Which Is a Better Investment, Kinetik Holdings Inc or Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. Stock?

By Jenna Brashear
September 03, 2026
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Sifting through countless of stocks in the Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels industry can be tedious, and sometimes two stocks are just too similar to judge which is the better investment. If you’re on the fence about investing in Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. or Kinetik Holdings Inc. because you’re not sure how they measure up, it’s important to compare them on a few factors before making your decision.

Read on to learn how Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. and Kinetik Holdings Inc. compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. and Kinetik Holdings Inc.

Plains All American Pipeline, L.P., through its subsidiaries, engages in the pipeline transportation, terminalling, storage, and gathering of crude oil and natural gas liquids (NGL) in the United States and Canada. The company operates through two segments, Crude Oil and NGL. The Crude Oil segment offers gathering and transporting crude oil through pipelines, trucks, and on barges or railcars. This segment provides terminalling, storage, and other related services, as well as merchant activities. The NGL segment is involved in natural gas processing and NGL fractionation, storage, transportation, and terminaling. This segment also includes ethane, propane, normal butane, iso-butane, and natural gasoline derived from natural gas production and processing activities, as well as crude oil refining processes. Its NGL components are used for various applications, such as heating, engine, and industrial fuels. The company was founded in 1981 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas. Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. operates as a subsidiary of Plains GP Holdings, L.P.

Kinetik Holdings Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates as a midstream company in the Texas Delaware Basin. The company operates through two segments, Midstream Logistics and Pipeline Transportation. It offers gathering, compression, processing, stabilization, treating, and storage services; transportation services through pipelines; and water gathering and disposal services for companies that produce natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGL), and crude oil. The company also sells condensates, natural gas residue, and NGLs. Kinetik Holdings Inc. was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in Midland, Texas.

Latest Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels and Plains All American Pipeline, L.P., Kinetik Holdings Inc. Stock News

As of September 2, 2026, Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. had a $18.1 billion market capitalization, compared to the Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels median of $2.7 million. Plains All American Pipeline, L.P.’s stock is up 42.8% in 2026, up 0.5% in the previous five trading days and up 45.39% in the past year.

Currently, Plains All American Pipeline, L.P.’s price-earnings ratio is 22.1. Plains All American Pipeline, L.P.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $52.3 billion with a 5.3% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 66.3%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $1.717 per share for the current fiscal year. Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. currently has a 6.5% dividend yield.

As of September 2, 2026, Kinetik Holdings Inc. had a $4.4 billion market cap, putting it in the 65th percentile of all stocks. Kinetik Holdings Inc.’s stock is up 51% in 2026, up 0.1% in the previous five trading days and up 32.45% in the past year.

Currently, Kinetik Holdings Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 19.8. Kinetik Holdings Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $1.9 billion with a 29.2% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 36.3%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $1.900 per share for the current fiscal year. Kinetik Holdings Inc. currently has a 6.0% dividend yield.

How We Compare Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. and Kinetik Holdings Inc. Stock Grades

Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data and the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movements. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors streamline and work through such data.

AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A‐F grades for each of five key investing factors: value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality. Here, we’ll take a closer look at Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. and Kinetik Holdings Inc.’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

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Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. and Kinetik Holdings Inc.’s Quality Grades

Company Ticker Quality
Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. PAA C
Kinetik Holdings Inc. KNTK C

Like the Value Grade, AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the percentile rank of key metrics. Specifically, the Quality Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of return on assets (ROA), return on invested capital (ROIC), gross profit relative to assets, buyback yield, change in total liabilities to assets, accruals, Z double prime bankruptcy risk (Z) score and the F-Score.

The score is variable, meaning it can consider all eight measures or, should any of the eight measures not be valid, the remaining measures that are valid. To be assigned a Quality Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) measure and corresponding ranking for at least four of the eight quality measures.

The Quality Score is used to assess the underlying “quality” of a particular stock. A higher-quality stock possesses traits associated with upside potential and reduced downside risk. Backtesting of the Quality Grade shows that stocks with higher grades, on average, outperformed stocks with lower grades over the period of 1998 through 2019.

Stocks receive better grades (higher scores) for having higher scores for the quality subcomponents and worse grades (lower scores) for lower scores for the subcomponents.

Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. has a Quality Score of 60, which is Average. Kinetik Holdings Inc. has a Quality Score of 50, which is Average.

The Quality Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. or Kinetik Holdings Inc. has a high enough Quality Grade to be considered a “winner.” Investors who are considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolios. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. or Kinetik Holdings Inc. is the better investment when it comes to quality.

Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. and Kinetik Holdings Inc.’s Momentum Grades

Company Ticker Momentum
Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. PAA B
Kinetik Holdings Inc. KNTK B

Momentum grades help to uncover stocks experiencing anomalously high rates of return; research finds that stocks with high relative levels of momentum tend to outperform, whereas those with low levels of momentum tend to continue underperforming. Momentum is based on the price change of a stock over a specified period relative to all other stocks.

Typically, AAII looks at the weighted relative strength over the trailing four quarters. The weighted four-quarter relative strength rank is the relative price change for each of the past four quarters. The most recent quarterly price change is given a weight of 40% and each of the three previous quarters are given a weighting of 20%.

Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. has a Momentum Score of 76, which is Strong. Kinetik Holdings Inc. has a Momentum Score of 75, which is Strong.

The Momentum Grade Winner: It’s a Tie!

Looking at the Momentum Grade breakdown above, both Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. and Kinetik Holdings Inc. have a grade of B. For those who focus solely on a company’s momentum, further research will need to be conducted into both companies to see if they fit your individual needs as an investor.

Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. and Kinetik Holdings Inc.’s Estimate Revisions Grades

Company Ticker Earnings Estimate
Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. PAA D
Kinetik Holdings Inc. KNTK B

Earnings estimate revisions scores consider the magnitude of a company’s earnings surprise in its last two reported fiscal quarters. Often, positive surprises beget further positive surprises‐or at least continued sales growth (the exact opposite is generally true, too).

Estimate revisions offer an indication of what analysts are thinking about the short-term prospects of a firm. Estimate revisions are based on the statistical significance of a firm’s last two quarterly earnings surprises and the percentage change in its consensus estimate for the current fiscal year over the past month and past three months.

Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. has a Earnings Estimate Score of 26, which is Negative. Kinetik Holdings Inc. has a Earnings Estimate Score of 66, which is Positive.

The Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade Winner: Kinetik Holdings Inc.

As you can clearly see from the Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade breakdown above, Kinetik Holdings Inc. has a better Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade than Plains All American Pipeline, L.P.. For those who are specifically looking for companies with better short-term prospects when compared to other companies in the same industry, Kinetik Holdings Inc. could be a good stock to invest in. However, it’s important to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

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Other Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. and Kinetik Holdings Inc. Grades

In addition to Quality, Momentum and Estimate Revisions, A+ Investor also provides grades for Value and Growth.

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Growth investing builds on the idea that stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth outperform those of slower-growth companies. AAII measures growth through consistency of annual sales growth, five-year sales growth rankings adjusted for extreme levels, and consistency of positive annual cash from operations.

Successful stock investing involves buying low and selling high, so stock valuation is an important consideration for stock selection. Buying stocks that are going to go up typically means buying stocks that are undervalued in the first place, although momentum investors may argue that point.

These 2 key factors, when combined with the above, provide a holistic view into a particular stock. Further, by joining A+ Investor you can see whether Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. and Kinetik Holdings Inc. pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.

So, Which Is the Better Investment, Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. or Kinetik Holdings Inc. Stock?

Overall, Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. stock has a Momentum Score of 76, Estimate Revisions Score of 26 and Quality Score of 60.

Kinetik Holdings Inc. stock has a Momentum Score of 75, Estimate Revisions Score of 66 and Quality Score of 50.

Comparing Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. and Kinetik Holdings Inc.’s grades, scores and metrics can act as a solid basis to determine whether they may be a good investment or not. You’ll also want to look at your portfolio’s asset allocation as well as your risk tolerance and financial goals to see if either of these stocks would make a good fit for you. AAII can help you figure out which investments align with your individual needs and preferences.

Investors are encouraged to do their own due diligence and research. In this way, individuals can effectively become managers of their own assets‐without having to rely on others for financial independence. You can count on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis.

A+ Investor adds to our qualitative teaching with a powerful data suite to help you whittle down investment choices to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.

Learn More About A+ Investor

AAII Disclaimer

We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith, and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.



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