Kirby Corporation (KEX) Earnings: Q3 2026 Results and Next Report Date

The quarter ended September 30, 2026 and Kirby published the results on October 28, 2026. Revenue and diluted EPS are shown against Q3 2025, the same quarter a year earlier, which takes seasonal swings out of the comparison.

• Kirby reports an EPS figure excluding one-time items only in quarters that have them. Q3 2026 and Q3 2025 had none, so GAAP diluted EPS is the only EPS shown.
• In Kirby's outlook, the sentence on segment revenues growing in the high-single-digit range refers to the distribution and services segment, not the whole company.

Source: Kirby Q3 2026 results, October 28, 2026. Also in the Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2026. Figures as reported; checked against the release on November 10, 2026.

How Kirby splits revenue in its own release, under its own labels, for Q3 2026 against Q3 2025. Indented lines are parts of the line above them.

• Kirby's Marine transportation revenue was $569 million in Q3 2026, up 17% from $485 million in Q3 2025, 58% of total revenue.
• Kirby's Distribution and services revenue was $408 million in Q3 2026, up 6% from $386 million in Q3 2025, 42% of total revenue.

Segment lines are the figures writers cite most often, because they show where the growth in a quarter came from. Companies redraw their segments from time to time and restate the prior year to match, so a year-ago figure here can differ from the one printed a year ago. When that has happened, the note above says so.

From the earnings release

In its Q3 2026 release, Kirby said:

“Based on current market conditions, we are narrowing our full-year earnings per share growth guidance to 10% to 15% and currently expect results toward the upper end of the range.”

“Overall, inland revenues are expected to grow in the low-double-digit range, with operating margins expected to be in the high-teens to low-20% range for the full year.”

“Overall, the Company expects segment revenues to grow in the high-single-digit range for the full year, with operating margins in the high-single-digit range.”

“The Company expects to generate net cash provided by operating activities of $575 million to $675 million in 2026 and capital spending is expected to range from $220 million to $260 million.”

Source: Kirby Q3 2026 release, Oct 28, 2026.

This is the company's own guidance as of Oct 28, 2026, quoted as given. Walnut does not make forecasts of its own. Analyst estimates for the coming quarters are on the KEX forecast page.

Revenue and diluted EPS for the last 5 quarters. Each date links to that quarter's release.

GAAP total revenues and diluted EPS attributable to Kirby, each as first reported in that quarter's release.

Kirby's next report is expected around January 28, 2027, a date estimated from its reporting history that the company has not yet confirmed. This page will show Q3 2026 until those results are out and have been checked against the release.

Each quarter keeps its own page with the figures as reported, so a link to one stays pointed at the same numbers after the next report.

• Q3 2026 (this page), reported Oct 28, 2026

Kirby's total revenues were $977.2 million in Q3 2026, against $871.2 million a year earlier. Kirby has two segments. Marine transportation, the largest domestic tank barge operation in the U.S., brought in $568.7 million, up 17%, and distribution and services brought in $408.5 million, up 6%. (Kirby Q3 2026 release, Oct 28, 2026)

Kirby's marine segment moves bulk liquids. In Q3 2026 petrochemicals made up 49% of its marine revenue, black oil 27%, refined petroleum products 21% and agricultural chemicals 3%. Inland marine was 81% of segment revenues and coastal 19%. Inland ton miles rose to 4,183 million from 3,497 million, revenue per ton mile was 11.0 cents against 10.8, and Kirby operated an average of 294 towboats against 270. (Kirby Form 10-Q, Q3 2026, Nov 6, 2026; Kirby Q3 2026 release, Oct 28, 2026)

Kirby's inland pricing is more exposed to the spot market than a year earlier: about 65% of inland revenues were under term contracts and 35% spot in Q3 2026, against 70% and 30% in Q3 2025. Inland barge utilization was in the low-90% range, spot rates rose in the low- to mid-single digits from Q2, and term renewals rose in the low single digits. Coastal utilization was in the high-90% range, with 95% of coastal revenues under term contracts. (Kirby Form 10-Q, Q3 2026, Nov 6, 2026; Kirby Q3 2026 release, Oct 28, 2026)

In distribution and services, Kirby's power generation business was about 46% of segment revenues and grew 8% on demand for behind-the-meter and backup power from data center and industrial customers. Commercial and industrial, about 44%, also grew 8%, and oil and gas, about 10%, fell 9%. No single customer of either segment accounted for 10% or more of Kirby's revenues in 2025. (Kirby Q3 2026 release, Oct 28, 2026; Kirby Form 10-K, 2025, Feb 17, 2026)

