Flowco (NYSE:FLOC) and Leishen Energy (NASDAQ:LSE) Head to Head Survey

Leishen Energy (NASDAQ:LSE) and Flowco (NYSE:FLOC) are both small-cap manufacturing companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, risk, analyst recommendations and earnings.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Leishen Energy and Flowco, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Leishen Energy	0	0	0	0	0.00
Flowco	0	0	5	2	3.29

Flowco has a consensus target price of $32.40, indicating a potential upside of 70.44%. Given Flowco’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Flowco is more favorable than Leishen Energy.

Profitability

This table compares Leishen Energy and Flowco’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Leishen Energy	N/A	N/A	N/A
Flowco	N/A	N/A	N/A

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Leishen Energy and Flowco”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Leishen Energy	$69.07 million	1.42	$8.10 million	N/A	N/A
Flowco	$660.92 million	2.60	$80.25 million	$1.84	10.33

Flowco has higher revenue and earnings than Leishen Energy.

Summary

Flowco beats Leishen Energy on 7 of the 7 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Leishen Energy

Leishen Cayman is a holding company incorporated in the Cayman Islands. As a holding company with no material operations of its own, Leishen Cayman conducts substantially all of the operations through its Operating Subsidiaries. Our primary office is located in Beijing, China, from which we serve a large customer base throughout the PRC. Our Group comprises 12 subsidiaries, established in, having branches, offices or customer service centers in the Xinjiang, Sichuan, Shandong and Jiangsu provinces of China, as well as Hong Kong. — The Leishen Group was founded in 2007 and is a provider of clean-energy equipment and integrated solutions for the oil and gas industry, with a commitment to providing customers with high-performance, safe and cost-effective energy solutions. Our businesses include (i) designing and supplying equipment for the clean-energy industry; (ii) oil and gas engineering technical services; (iii) new energy production and operation; and (iv) digitalization and integration equipment. At present, the Group holds more than 75 patents and software copyrights, forming a comprehensive ecosystem of core technical capabilities. Currently, our business operations have expanded to many countries and regions, such as Central Asia, and Southeast Asia, and our service abilities and quality have been widely recognized and praised by foreign customers. Efficient, safe and energy-saving equipment combined with professional technical services have enabled our brand to gain positive attention and recognition from our customers and enabled us to become a well-known equipment and services provider in the oil and gas industry. — Our two manufacturing plants are in Chengdu, Sichuan province, PRC. Two of our primary Operating Subsidiaries, ZJY Technologies Co., Ltd. and China Oil Blue Ocean Petroleum Technology Inc. were founded in 2007, and we have over 16 years of operational history. Throughout our operating history, we continued to establish other Operating Subsidiaries as we expanded our global footprint and business lines in the 2010s and 2020s. Leishen Cayman was incorporated under the laws of Cayman Islands on October 19, 2022, as the holding company of our Group. We are also in the process of establishing overseas customer service centers in Dubai to cover the Middle East, Kazakhstan to cover the Central Asia, Chad to cover the West Africa and Indonesia to cover the Southeast Asia regions. BUSINESS SEGMENTS Through more than 16 years of operating history in the oil and gas industry, we have accumulated substantial experience and proprietary know-how, and are applying our hard-earned expertise into our businesses, which are divided into the following four segments: Clean-Energy Equipment Based on the different needs of customers and varying production environments, we design customized solutions for our clients, and supply our customers with a wide variety of equipment, such as reciprocating compressor units, hydrogen compressors, expansion units, wellhead heating systems (electromagnetic/solar energy), wellhead safety control systems, oil-water separation systems, natural gas online sampling systems, oil and gas skid-mounted equipment, expansion differential pressure power generation equipment, solar furnace, polymer flexible composite pipes and low temperature automation instruments. Revenues from sales of our clean-energy equipment were $39,581,383 and $18,697,671 for the years ended September 30, 2023 and 2022, and $21,184,069 and $12,010,158 for the six