Ascent Industries (ACNT)
NASDAQ:ACNT
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Ascent Industries
(NASDAQ:ACNT)
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Rating:48Neutral
Price Target:
$13.00
▼(-9.09% Downside)
Action:ReiteratedDate:04/01/26
The score is held down primarily by weak financial performance (revenue declines, ongoing losses, and negative 2025 operating/free cash flow). Technical indicators also point to a downtrend. These are partially offset by a more optimistic earnings-call outlook (new program ramp and margin improvement targets) and supportive corporate actions around governance and buybacks.
Positive Factors
Strong liquidity & low leverage
A large cash balance and negligible net debt give the company durable financial flexibility to fund the program ramp, support R&D, and absorb near-term losses. This liquidity materially reduces refinancing risk, enables opportunistic buybacks or disciplined M&A, and underpins execution of the turnaround without immediate capital markets dependence.
Negative Factors
Multi-year revenue declines and losses
Persistent top-line deterioration and recurring net losses erode scale economics and reduce operating leverage. Sustained revenue declines hamper the firm's ability to cover fixed costs, prolong the path to sustainable profitability, weaken return metrics, and risk degrading equity value if growth recovery is delayed.
Read all positive and negative factors
Positive Factors
Negative Factors
Strong liquidity & low leverage
A large cash balance and negligible net debt give the company durable financial flexibility to fund the program ramp, support R&D, and absorb near-term losses. This liquidity materially reduces refinancing risk, enables opportunistic buybacks or disciplined M&A, and underpins execution of the turnaround without immediate capital markets dependence.
Read all positive factors
Ascent Industries (ACNT) vs. SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY)
Market Cap
$126.42M
Dividend YieldN/A
Average Volume (3M)83.67K
Price to Earnings (P/E)―
Beta (1Y)0.16
Revenue Growth-29.03%
EPS GrowthN/A
CountryUS
Employees451
SectorBasic Materials
Sector Strength58
IndustrySteel
Share Statistics
EPS (TTM)-0.11
Shares Outstanding9,469,820
10 Day Avg. Volume78,101
30 Day Avg. Volume83,666
Financial Highlights & Ratios
PEG Ratio0.49
Price to Book (P/B)1.79
Price to Sales (P/S)2.08
P/FCF Ratio-75.68
Enterprise Value/Market Cap0.65
Enterprise Value/Revenue1.00
Enterprise Value/Gross Profit4.38
Enterprise Value/Ebitda-54.63
Forecast
1Y Price TargetN/A
Price Target UpsideN/A
Rating ConsensusN/A
Number of Analyst Covering0
EPS Forecast (FY)N/A
Revenue Forecast (FY)N/A
Ascent Industries Business Overview & Revenue Model
Company Description
Ascent Industries (ACNT) is a diversified company operating primarily in the manufacturing and technology sectors. The company specializes in producing advanced materials and components for various industries, including aerospace, automotive, and ...
How the Company Makes Money
Ascent Industries primarily makes money by selling specialty chemical products through its Synalloy Chemicals segment. Revenue is generated from the manufacture and distribution of chemical formulations and related products sold to customers (typi...
Ascent Industries Earnings Call Summary
Earnings Call Date:Mar 03, 2026
(Q4-2025)
| % Change Since: |
Next Earnings Date:May 12, 2026
Earnings Call Sentiment Positive
The call emphasized strong structural progress: large margin expansion on a full-year basis, notable wins (including a >$10M program), improved liquidity (no debt, $57.6M cash), meaningful pipeline conversion, record new selling projects, and targeted cost reductions. These positive developments were tempered by near-term headwinds in Q4 — mix-driven margin compression, a Q4 adjusted EBITDA loss, a full-year revenue decline of 7.2% and a significant demand contraction (17.7%) — driven by end-market softness and short-term seasonality. Management framed the weakness as timing/mix related and highlighted durable improvements to the operating platform, R&D-driven wins, and actions to protect long-term margin integrity. Overall, the balance of evidence points to meaningful structural improvement and a positive outlook for 2026 as the business scales into higher-margin programs, despite short-term variability.Positive Updates
Material Full-Year Margin and Profit Improvement
Gross margin expanded nearly 1,000 basis points year-over-year; gross profit increased 61% (full year). Adjusted EBITDA improved by more than $4.0 million year-over-year despite operating on approximately 7% lower revenue (company statement).
