One-glance verdict
Undervalued
$16.42 our estimate vs market $2.26
86% below our estimate, below the bear case
Fundamentals snapshot
American Vanguard Corporation
AVD · NYQ · Basic Materials · Agricultural Inputs
Current price
$2.26
52-week range
$2.03 - $5.92
Market cap
$66.67M
Balance sheet
Distressed
0.83x Concerning
Net debt $240.22M. Interest coverage shows how many times profit covers the interest bill.
What stands out
1 Reward
3 Risks
1 rewards · 3 risks
- Reward Free cash flow was positive in 6/10 years.
- Risk Net debt grew 220.0% over 3 years.
- Risk Return on equity was -26.5% last year — the company lost money on shareholders' equity.
- Risk Insider ownership is only 6.7% (peer median: 17.0%).
What this company does
American Vanguard Corporation
American Vanguard Corporation makes specialized products like insecticides and herbicides to help farmers protect crops from pests and weeds. The company sells these agricultural chemicals through large distributors to farms across the world. This matters because their products play a role in helping farmers grow enough food to meet global demand.
How the company got here
American Vanguard started in 1969 as a small regional manufacturer of agricultural chemicals. Its key turning point was a strategy to buy up the rights to smaller, specialized products that larger chemical companies had developed but were no longer focused on. This allowed American Vanguard to find its own niche in the market by extending the life of these proven chemicals. Over the years, it has grown by acquiring other companies, which has expanded its product lineup and its reach into international markets. A major part of its modern strategy involves adding more environmentally friendly and biological products to its traditional chemical offerings.
What it actually does
Think of American Vanguard as a company that makes products to help farmers protect their crops and improve harvests. They create and sell things like insecticides (to control insects), herbicides (to manage weeds), and fungicides (to prevent plant diseases). Beyond farms, their products are also used to manage turf on golf courses, protect ornamental plants in nurseries, and even for public health to control pests like mosquitoes. They offer these solutions in various forms, like liquids, powders, and granules, to suit different needs.
U.S. Crop
This is the company's core business, focused on products sold to American farmers. These farmers buy the company's solutions to protect major crops like corn, soybeans, cotton, and potatoes from pests and diseases. This part of the business provides the essential tools that help ensure a healthy and plentiful harvest. It represents a major piece of the company's total sales and is focused on the seasonal needs of the U.S. agricultural industry.
U.S. Non-Crop
This part of the company sells products for uses beyond traditional row-crop farming within the United States. Customers include professional pest control operators, golf course superintendents, and greenhouse or nursery growers. For example, they might buy products to keep lawns and ornamental flowers healthy or to control insects in public spaces. While smaller than the main farm-focused business, this segment provides diversification (a way to make money from different types of customers).
International
As the name suggests, this segment handles sales outside of the United States. American Vanguard sells its crop protection products to farmers and distributors in various countries, with a significant presence in Mexico, Australia, and Central America. This business is important for growth, as it allows the company to reach new markets and reduces its dependence on the U.S. agricultural cycle alone. International sales make up a substantial portion of the company's total revenue.
What management is betting on now
Management is currently focused on a business improvement plan to make the company more efficient and profitable. This involves controlling costs, improving manufacturing processes, and paying down debt. They are also making a significant bet on "GreenSolutions," which are more environmentally friendly and biological products that improve soil health and crop nutrition. The goal is to balance their traditional chemical products with these newer, sustainable options to meet the changing demands of modern agriculture.
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 Q3
$25.44M
FY2024 Q4
$32.60M
FY2025 Q1
$-21.01M
FY2025 Q2
$-19.85M
FY2025 Q3
$11.31M
FY2025 Q4
$4.43M
FY2026 Q1
$-36.41M
FY2026 Q2
$-26.37M
Revenue
$116.75M
Net income
$-9.87M
Diluted EPS
-0.34
Operating cash flow
$-25.02M
Free cash flow
$-26.37M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$123.57M
Net income
$-4.14M
Diluted EPS
-0.14
Operating cash flow
$-35.44M
Free cash flow
$-36.41M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$150.69M
Net income
$-28.21M
Diluted EPS
-0.99
Operating cash flow
$5.95M
Free cash flow
$4.43M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$119.31M
Net income
$-12.36M
Diluted EPS
-0.43
Operating cash flow
$12.69M
Free cash flow
$11.31M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$129.31M
Net income
$-849.00K
Diluted EPS
-0.03
Operating cash flow
$-19.26M
Free cash flow
$-19.85M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$115.80M
Net income
$-8.46M
Diluted EPS
-0.30
Operating cash flow
$-20.58M
Free cash flow
$-21.01M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$165.65M
Net income
$-90.43M
Diluted EPS
-3.23
Operating cash flow
$33.77M
Free cash flow
$32.60M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$118.31M
Net income
$-25.74M
Diluted EPS
-0.91
Operating cash flow
$26.60M
Free cash flow
$25.44M
Fetching…
Sources
Is it cheap or expensive?
Fair value $16.42 vs current price $2.26
Our most-likely fair value is $16.42 a share — about 626.5% above today's price of $2.26, so the stock currently looks cheap (undervalued).
Is it drowning in debt?
Distressed
Net debt $240.2M. Interest coverage 0.8x.
Net debt
$240.22M
Interest coverage
0.83x
American Vanguard Corporation's profit covers its interest bill about 0.8 times over. which is stronger than most peers shown here and 3 peers sit below 1x, which is the danger zone where profit does not fully cover the interest bill.
Distressed
Worse cushion
Baseline
Better cushion
AVD
BASELINE
American Vanguard Corporation
Total debt $284.12M Interest coverage 0.83x This is the baseline the peer rows are being compared against.
Total debt $239.00M Interest coverage -0.03x -100% vs AVD This peer has almost no interest-payment cushion compared with AVD.
Total debt $371.75K Interest coverage -19.97x -100% vs AVD This peer has almost no interest-payment cushion compared with AVD.
Total debt $324.00K Interest coverage -346.34x -100% vs AVD This peer has almost no interest-payment cushion compared with AVD.
Total debt $489.65M Interest coverage 1.87x +126% vs AVD Carries about 2.3x more debt cushion than AVD.
Total debt $423.94M Interest coverage 7.10x +759% vs AVD Carries about 8.6x more debt cushion than AVD.
What you should know
The case for and against AVD
1 Reward
3 Risks
Rewards
-
Free cash flow was positive in 6/10 years.
Risks
-
Net debt grew 220.0% over 3 years.
-
Return on equity was -26.5% last year — the company lost money on shareholders' equity.
-
Insider ownership is only 6.7% (peer median: 17.0%).
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)
—
Forward P/E
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P/B
0.36x
P/S
0.13x
EV/EBITDA
12.18x
PEG ratio
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Profitability
How much profit each dollar creates
Gross margin
29.4%
Operating margin
1.3%
Net margin
-10.7%
ROE
-26.5%
ROA
0.7%
Health
Liquidity and balance-sheet strength
Debt / equity
1.57x
Current ratio
2.48x
Quick ratio
1.36x
Total debt
$284.12M
Total cash
$43.90M
Growth
How the business has been compounding
Revenue TTM
$510.32M
Revenue 5Y CAGR
-2.0%
EPS TTM
-1.91
EPS 5Y CAGR
—
Cash flow
How much cash the business throws off
Operating CF TTM
$-41.81M
Free CF TTM
$-25.11M
FCF margin
-4.9%
Dividend
Shareholder payout
Yield
—
Payout ratio
0.0%
Last ex-div date
2024-06-26