Critical Review: Birchcliff Energy (OTCMKTS:BIREF) & Sable Offshore (NYSE:SOC)

Birchcliff Energy (OTCMKTS:BIREF) and Sable Offshore (NYSE:SOC) are both small-cap oils/energy companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability, analyst recommendations, earnings and risk.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Birchcliff Energy and Sable Offshore, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Birchcliff Energy	0	2	0	0	2.00
Sable Offshore	0	0	3	0	3.00

Sable Offshore has a consensus target price of $29.67, suggesting a potential upside of 19.91%. Given Sable Offshore’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Sable Offshore is more favorable than Birchcliff Energy.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

0.8% of Birchcliff Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 26.2% of Sable Offshore shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.5% of Birchcliff Energy shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 14.3% of Sable Offshore shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Birchcliff Energy and Sable Offshore”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Birchcliff Energy	$548.41 million	2.07	$7.24 million	$0.11	38.45
Sable Offshore	N/A	N/A	-$32.18 million	N/A	N/A

Birchcliff Energy has higher revenue and earnings than Sable Offshore.

Risk & Volatility

Birchcliff Energy has a beta of 0.62, meaning that its stock price is 38% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sable Offshore has a beta of 0.26, meaning that its stock price is 74% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Birchcliff Energy and Sable Offshore’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Birchcliff Energy	6.05%	1.82%	1.27%
Sable Offshore	N/A	-451.70%	-51.62%

Summary

Birchcliff Energy beats Sable Offshore on 6 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Birchcliff Energy

Birchcliff Energy Ltd., an intermediate oil and natural gas company, explores for, develops, and produces natural gas, light oil, condensate, and other natural gas liquids in Western Canada. The company holds interests in the areas of Montney/Doig Resource Play, including the Pouce Coupe and Gordondale properties in Alberta. Birchcliff Energy Ltd. was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.

About Sable Offshore

Sable Offshore Corp. engages in the oil and gas exploration and development activities in the United States. The company operates through three platforms located in federal waters offshore California. It owns and operates 16 federal leases across approximately 76,000 acres and subsea pipelines, which transport crude oil, natural gas, and produced water from the platforms to the onshore processing facilities. The company was formerly known as Flame Acquisition Corp. and changed its name to Sable Offshore Corp. in February 2024. Sable Offshore Corp. was incorporated in 2020 and is based in Houston, Texas.