Negative Updates
Q4 Margin Compression and Sequential Weakness
Fourth quarter reflected end-market softness and unfavorable mix that pressured absorption; gross profit for the quarter was essentially flat year-over-year (down less than $50,000) and gross margin declined by ~90 basis points quarter-over-quarter/year-over-year. Analysts noted a drop from ~29% in Q3 to ~18% in Q4 for gross margin in the quarter (discussion on the call).
Read all updates
Q4-2025 Updates
Positive
Negative
Material Full-Year Margin and Profit Improvement
Gross margin expanded nearly 1,000 basis points year-over-year; gross profit increased 61% (full year). Adjusted EBITDA improved by more than $4.0 million year-over-year despite operating on approximately 7% lower revenue (company statement).
Read all positive updates
Company Guidance
The company offered no formal numeric guidance but reiterated clear targets and near-term expectations: management expects double‑digit revenue growth in 2026 driven in part by a >$10.0M incremental annualized commercial program that should hit full run‑rate early in Q2, alongside a pipeline conversion of 25% in Q4 and 38 project wins (across 23 customers) totaling $9.4M of committed annualized revenue ($7.1M from the new program, $2.3M other wins), with product sales ~47% of wins and an average sales cycle of 2.9 months; operationally they forecast a structurally stronger margin profile (long‑term consolidated gross margin target 30–35%, with a near‑term target in the mid‑20s to low‑30s), SG&A around 15% and an eventual ~15% EBITDA margin, supported by a $2.1M run‑rate benefit from the Munhall exit, full‑year gross profit improvement of $6.5M (nearly +1,000 bps gross margin expansion), full‑year adjusted EBITDA improvement of ~$4.1M (FY loss $0.57M), Q4 adjusted EBITDA loss of $1.1M, Q4 net sales +4% (shipments +6%) despite FY net sales down 7.2% (17.7% demand contraction offset by 10.9% pricing), and a strong balance sheet ( $57.6M cash, no debt, $11.4M revolver availability, cash conversion cycle 61 days) that underpins reinvestment, opportunistic buybacks (~7% of shares repurchased) and disciplined M&A.Ascent Industries Financial Statement Overview
Summary
Income Statement
28
Negative
Balance Sheet
62
Positive
Cash Flow
34
Negative
| Breakdown | Dec 2025 | Dec 2024 | Dec 2023 | Mar 2023 | Dec 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Income Statement | |||||
| Total Revenue | 74.94M | 177.87M | 193.18M | 261.99M | 334.71M |
| Gross Profit | 16.95M | 22.11M | 1.53M | 43.29M | 60.77M |
| EBITDA | -2.52M | 2.78M | -29.17M | 23.03M | 37.33M |
| Net Income | -5.58M | -13.60M | -26.63M | 22.07M | 20.25M |
Balance Sheet | |||||
| Total Assets | 111.94M | 147.25M | 163.29M | 269.04M | 266.00M |
| Cash, Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments | 57.61M | 16.11M | 1.85M | 1.44M | 2.02M |
| Total Debt | 13.35M | 33.27M | 32.83M | 102.88M | 102.74M |
| Total Liabilities | 24.95M | 53.70M | 55.88M | 134.78M | 154.41M |
| Stockholders Equity | 86.99M | 93.55M | 107.41M | 134.26M | 111.59M |
Cash Flow | |||||
| Free Cash Flow | -2.06M | 12.79M | 20.19M | 2.18M | 17.56M |
| Operating Cash Flow | -519.00K | 14.68M | 23.08M | 5.58M | 19.05M |
| Investing Cash Flow | 50.98M | 905.00K | 50.50M | -4.97M | -32.66M |
| Financing Cash Flow | -8.96M | -1.33M | -73.17M | -1.18M | 15.39M |
Ascent Industries Technical Analysis
Negative
14.30
Price Trends
15.09
Negative
15.24
Negative
13.87
Negative
Market Momentum
-0.52
Negative
38.87
Neutral
58.32
Neutral
Evaluating momentum and price trends is crucial in stock analysis to make informed investment decisions. For ACNT, the sentiment is Negative. The current price of 14.3 is above the 20-day moving average (MA) of 12.84, below the 50-day MA of 15.09, and above the 200-day MA of 13.87, indicating a neutral trend. The MACD of -0.52 indicates Negative momentum. The RSI at 38.87 is Neutral, neither overbought nor oversold. The STOCH value of 58.32 is Neutral, not indicating any strong overbought or oversold conditions. Overall, these indicators collectively point to a Negative sentiment for ACNT.
