One-glance verdict
Undervalued
$49.42 our estimate vs market $13.74
72% below our estimate, below the bear case
Fundamentals snapshot
Ascent Industries Co.
ACNT · NGM · Basic Materials · Specialty Chemicals
Current price
$13.74
52-week range
$12.09 - $17.92
Market cap
$123.79M
Balance sheet
Healthy
-16.63x Concerning
Net cash $14.24M. Interest coverage shows how many times profit covers the interest bill.
What stands out
2 Rewards
3 Risks
2 rewards · 3 risks
- Reward Revenue grew 12.2% last year.
- Reward Free cash flow was positive in 6/10 years.
- Risk Insider ownership is only 8.4% (peer median: 24.5%).
- Risk Operating margin compressed from 5.2% to -0.3% over 3 years.
What this company does
Ascent Industries Co.
Ascent Industries Co. makes and sells special chemicals like those used in cleaning products and oil drilling. Most of their money comes from selling these chemicals to various industries, which is important because it shows where their main business focus is.
How the company got here
Ascent Industries Co. has a history dating back to 1945, originally founded as Blackman Uhler Industries. [6, 15] For many years, it operated as Synalloy Corporation, a business involved in both specialty chemicals and steel tubing. [4, 15] In August 2022, the company officially changed its name to Ascent Industries Co. as part of a strategic repositioning to focus more on its specialty chemicals business. [7, 10] This shift involved divesting its steel tubing operations, such as the sale of BRISMET and American Stainless Tubing, to concentrate on higher-margin, formulation-driven markets within the specialty chemicals sector. [4, 5, 19] The company has been actively acquiring businesses, like Midwest Graphic Sales, to strengthen its specialty chemicals platform and expand its participation in markets such as coatings, adhesives, sealants, and elastomers (CASE). [18, 27]
What it actually does
Ascent Industries Co. develops, produces, and distributes specialty chemical solutions. [6] These are not everyday household chemicals but rather performance-driven ingredients and process aids used by other businesses. [11] Think of them as specialized components that help other companies make their own products work better or improve their manufacturing processes. [9, 11] The company offers a range of products including surfactants (which help reduce surface tension, useful in cleaning and other applications), defoamers (to control foam), lubricating agents, flame retardants (to make materials less flammable), and specialty intermediates (chemical building blocks). [6, 19] Ascent also provides custom manufacturing services, meaning they can develop and produce chemicals specifically for a client's needs. [5, 6]
Specialty Chemicals
This is the primary way Ascent Industries makes money. [9] The company creates a variety of specialized chemical products that are essential for many different industries. [6, 11] For example, they make surfactants, which are ingredients that help things mix or clean better, and defoamers, which stop too much foam from building up in industrial processes. [6, 19] Ascent also produces lubricating agents, which reduce friction, and flame retardants, which make materials safer by slowing down burning. [6, 19] These chemicals are used in everything from oil and gas extraction and personal care products to paints, paper manufacturing, and water treatment. [6, 11, 12] The company also offers custom manufacturing, where they develop and produce chemicals tailored to a specific customer's needs, acting as an extension of that customer's own production capabilities. [5, 9] This segment is the core of Ascent's business as it focuses on high-value, performance-driven solutions rather than basic commodity chemicals. [11, 16]
What management is betting on now
Ascent Industries is focused on a strategy called "Chemicals-as-a-Service" (CaaS). [9, 21] Instead of just selling chemicals, they aim to be a comprehensive partner for their customers, offering services like formulation development, manufacturing, logistics, and technical support. [9, 11] This approach is designed to solve customer problems and build deeper, long-term relationships. [11, 23] Management is also prioritizing growth through acquisitions that expand their manufacturing capabilities and product offerings, as seen with the acquisition of Midwest Graphic Sales. [18, 27] They are also emphasizing the development and use of bio-based products, which are more sustainable alternatives to traditional petroleum-based chemicals, responding to a growing market demand for environmentally friendly solutions. [10, 23]
Price history
How the share price has moved
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Loading price history…
Earnings history
Last 8 quarters — what happened
Click any quarter to read the call summary and what the numbers say.
