Does CORE LABORATORIES INC. have an economic moat?

Based on its FY2025 SEC filings, the Moat Index scores CORE LABORATORIES INC. (CLB) 50.5 out of 100 — a Shallow moat. The four filters behind that score (each 0–100): pricing power 36, returns on capital 56, balance-sheet safety 46, capital discipline 67.

Is CLB stock trading below its intrinsic value?

Against a deliberately conservative owner-earnings model (9% discount rate, 4% assumed growth, capped at 4%), estimated intrinsic value is $12.93 per share versus a recent price of $11.34 — 12% below value. This is an educational estimate computed from primary SEC filings, not investment advice.

How has CLB's Moat Score changed over time?

The record logs 1 reading since Jul 18, 2026; the latest reads 50.5 out of 100 (shallow moat). No tier changes on record yet. The history is append-only — readings are only ever added, never rewritten.

The Moat Index

CORE LABORATORIES INC.

CLB · Materials · $522.7M mkt cap · FY2025 filings · Shallow moat ·

Doesn't clear the bar

Shallow moat

The four filters

Pricing power36

Median gross margin 20.2% over 4y, very stable.

Returns on capital56

Median ROIC 11.5%, above the 9% hurdle in 80% of years.

Balance-sheet safety46

Net debt/EBITDA 1.2x, interest coverage 5x.

Capital discipline67

Owner earnings +7.6%/yr, share count shrinking (buybacks).

Margin of safety

Above valueOn sale

12% below value

Owner earnings (normalized): $33.1M
Est. intrinsic value / share: $12.93
Recent price: $11.34
Discount to value: 12% below value

Conservative model: 9% discount rate, 4% assumed growth (capped at 4%), maintenance capex ≈ min(capex, D&A).

6 years of fundamentals

The business, in plain English

CORE LABORATORIES INC. booked $526.5M of revenue in FY2025 in the Materials sector and kept 20.7% of it as gross profit — a moderate-margin business by that measure. After every other cost, 5.6% of each revenue dollar reached the bottom line.

It earned 10.6% on invested capital in FY2025, with a median of 11.5% across 5 filed years. The Returns on Capital filter above scores it 56/100.

The balance sheet carried $110.3M of total debt in FY2025 against $33.1M of owner earnings — roughly 3.3 years of owner earnings to retire it all. Balance-Sheet Safety scores it 46/100.

Put together: Capital Discipline is the strongest of the four filters (67/100) and Pricing Power the weakest (36/100), which is how CLB lands at 51/100 — a Shallow moat.

This breakdown is generated from the filed numbers and sub-scores above — no outside narrative, no estimates. Where a filing doesn’t disclose an input, the sentence that would need it is omitted instead of guessed.

RevenueSales, as filed$526.5M FY2025

Gross marginRevenue kept after cost of goods20.7% FY2025

Return on invested capitalOperating profit on the capital employed10.6% FY2025

Owner earningsCash an owner could take out$33.1M FY2025

Gaps in a line mean that item isn’t in CLB’s filings for that year — the series is never interpolated or estimated. The Table view lists every filed value, including operating and net margins, total debt, and share count.

Moat Score history

Moat Score over timeLast scored reading of each day, on the 0–100 scale50.5 / 100

Score history begins Jul 18, 2026 — the record builds from here and can’t be backfilled.

Tier changesSame-methodology crossings of the Wide / Narrow / Shallow bars

None yet — CLB has read Shallow moat for every logged capture since Jul 18, 2026.

Scores are logged append-only and never overwritten — this record can’t be backfilled, which is exactly why it’s worth keeping.

Track record

How CORE LABORATORIES INC.’s moat rated in each of the years we can reconstruct from its filings — scored only on what was knowable at the time — and what its price and returns did afterward. The score never saw a price; the two are joined only in hindsight, for education, not as a signal.

As-of Moat Score (dot colored by tier)Indexed price (total-return (dividends reinvested))Rated Wide-moat that year

How to read this: each dot is what the engine would have scored CLB on that December 31; the line below is its total-return price path (dividends reinvested) in the years since.

Two tracks, one timeline: the score has its own 0–100 scale (top), the price its own 100-based scale (bottom) — never a shared axis. The price path is a total-return (dividends reinvested) index built from the same data the forward returns use; gaps in the score line are years with no reconstructed rating (see the table for why). The Table view carries every value.

What followed, in the years it rated Wide

In the reconstructed history shown, CLB did not rate Wide-moat in any year, so there is no wide-moat track record to report. That absence is itself the honest answer — we don’t manufacture a comparison where the rating never earned one.

Materials context

#74 of 231 scored Materials companies, ranked by Moat Score.

Nearest peers by Moat Score

#72CHRD Chord Energy Corp50.6 out of 100, Shallow moatShallow moat
#73CMPR Cimpress plc50.5 out of 100, Shallow moatShallow moat
#75ATR AptarGroup, Inc50.3 out of 100, Shallow moatShallow moat
#76FSI FLEXIBLE SOLUTIONS INTERNATIONAL INC.49.7 out of 100, Shallow moatShallow moat

Compare CLB with its nearest peers →All Materials companies on the Index →

Common questions about CLB

Does CORE LABORATORIES INC. have an economic moat?: Based on its FY2025 SEC filings, the Moat Index scores CORE LABORATORIES INC. (CLB) 50.5 out of 100 — a Shallow moat. The four filters behind that score (each 0–100): pricing power 36, returns on capital 56, balance-sheet safety 46, capital discipline 67.
Is CLB stock trading below its intrinsic value?: Against a deliberately conservative owner-earnings model (9% discount rate, 4% assumed growth, capped at 4%), estimated intrinsic value is $12.93 per share versus a recent price of $11.34 — 12% below value. This is an educational estimate computed from primary SEC filings, not investment advice.
How has CLB's Moat Score changed over time?: The record logs 1 reading since Jul 18, 2026; the latest reads 50.5 out of 100 (shallow moat). No tier changes on record yet. The history is append-only — readings are only ever added, never rewritten.

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Scored from primary SEC filings via the public methodology. Educational only — not a recommendation to buy or sell CLB. See the disclaimer.