months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively. Gross profit for our clean-energy equipment sales increased by $5,636,192 to $11,867,463 for the year ended September 30, 2023, compared to $6,231,271 in 2022, and increased by $4,742,868 to $8,158,215 for the six months ended March 31, 2024, compared to $3,415,347 for the six months ended March 31, 2023. Oil and Gas Engineering Technical Services We provide customers with a broad range of products and technical solutions for oil and gas production to meet the different needs of oilfield users and production site geographical conditions, and achieve clients’ objectives for production maximization, cost reduction and operational reliability. More specifically, we design and customize various pressurization gas injection units, coupled with ancillary services such as equipment leasing, technical personnel support and remote expert product diagnosis, in order to help our customers attain heightened productivity and efficiency. We also offer various types of professional services, such as equipment maintenance, spare parts supply, upgrading and customization, and other technical services to our customers. Leveraging on our long-term cooperative relationships with world-renowned brand owners, we can establish a spare parts reserve warehouse at the customer’s site to provide integrated and timely operation support for the transportation, maintenance, repair, and troubleshooting of the user’s on-site equipment. Revenues from our oil and gas field engineering technical services were $6,933,984 and $5,949,349 for the years ended September 30, 2023 and 2022, and $3,005,168 and $3,219,672 for the six months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively. Gross profit for our oil and gas field engineering technical services segment increased to $5,841,824 for the year ended September 30, 2023 from $4,966,560 in 2022, and decreased to $1,919,484 for the six months ended March 31, 2024, compared to $2,654,054 for the six months ended March 31, 2023. New Energy Production and Operation We focus on the planning and operation of LNG and CNG processing and sales, and new energy industries We are committed to providing customers with natural gas and other multi-category clean-energy resources, providing integrated solutions and developing diversified products and operational services centered around customer needs. Revenues from sales of new energy were $23,204,437 and $17,713,342 for the years ended September 30, 2023 and 2022, and $14,000,065 and $11,948,300 for the six months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively. Gross profit for sales of new energy decreased by $1,248,361 to $459,218 for the year ended September 30, 2023, compared to $1,707,579 for 2022, and decreased by $135,357 to $432,009 for the six months ended March 31, 2024, compared to $567,366 for the six months ended March 31, 2023. Digitalization and Integration Equipment Leveraging on our years of practical experience in the oil and gas industry, and in anticipation of future trends of industrial interconnectivity, our Digitalization and Integration business is designed to provide informatization solutions for the industry chain which is being met with industrial intelligence, mobility, industrial interconnection and big data trends. At present, this business segment is centered on creating digitally managed oilfields (equipped with predictive technologies for the maintenance and management of equipment, health, safety and environment monitoring and intelligent inspection, intelligent central control rooms etc.), digitalized oil and gas transportation, intelligent manufacturing and warehousing, and intelligent hardware. Revenues from sales of our digitalization and integration equipment were $3,364,644 and $4,356,143 for the years ended September 30, 2023 and 2022, respectively, and $1,694,214 and $2,052,231 for the six months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023. Gross profit for our digitalization and integration equipment sales decreased by $419,589 to $210,536 for the year ended September 30, 2023, compared to $630,125 in 2022, and increased by $349,690 to $410,449 for the six months ended March 31, 2024, compared to $60,759 for the six months ended March 31, 2023. Our principal executive office is located at 103 Huizhong Li, B Building, Peking Times Square, Unit 15B10, Chaoyang District, Beijing, China. Our registered office in the Cayman Islands is at 89 Nexus Way, Camana Bay, Grand Cayman, KY1-9009, Cayman Islands. The legal name of Leishen Cayman is Leishen Energy Holding Co., Ltd. Our agent for service of process in the United States is Puglisi & Associates at 850 Library Avenue, Suite 204, Newark, Delaware.