FY2024 Q4
$8.21M
FY2025 Q1
$-1.02M
FY2025 Q2
$-1.54M
FY2025 Q3
$695.00K
FY2025 Q4
$-196.00K
FY2026 Q1
$-5.85M
FY2026 Q2
$-3.05M
FY2026 Q3
$1.19M
Revenue
$27.14M
Net income
$1.40M
Diluted EPS
0.15
Operating cash flow
$2.27M
Free cash flow
$1.19M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$25.67M
Net income
$670.00K
Diluted EPS
0.07
Operating cash flow
$-2.30M
Free cash flow
$-3.05M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$19.41M
Net income
$-1.98M
Diluted EPS
-0.21
Operating cash flow
$-5.43M
Free cash flow
$-5.85M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$11.86M
Net income
$-1.04M
Diluted EPS
-0.11
Operating cash flow
$266.00K
Free cash flow
$-196.00K
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$19.70M
Net income
$-2.09M
Diluted EPS
-0.22
Operating cash flow
$1.31M
Free cash flow
$695.00K
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$18.65M
Net income
$6.29M
Diluted EPS
0.65
Operating cash flow
$-1.40M
Free cash flow
$-1.54M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$24.73M
Net income
$-2.29M
Diluted EPS
-0.23
Operating cash flow
$-700.00K
Free cash flow
$-1.02M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$40.67M
Net income
$-1.03M
Diluted EPS
-0.10
Operating cash flow
$8.82M
Free cash flow
$8.21M
Fetching…
Sources
Is it cheap or expensive?
Fair value $49.42 vs current price $13.74
Our most-likely fair value is $49.42 a share — about 259.7% above today's price of $13.74, so the stock currently looks cheap (undervalued).
Is it drowning in debt?
Healthy
Net cash $14.2M - more cash than debt. Interest coverage -16.6x.
Net debt
$-14.24M
Interest coverage
-16.63x
Ascent Industries Co.'s profit covers its interest bill about 0.0 times over. which is weaker than most peers shown here and 1 peers sit below 1x, which is the danger zone where profit does not fully cover the interest bill.
Healthy
Worse cushion
Baseline
Better cushion
ACNT
BASELINE
Ascent Industries Co.
Total debt $13.83M Interest coverage -16.63x This is the baseline the peer rows are being compared against.
Total debt $243.70M Interest coverage 8.98x This peer still has a real interest-payment cushion, while ACNT does not.
Total debt $3.94M Interest coverage -11.07x Neither company has much profit cushion over interest right now.
Total debt $1.08B Interest coverage 8.31x This peer still has a real interest-payment cushion, while ACNT does not.
Total debt $10.10M Interest coverage 5.82x This peer still has a real interest-payment cushion, while ACNT does not.
What you should know
The case for and against ACNT
2 Rewards
3 Risks
Rewards
-
Revenue grew 12.2% last year.
-
Free cash flow was positive in 6/10 years.
Risks
-
Insider ownership is only 8.4% (peer median: 24.5%).
-
Operating margin compressed from 5.2% to -0.3% over 3 years.
-
Return on equity was -2.9% last year — the company lost money on shareholders' equity.
The numbers
All the key metrics, grouped by purpose
Tap any ? icon to learn what it means.
Valuation
How expensive the stock looks
P/E (TTM)
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Forward P/E
17.18x
P/B
1.56x
P/S
1.48x
EV/EBITDA
-61.10x
PEG ratio
0.94x
Profitability
How much profit each dollar creates
Gross margin
21.1%
Operating margin
-0.3%
Net margin
-5.3%
ROE
-2.9%
ROA
-3.3%
Health
Liquidity and balance-sheet strength
Debt / equity
0.17x
Current ratio
4.33x
Quick ratio
3.13x
Total debt
$13.83M
Total cash
$28.07M
Growth
How the business has been compounding
Revenue TTM
$84.08M
Revenue 5Y CAGR
-31.2%
EPS TTM
-0.26
EPS 5Y CAGR
-65.1%
Cash flow
How much cash the business throws off
Operating CF TTM
$-5.19M
Free CF TTM
$-2.06M
FCF margin
-2.5%
Dividend
Shareholder payout
Yield
0.0%
Payout ratio
0.0%
Last ex-div date
2018-11-29