simply Wall St. Add the company to your watchlist or portfolio so you'll be alerted when the story evolves.
Do you think there's more to the story for Phillips 66? Head over to our Community to see what others are saying!
This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