About Flowco

We are a leading provider of production optimization, artificial lift and methane abatement solutions for the oil and natural gas industry. Our products and services include a full range of equipment and technology solutions that enable our customers to efficiently and cost-effectively maximize the profitability and economic lifespan of the production phase of their operations. Our principal products and services are organized into two business segments: (i) Production Solutions; and (ii) Natural Gas Technologies. Our core technologies include high pressure gas lift (“HPGL”), conventional gas lift, plunger lift and vapor recovery unit (“VRU”) solutions, all of which are overlaid by our proprietary digital technologies and solutions that enable real-time remote monitoring and control to maximize efficiencies of our products and services. These products and services, including proprietary technologies such as HPGL, which was pioneered by Flowco, hold, in their respective categories, leading positions in growing markets, and are used extensively by the largest oil and natural gas producers primarily in the U.S. We generate revenues throughout the long producing lives of oil and gas wells, which may be able to produce for decades after being drilled and completed. As of September 30, 2024 we operated a fleet of over 4,300 active systems enabling consistent revenue generation. We also sell other products and services that help our customers optimize the value of their assets. We believe that the demand for our products and services is more stable than demand for drilling and completion related services, and this demand has resulted in a more durable, recurring cash flow for our products and services than is typical in many other oilfield services. The production phase of a new oil or natural gas well begins when it is brought online. From this point forward, the rate of production is determined by the geological characteristics of the reservoir from which the well is producing, the design and construction of the wellbore from the reservoir to the surface, and the elapsed time since the well is brought online. This rate of production typically falls over time as the natural reservoir pressure declines and becomes insufficient to bring oil to the surface. This decline is particularly steep for shale wells found in onshore North American oil and natural gas basins. Artificial lift and production optimization technologies are essential to counteracting this decline, increasing production rates, and maximizing hydrocarbon recovery, all of which improve the economics of a producing well. Artificial lift enables the economic production of oil and natural gas from shale wells that would be otherwise uneconomic. As a result, operating expenses associated with production optimization are less discretionary in nature, placing our solutions on a critical path for producers to generate positive returns and maximize the value of their wells. Furthermore, the production phase is the most stable and least capital-intensive phase of the well lifecycle, driving consistent revenue, durable earnings and stable through-cycle performance for our business. Our products are chosen due to their reliability and ability to aid our customers in achieving maximum output and cash flow from their producing wells. Our products and services also integrate proprietary digital technologies that allow for remote monitoring and other enhanced uses of our equipment. Our VRUs and other methane abatement solutions capture fugitive emissions of methane, which is a natural byproduct of oil production. As oil flows to the surface and is processed at the wellsite, methane is released as associated gas. Since methane is a very small molecule, much of it escapes as fugitive emissions. In addition, many sources of potential methane emissions exist throughout the natural gas value chain. By capturing these fugitive emissions, our VRUs and other methane abatement solutions allow for monetization of the resulting incremental natural gas volumes and enable our customers to meet their decarbonization goals and comply with regulatory requirements. These innovative and proprietary methane abatement solutions extend across each of our core technologies and can be used on their own as well as in conjunction with our other products and services. Demand for these solutions was initially driven by safety benefits, but accelerated as producers became more aware of the value of monetizing captured vapors, leading to high return on investment outcomes for our customers. Due to recent and emerging regulatory requirements aimed at reducing fugitive methane emissions across oil and natural gas operations from numerous Federal and state-level entities, operating expenses associated with our methane abatement solutions have become increasingly required and therefore non-discretionary in nature. We hold a leading position in the rapidly growing VRU market, which is driven by both economic and environmental benefits, and we have helped drive adoption of our methane abatement solutions with our customers. — We have an operating presence in every major onshore oil and natural gas producing region in the U.S. and have cultivated deep and longstanding customer relationships with leading oil and natural gas producers in each region, including supermajors and large independent producers. We are headquartered in Houston, Texas with major service facilities in Midland, Texas; Carlsbad, New Mexico; and Williston, North Dakota. We operate manufacturing and repair facilities in El Reno, Oklahoma; Houston, Fort Worth, Kilgore and Pampa, Texas; and Lafayette, Louisiana. Our service centers are geographically positioned near our customers’ operations, enabling us to rapidly deploy our solutions and provide responsive, high-quality service nationwide. Our business currently operates under two segments: (i) Production Solutions; and (ii) Natural Gas Technologies. Production Solutions. We design and deliver products and services that enable our customers to optimize oil and natural gas production