Kirby's diluted EPS was $2.09 in Q3 2026, up 27% from $1.65, on net earnings attributable to Kirby of $110.8 million, against $92.5 million. Kirby reported no one-time items in either quarter, so it published no EPS excluding one-time items for Q3. EBITDA, its main non-GAAP measure, was $229.7 million, against $201.4 million. (Kirby Q3 2026 release, Oct 28, 2026)

Marine transportation operating income rose to $111.9 million from $88.6 million, and its operating margin to 19.7% from 18.3%, even though Kirby's average cost per gallon of fuel rose to $3.91 from $2.46. Kirby's 10-Q explains that fuel adjustments in term contracts generally take effect 30 to 120 days after costs rise, so higher fuel prices were mitigated but not fully offset in the quarter. Distribution and services operating income rose to $48.4 million from $42.7 million. (Kirby Q3 2026 release, Oct 28, 2026; Kirby Form 10-Q, Q3 2026, Nov 6, 2026)

Buybacks reduced the share count: diluted shares were 53,019 thousand in Q3 2026, against 55,970 thousand a year earlier. Kirby returned $112 million through share repurchases in the quarter at an average price of $137.04, and treasury stock purchases totaled $224.2 million over the first nine months. (Kirby Q3 2026 release, Oct 28, 2026; Kirby Form 10-Q, Q3 2026, Nov 6, 2026)

Diluted EPS divides net income by the weighted average number of shares outstanding in the quarter, plus the shares that options and other equity awards could add. Buybacks shrink that count and lift EPS for the same profit; share issuance and stock awards enlarge it.

Kirby narrowed its full-year 2026 EPS growth guidance to 10% to 15% and said it expects results toward the upper end of that range. For the full year it expects inland marine revenues to grow in the low-double-digit range with operating margins in the high-teens to low-20% range, coastal revenues to rise in the mid-to-high-single-digit range with margins in the mid-teens, and distribution and services revenues to grow in the high-single-digit range. (Kirby Q3 2026 release, Oct 28, 2026)

Kirby expects 2026 net cash provided by operating activities of $575 million to $675 million and capital spending of $220 million to $260 million, of which up to about $65 million is growth capital. It also agreed to buy inland marine assets for $115 million, including nine towboats and 14 tank barges, with closing expected in Q4 2026. (Kirby Q3 2026 release, Oct 28, 2026)

A consensus figure is the average of the models published by the analysts who cover Kirby, collected by a data provider and revised up to the day of the report. A quarter that lands above it says how expectations were set as much as how the business did, and the share price on the day also reflects the guidance and the lines no consensus covers.

The consensus figures on this page are Yahoo Finance's, as pulled on the date shown. Each comes with the number of analysts behind it; the smaller that number, the more one revised estimate can move the average.

The figures below are the ones Kirby's own release and filings put weight on for Q3 2026, with the latest reported value for each.

What the quarter means for a holding is a separate question from what it reported. The case for and against owning KEX is on is KEX a buy or a sell?, what analysts expect next is on the KEX forecast, and what the company does is on the Kirby Corporation (KEX) stock page.

Every number on this page can be traced to a document Kirby published. Checking one takes a couple of minutes, and it is worth doing before you quote a figure anywhere.

• The results release is the document linked in the source line above. Companies publish it on their investor relations site at the moment results go out, and it carries the headline tables: revenue, operating income, net income and EPS for the quarter and the year-ago quarter.
• The same release is filed with the SEC as Exhibit 99.1 to a Form 8-K under Item 2.02, usually on the day of the report. The SEC copy does not change after the fact, which makes it the safer thing to link when you cite a number.
• The quarterly report (Form 10-Q) follows within a few weeks and carries the full financial statements, the segment note and management's discussion of what changed. The fourth quarter is covered by the annual report (Form 10-K) instead.
• Restated comparisons are flagged in the notes on this page. When a company redraws its segments or changes how it adjusts EPS, it restates the year-ago column, so the year-ago figure in a new release can differ from the one printed a year ago. This page always uses the comparison in the newer release, because that is the like-for-like one.

A walk-through of every line in a release, with what each one tells you, is in how to read an earnings report.