Ascent Industries Co. Common Stock (ACNT)

FairStock Score: 40/100 — MIXED

Key Financials

AI Analysis

AI-generated, general educational analysis — not personal investment advice.

Looking at Ascent Industries as a Graham-style value investor, I see a small specialty chemical maker with a narrow product niche and no obvious durable moat. It employs only 197 people, and revenue has fallen sharply: $193.2M in fiscal year 2023, the year ended 2023-12-31; $80.8M in fiscal year 2024, the year ended 2024-12-31; and $74.9M in fiscal year 2025, the year ended 2025-12-31. The company lost $26.6M in fiscal year 2023 and $13.6M in fiscal year 2024, then earned just $867,000 in fiscal year 2025. That is a fragile record. The latest fiscal Q2 2026, the quarter ended 2026-06-30, showed revenue of $25.7M and net income of $670,000, or $0.07 per diluted share. In fiscal Q2 2025, the quarter ended 2025-06-30, revenue was $18.7M and net income was $6.3M. So sales improved, but profit fell sharply. At the 2026-10-13 close of $13.54, FairStock's P/B is 1.53, P/E is negative at -50.15, and ROE is -2.88%. Free cash flow is negative $8.4M trailing twelve months, a -6.9% FCF yield. The balance sheet looks reasonable with D/E of 0.17 and an Altman Z-Score of 4.13; Piotroski F-Score is 5/9. FairStock classifies it as a TURNAROUND — returned to profit after a loss within the last three years — but turnarounds need consistent cash generation, not one small quarterly profit. At 1.53 times book, the price is not demanding, but with negative earnings and negative free cash flow, there is no margin of safety by my arithmetic. I would want several quarters of positive net income and free cash flow before calling this healthy. FairStock Score is 40/100.

In plain English: Ascent Industries makes specialty chemicals used in oil and gas, personal care, coatings, and other industries. The business looks weak overall: recent years show losses and much lower sales, and the latest quarter had a small profit but much less than a year earlier. At $13.54, the price looks fair to expensive because the company is not producing positive yearly earnings or free cash flow, even though book value gives some support.

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Data as of 2026-10-13 close · note generated 2026-10-15 · model deepseek-flash

Sources (SEC EDGAR): fiscal Q2 2026 10-Q (period ended 2026-06-30) · fiscal Q1 2026 10-Q (period ended 2026-03-31) · fiscal Q3 2025 10-Q (period ended 2025-09-30) · fiscal Q2 2025 10-Q (period ended 2025-06-30) · FY2025 10-K (period ended 2025-12-31) · FY2024 10-K (period ended 2024-12-31) · FY2023 10-K (period ended 2023-12-31)

Fundamentals from company filings and market-data providers; prices are end-of-day, not real-time. AI-generated analysis is general and educational — not personal investment advice. Scoring methodology · Score test · Disclaimer