One-glance verdict
Undervalued
$58.29 our estimate vs market $30.53
Wall Street consensus: $39.00 (-33.1% lower than our fair-value estimate)
48% below our estimate, below the bear case
Fundamentals snapshot
Insteel Industries Inc.
IIIN · NYQ · Industrials · Metal Fabrication
Current price
$30.53
52-week range
$24.35 - $39.91
Market cap
$591.01M
Balance sheet
Healthy
1,046.85x Strong cushion
Net cash $20.37M. Interest coverage shows how many times profit covers the interest bill.
What stands out
3 Rewards
1 Risk
3 rewards · 1 risks
- Reward Revenue grew 9.3% last year.
- Reward Returns 10.0% on equity, ahead of 16% of its peers.
- Reward Free cash flow was positive in 8/10 years.
- Risk Operating margin compressed from 19.5% to 5.9% over 3 years.
What this company does
Insteel Industries Inc.
Insteel Industries makes the steel wire skeletons that reinforce concrete in large construction projects like bridges, buildings, and pipes. It sells these essential products to other construction-related businesses, so its financial performance is closely linked to how much building and infrastructure work is happening.
How the company got here
Insteel started in 1953 in North Carolina, originally in the concrete business. The company entered the wire products business in 1974 to supply its own concrete operations. Over time, it sold off its concrete businesses to focus entirely on becoming a specialist in steel wire reinforcement products. Through a series of acquisitions of other companies and building new facilities, Insteel grew to become the largest U.S. manufacturer in its specific market.
What it actually does
Think of the steel bars and mesh you see in concrete sidewalks, buildings, and bridges before the concrete is poured—that's what Insteel makes. The company takes large steel rods and converts them into wire products that make concrete stronger and more durable. These products are essential for all kinds of construction, from office buildings and parking decks to concrete pipes used for drainage. Insteel sells these reinforcing products to other businesses, like concrete product manufacturers and construction contractors, not directly to the general public.
Prestressed Concrete (PC) Strand
This is a key product line for the company. PC strand is a high-strength, seven-wire steel cable that is stretched and used to put concrete under compression, which makes it much stronger. This allows for the construction of longer bridges, thinner building slabs, and more open parking garages. Customers who buy this are typically manufacturers of large precast concrete components for infrastructure and commercial buildings.
Welded Wire Reinforcement (WWR)
This is Insteel's other major product category, and the company is the largest producer in the U.S. WWR is a grid or mesh of steel wires welded together that provides strength and crack control to concrete. This business includes custom-engineered mesh for specific projects like walls or foundations, reinforcement for concrete pipes, and standard mesh for things like driveways and sidewalks. This segment serves a wide range of construction customers, from residential to large infrastructure projects.
What management is betting on now
The company's strategy is focused on being the lowest-cost producer in its market by using advanced and efficient manufacturing. Management is also focused on growing by acquiring competitors and expanding its geographic reach to serve more customers across the U.S. They are also counting on continued spending on infrastructure, like roads and bridges, which increases demand for their products. By maintaining financial discipline, such as keeping debt low, the company aims to be able to invest and operate effectively through the ups and downs of the construction market.
Price history
How the share price has moved
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Earnings history
Last 8 quarters — what happened
Click any quarter to read the call summary and what the numbers say.
FY2024 Q4
$14.54M
FY2025 Q1
$16.32M
FY2025 Q2
$-5.54M
FY2025 Q3
$26.91M
FY2025 Q4
$-18.73M
FY2026 Q1
$-2.19M
FY2026 Q2
$671.00K
FY2026 Q3
$10.49M
Revenue
$197.66M
Net income
$9.02M
Diluted EPS
0.46
Operating cash flow
$13.66M
Free cash flow
$10.49M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$172.65M
Net income
$5.22M
Diluted EPS
0.27
Operating cash flow
$5.07M
Free cash flow
$671.00K
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$159.92M
Net income
$7.59M
Diluted EPS
0.39
Operating cash flow
$-701.00K
Free cash flow
$-2.19M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$177.44M
Net income
$14.55M
Diluted EPS
0.74
Operating cash flow
$-17.01M
Free cash flow
$-18.73M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$179.89M
Net income
$15.16M
Diluted EPS
0.78
Operating cash flow
$28.50M
Free cash flow
$26.91M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$160.66M
Net income
$10.23M
Diluted EPS
0.52
Operating cash flow
$-3.32M
Free cash flow
$-5.54M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$129.72M
Net income
$1.08M
Diluted EPS
0.06
Operating cash flow
$18.98M
Free cash flow
$16.32M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$134.30M
Net income
$4.67M
Diluted EPS
0.24
Operating cash flow
$16.23M
Free cash flow
$14.54M
Fetching…
Sources
Is it cheap or expensive?
Fair value $58.29 vs current price $30.53
Wall Street consensus is the average analyst price target: $39.00 (-33.1% lower than our fair-value estimate).
Our most-likely fair value is $58.29 a share — about 90.9% above today's price of $30.53, so the stock currently looks cheap (undervalued).
Is it drowning in debt?
Healthy
Net cash $20.4M - more cash than debt. Interest coverage 1046.8x.
Net debt
$-20.37M
Interest coverage
1,046.85x
Insteel Industries Inc.'s profit covers its interest bill about 1046.8 times over. which is stronger than every peer shown here.
Healthy
Worse cushion
Baseline
Better cushion
IIIN
BASELINE
Insteel Industries Inc.
Total debt $2.58M Interest coverage 1,046.85x This is the baseline the peer rows are being compared against.
Total debt $3.62B Interest coverage 11.43x -99% vs IIIN Carries about 91.6x less debt cushion than IIIN.
Total debt $7.10B Interest coverage 15.64x -99% vs IIIN Carries about 66.9x less debt cushion than IIIN.
Total debt $2.94B Interest coverage 4.13x -100% vs IIIN Carries about 253.3x less debt cushion than IIIN.
Total debt $4.39B Interest coverage 22.83x -98% vs IIIN Carries about 45.9x less debt cushion than IIIN.
Total debt $446.50M Interest coverage 58.29x -94% vs IIIN Carries about 18.0x less debt cushion than IIIN.
What you should know
The case for and against IIIN
3 Rewards
1 Risk
Rewards
-
Revenue grew 9.3% last year.
-
Returns 10.0% on equity, ahead of 16% of its peers.
-
Free cash flow was positive in 8/10 years.
Risks
-
Operating margin compressed from 19.5% to 5.9% over 3 years.
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)
16.33x
Forward P/E
12.62x
P/B
1.59x
P/S
0.84x
EV/EBITDA
8.68x
PEG ratio
1.02x
Profitability
How much profit each dollar creates
Gross margin
11.8%
Operating margin
5.9%
Net margin
5.1%
ROE
10.0%
ROA
6.2%
Health
Liquidity and balance-sheet strength
Debt / equity
0.01x
Current ratio
3.57x
Quick ratio
1.33x
Total debt
$2.58M
Total cash
$22.95M
Growth
How the business has been compounding
Revenue TTM
$707.68M
Revenue 5Y CAGR
2.3%
EPS TTM
1.87
EPS 5Y CAGR
-30.9%
Cash flow
How much cash the business throws off
Operating CF TTM
$1.02M
Free CF TTM
$18.95M
FCF margin
2.7%
Dividend
Shareholder payout
Yield
0.4%
Payout ratio
6.4%
Last ex-div date
2026-09-11