Arq Inc. Common Stock (ARQ)

FairStock Score: 43/100 — MIXED

Key Financials

AI Analysis

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

I look for businesses that earn durable returns on capital without needing constant rescue financing. Arq sells activated carbon for air, water, and soil treatment—a necessary product, but the financial record is not yet that of a high-quality franchise. Revenue in fiscal 2025, the year ended 2025-12-31, was $120.3 million, up from $109.0 million in fiscal 2024 and $99.2 million in fiscal 2023. That is growth, but it has not produced profits: net loss in fiscal 2025 was $52.6 million, diluted EPS -$1.27, following losses of $5.1 million in fiscal 2024 and $12.2 million in fiscal 2023. The latest quarter, fiscal Q2 2026 ended 2026-06-30, had revenue of $29.9 million and a net loss of $733,000, or -$0.02 diluted EPS, so losses are narrowing. Still, trailing free cash flow is -$5.1 million, and the provided FCF yield is -5.9%. The balance sheet shows debt-to-equity of 0.23, which is not extreme, but the FairStock-calculated Altman Z-Score of 1.01 signals stress. At the 2026-10-13 close of $1.97, FairStock-calculated P/B is 0.50—optically cheap versus accounting book—but P/E is -1.58 because there are no earnings. FairStock-calculated return on equity is -27.05% and ROCE -1.91%. The FairStock score is 43/100, and the Lynch category is none because it has lost money in each of the last four years. I see a small, volatile company with improving revenue and narrowing losses, but no demonstrated moat or consistent owner earnings. Until it proves sustainable profits and cash generation, the low price is a speculation on a turnaround, not a margin-of-safety bargain in the Graham sense.

In plain English: Arq sells activated carbon products used to clean air, water, and soil. Revenue is growing, but the company still loses money and has not had a profitable year in the last four years. At $1.97, the stock looks cheap compared with its accounting value, but without profits it is hard to call it a safe bargain; it looks speculative.

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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