rates and volumes to maximize cash flow over the decades-long lives of their wells. We provide systems applicable to wells from initial production through their natural decline to late-life production, as well as digital technologies that enable the optimization of our systems’ performance and uptime. We also provide methane abatement solutions that enable our customers to capture and monetize fugitive methane emissions, improving the profitability of their wells and their compliance with recent and forthcoming emissions-related regulatory requirements. On a given well, our customers often use three of our production solutions offerings concurrently, utilizing our digital technologies and methane abatement solutions in conjunction with HPGL, conventional gas lift or plunger lift. Furthermore, in many instances, our customers utilize all of our production solutions over the life of a well, as our HPGL transitions to conventional gas lift in mid-stage production, which transitions to plunger lift in later-stage production. In some instances, customers install conventional gas lift components such as side-pocket mandrels at the same time as HPGL, even though the former may not be used for more than a year. We believe our integrated scope of services throughout the life of the well promotes retention and long-term partnerships with our customers. In the nine months ended September 30, 2024, this segment contributed $327.8 million, or 60% of our pro forma revenue. Our production solutions include: • High Pressure Gas Lift. HPGL systems are placed at the wellsite to inject pressurized natural gas into the wellbore. These systems are typically installed when a well is initially brought online and utilized for the first one to two years of the well’s life. High pressure gas injected deep in the well lightens the liquid column, enabling the flow of oil from the formation into the wellbore at flow rates significantly higher than what is otherwise possible. We believe our HPGL systems can deliver the same, or better, production rates when compared to electric submersible pump (“ESP”) systems, which are commonly used for the initial phase of a well’s production. We developed HPGL technology to address several issues in shale well production which became apparent when the shales emerged as a major new source of oil and which can impact the reliability of ESPs. HPGL is designed to operate effectively over a wide range of production rates and to be resilient to produced sand. The rapid decline rates and sand production typical of shale wells can lead to failure of ESP systems, resulting in lost production and a costly intervention and replacement of downhole components. Unlike ESPs, HPGL requires no downhole components beyond the tubing string that is installed on all unconventional wells. The system is entirely controlled and accessible from the surface, leading to improved uptime and return on investment for the producer. HPGL units are provided to customers under contracts which are typically renewed multiple times. We believe the high level of contract renewal is due to the high reliability of our systems and our high levels of customer service. • Conventional Gas Lift. Conventional gas lift systems utilize surface systems placed at the wellsite to inject pressurized natural gas into the wellbore via a series of specifically tuned downhole valves. Conventional gas lift is typically installed after HPGL and utilized in the mid- to late-stage of a well’s producing life. We are the only company capable of providing a comprehensive, customized conventional gas lift system since we provide both surface gas lift systems and high-precision downhole valves, mandrels and gauges. Over the life of the well, we work closely with our customers to modify both the surface and downhole equipment to optimize the value of the well as conditions change. This process of technical consultation and provision of new services and products continues throughout the life of the well, which may span a decade or more. • Plunger Lift. We sell proprietary plunger lift systems that use the well’s natural energy to lift produced liquids to surface. These systems first allow the well’s natural pressure to build and then release the pressure into production equipment at surface, then repeat the cycle. The periodic release of pressure lifts produced liquids to surface, enabling the production of both oil and natural gas. Plunger lift systems are typically installed on wells that have already been producing for multiple years. In many instances, customers transition from our conventional gas lift systems to our plunger lift systems, often as a direct result of our life-of-well integrated solutions. In recent years, plunger usage has increased due to new designs that have widened its applicability, further enhanced by our digital solutions that can optimize the timing of the process. As a result, we are seeing increased adoption of our plunger lift solutions and displacement of rod lift. We sell plunger lift systems to our customers both upon initial installation of a plunger lift system and thereafter as these multi-year solutions require routine maintenance and replacement of key components. Applicability of our plunger lift systems has also expanded with the development of hybrid systems combining gas and plunger lift: plunger-assisted gas lift (“PAGL”); and gas-assisted plunger lift (“GAPL”). In these applications, the build-up of formation gas pressure is supplemented with surface equipment that we also provide for conventional gas lift applications. • Digital Solutions. We employ innovative and proprietary digital solutions to enhance the performance of our various Production Solutions segment offerings, enabling our customers to improve their oil and gas well economics by making more informed and timely operational decisions. Our proprietary Vizion downhole gauges are designed to operate in extreme downhole conditions, providing producers with accurate real-time information about the well, reservoir and lift system to improve critical decision making. Our remote