The natural gas compression market sits at the heart of the energy value chain, enabling the movement of gas from production sites to end-users. As global demand rises—driven by LNG exports, power generation and emerging needs like data centers—compression providers are seeing strong tailwinds. Enerflex Ltd. EFXT and USA Compression Partners, LP USAC are two key players in this space, but their business models and growth drivers differ meaningfully, making for an interesting comparison.
EFXT: Integrated Model With Multiple Growth Levers
Enerflex operates a diversified and integrated energy infrastructure platform, combining compression, engineered systems and aftermarket services. This model allows it to capture value across the entire lifecycle — from manufacturing to long-term service contracts — creating both cost efficiencies and revenue visibility. Its Energy Infrastructure segment alone has roughly $1.2 billion in contracted revenues with around 5-year average contract duration, supporting predictable cash flows.
The company operates over 1.1 million horsepower of compression globally and continues to expand its fleet, particularly in North America, where utilization remains strong at around 94%. This places Enerflex firmly in the “must-run” category of energy infrastructure.
What differentiates Enerflex, however, is its exposure beyond pure compression. Its engineered systems and power solutions businesses allow it to benefit from structural trends such as LNG expansion and rising electricity demand. Notably, Enerflex is building a pipeline of over 1.5 GW of data-center-related power opportunities, positioning it to capitalize on AI-driven energy demand growth.
This diversification provides both stability and growth optionality, giving Enerflex an edge in a market where compression demand is rising but evolving.
USAC: Pure-Play Scale and Stability
USA Compression Partners is a leading pure-play compression provider in the United States, with a focus on large-scale contract compression. Its fleet exceeds 4.4 million horsepower across major U.S. basins, offering strong scale advantages and operational efficiency.
A key recent development is the J-W Power acquisition, which significantly expands USAC’s footprint and adds approximately 200,000 idle horsepower, some of which can be quickly deployed to drive near-term revenues. The deal is expected to generate $10–$20 million in annual synergies by 2027, improving margins and efficiency.
USA Compression Partners’ business model is built on fixed-fee, long-term contracts (typically 2-5 years), which insulate it from commodity price volatility and provide steady cash flows. This has supported strong financial performance, including record EBITDA of $613.8 million in 2025 and a projected increase to $770-$800 million in 2026.
Additionally, the company maintains high fleet utilization (around 94-95%) and benefits from growing natural gas production across key basins, reinforcing its stable, income-oriented investment profile.
Price Performance
Enerflex has significantly outperformed USAC, with its stock rising 284% over the past year, compared to just 7.2% for USA Compression Partners. This reflects stronger investor confidence in Enerflex’s growth story, particularly its exposure to emerging demand drivers like data centers.
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Valuation
On a forward price-to-earnings basis, Enerflex trades at just above 16X, while USAC trades at around 20X. Despite its stronger growth profile, Enerflex is available at a discount, suggesting more attractive relative valuation.
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EPS Estimate Revisions
Earnings growth expectations are solid for both companies, but the trajectories differ slightly:
USAC offers steady, consistent growth.
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Meanwhile, Enerflex shows an accelerating earnings trajectory, supported by its diversified business model.
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Which Is the Better Stock?
Both Enerflex and USA Compression Partners are well-positioned to benefit from strong fundamentals in the natural gas compression market. USAC stands out for its scale, stable contract structure and income-generating model, especially with the added boost from the J-W acquisition. However, Enerflex offers a more diversified and forward-looking growth profile, with exposure to compression, power generation and emerging energy trends like data centers.
Importantly, Enerflex currently carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), reflecting positive earnings estimate revisions and strong growth momentum. In contrast, USAC has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), indicating more neutral expectations. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Given its stronger price performance, attractive valuation and broader growth drivers, Enerflex appears to be the better pick at the moment.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