Ascent Industries Risk Analysis
Ascent Industries disclosed 26 risk factors in its most recent earnings report. Ascent Industries reported the most risks in the "Production" category.
Finance & Corporate - Financial and accounting risks. Risks related to the execution of corporate activity and strategy
Latest Risks Added 0 New Risks
Ascent Industries Peers Comparison
UnderperformOutperform
Sector (61)
Name | Overall Rating | Market Cap | P/E Ratio | ROE | Dividend Yield | Revenue Growth | EPS Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
69 Neutral | $417.74M | 40.46 | 79.30% | 19.32% | -78.78% | -81.27% | |
61 Neutral | $10.43B | 7.12 | -0.05% | 2.87% | 2.86% | -36.73% | |
58 Neutral | $128.16M | 11.73 | 11.34% | 0.75% | 8.72% | 43.14% | |
48 Neutral | $126.42M | -27.96 | -6.29% | ― | -29.03% | ― | |
48 Neutral | $18.02M | -13.91 | -1.85% | ― | -20.24% | -119.83% |
* Basic Materials Sector Average
ACNT
Ascent Industries
13.35
0.75
5.95%
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HLP
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Ascent Industries Corporate Events
Business Operations and StrategyExecutive/Board ChangesStock Buyback
Ascent Industries Expands Board and Adds Independent Directors
Positive
Apr 1, 2026
On March 31, 2026, Ascent Industries Co. expanded its Board of Directors from five to seven members and appointed specialty chemicals veterans Carmen J. Giannantonio and Jeremy F. Rohen as independent directors effective April 1, 2026. Both execut...
Business Operations and StrategyStock BuybackFinancial Disclosures
Ascent Highlights Turnaround and Non-GAAP Focus to Investors
Positive
Mar 23, 2026
On March 23, 2026, Ascent Industries representatives planned to present to investors using a new slide deck that prominently features non-GAAP metrics such as Adjusted EBITDA, alongside reconciliations to GAAP measures, underscoring managementR...
Glossary
BuyA stock rated as a "Buy" is expected to perform better than the overall market or a specific benchmark over the near-to-medium term. This rating suggests the stock is likely to deliver higher returns compared to other stocks in the same sector or market index. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
HoldA stock rated as a "Hold" is expected to perform in line with the overall market or a specific benchmark. This rating indicates that the stock is neither particularly compelling nor unfavorable for investment. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
SellA stock rated as a "Sell" is expected to perform worse than the overall market or a specific benchmark over the near-to-medium term. This rating suggests the stock may deliver lower returns compared to other stocks in the same sector or market index. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
Disclaimer
This AI Analyst Stock Report is automatically generated by our AI systems using advanced algorithms and publicly available financial, technical, and market data. While the information provided aims to be accurate and insightful, it is intended for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. Any content created by an AI (Artificial Intelligence) system may contain inaccuracies and/or contain errors. Investing in stocks carries inherent risks, and past performance is not indicative of future results. This report does not account for your personal financial circumstances, objectives, or risk tolerance. Always conduct your own research or consult with a qualified financial advisor before making investment decisions. The analysis and recommendations provided are based on historical and current data and may not fully reflect future market conditions or unexpected developments. Neither the creators of this report nor its affiliated entities guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of the information presented. Use this report at your own discretion and risk.