monitoring solutions allow our customers to remotely monitor and optimize production across their well pads. Our automation solutions easily integrate with our gauges, devices and control systems to enable producers to effectively and efficiently operate their wells. • Methane Abatement Technologies. We also manufacture and install proprietary methane abatement technologies that allow producers to reduce fugitive methane emissions associated with their wellsite operations. Marketed under our ZTECH4 brand name, these include Sentry, our bolt-on emissions reduction technology that can be retrofitted to compressor packages; and Vault, our natural gas recycling system that reduces the need to flare or vent methane during maintenance. In all cases, our methane abatement technologies enable the operator to monetize valuable methane and to meet their decarbonization goals. Natural Gas Technologies. We design and manufacture products and provide services that allow our customers to optimize cash flow related to natural gas production and monetize or utilize fugitive emissions related to producing oil and natural gas wells and other emissions-prone operations. We also provide ancillary and complementary products and services, as well as develop and sell related digital solutions in connection with these technologies. In the nine months ended September 30, 2024, this segment contributed $219.5 million, or 40% of our pro forma revenue. Our natural gas technologies include: • Vapor Recovery. We manufacture, rent, sell and service VRU systems that capture fugitive natural gas vapors through a specialized system stationed on a well pad or in proximity to any methane emissions-prone component in the natural gas and unconventional oil value chains. The fugitive vapors are then compressed and typically delivered into the sales line for monetization by the customer or can be returned downhole to assist with artificial lift or production optimization. Our VRU systems employ digital applications that provide real-time data monitoring, predictive maintenance analytics and remote control, driving uptime and cash flows for our customers and preserving and maintaining our VRU assets. We offer most of our VRU systems on a contracted basis to our customers. We believe we have a high rate of contract renewal and long-term deployments due to the high reliability of our systems and our high levels of customer service. In addition, when requested, we will also sell systems directly to customers. • Natural Gas Systems. We manufacture natural gas systems at our domestic facilities. We focus on packaging systems tailored to production optimization applications, including those provided by our Production Solutions segment. In addition to manufacturing units for our own use in our Production Solutions segment, we also sell these systems directly to traditional contract systems service providers. — We leverage our domestic manufacturing capabilities to ensure delivery of high-quality products with industry-best reliability and uptime, as well as to reduce our exposure to global supply chains. Our vertically integrated business model reduces the capital intensity associated with maintaining and growing our fleet of service equipment by capturing the manufacturing margin, reducing lead times of equipment deliveries and enabling us to optimize our inventory levels. This improves payback periods across most of our major product categories and streamlines commercialization of new innovations being incorporated into our Production Solutions segment. We believe that our control of these processes allows us to optimize inventory levels and to our customers’ evolving needs, while also facilitating innovation and improvements to our solutions offerings. We supply critical equipment and services to the top oil and natural gas producers, who rely on our expertise to optimize the flow of oil and natural gas for the decades after wells have been drilled and completed. As producers further consolidate, we expect they will continue to manage capital expenditures related to their drilling and completion programs while focusing on optimizing and maximizing the value of their production streams. Our revenue generation is diversified across a wide range of customers. Our top ten customer accounts represent approximately 51% of our total pro forma revenue for the year ended December 31, 2023. We have strong relationships with our key customers, and given our market leadership in our main segments, we have successfully worked with our customers to bring new solutions to market. Our differentiated products and services drive superior returns for our customers and have facilitated strong and lasting relationships with our diversified customer base. We have a long history and successful track record of innovation and high-quality service to our customers. Flowco’s two business segments are underpinned by well-known and established brands with reputations for superior performance and reliability. These brands include (i) Estis; (ii) Flowco Production Solutions; and (iii) Flogistix. Estis was founded in 2002 as a leader in compression and artificial lift technologies serving the HPGL and traditional gas lift markets. Flowco Production Solutions was founded in 2014 as a leader in gas lift and other artificial lift solutions with a comprehensive offering of gas lift and plunger lift products. Flogistix was founded in 2011 as a premier production optimization and atmospheric solutions provider with an emphasis on vapor recovery solutions. The three brands were combined in June 2024 to create Flowco as a pure play market leader for production optimization, artificial lift and methane abatement solutions. By uniting the three companies, we can offer comprehensive solutions that enable our customers to maximize cash flow over the decades-long lives of their wells. Flowco Holdings Inc., the issuer of the Class A common stock in this offering, was incorporated as a Delaware corporation on July 25, 2024. Our corporate headquarters are located at 1300 Post Oak Blvd., Suite 450, Houston, Texas.