Acacia Research (ACTG) AI Stock Analysis

• Market Cap: $470.80M
• Dividend Yield: N/A
• Average Volume (3M): 146.16K
• Price to Earnings (P/E): 16.6
• Beta (1Y): 0.75
• Revenue Growth: 71.28%
• EPS Growth: -89.20%
• Country: US
• Employees: 1,036
• Sector: Industrials
• Sector Strength: 72
• Industry: Specialty Business Services
• EPS (TTM): 0.03
• Shares Outstanding: 96,475,470
• 10 Day Avg. Volume: 149,947
• 30 Day Avg. Volume: 146,158
• PEG Ratio: -0.10
• Price to Book (P/B): 0.66
• Price to Sales (P/S): 1.26
• P/FCF Ratio: 6.15
• Enterprise Value/Market Cap: 0.57
• Enterprise Value/Revenue: 0.94
• Enterprise Value/Gross Profit: 1.14
• Enterprise Value/Ebitda: 5.41
• 1Y Price Target: $6.00
• Price Target Upside: 22.95% Upside
• Rating Consensus: Moderate Buy
• Number of Analyst Covering: 1
• EPS Forecast (FY): -0.53
• Revenue Forecast (FY): $170.00M

• Rating: 67 Neutral
• Price Target: $5.50 ▲(12.70% Upside)
• Action: Reiterated Date: 03/13/26
• Date: Action: Reiterated 03/13/26

The score is driven primarily by improved financials paired with a conservatively levered balance sheet and supportive earnings-call momentum (revenue growth and free cash flow). Technicals are positive but look extended (overbought signals), while valuation appears average with no dividend data to bolster the profile.

Positive Factors

Conservative balance sheet & liquidity

Very low leverage and a large cash/securities position provide durable financial flexibility. This enables funding of IP monetization, litigation, and opportunistic acquisitions without reliance on volatile capital markets, lowering refinancing and solvency risk over months.

Improved cash generation

A material turnaround to positive free cash flow strengthens internal funding capacity. Sustainable cash conversion supports reinvestment in portfolios, funds enforcement actions or operating subsidiaries, and reduces need for dilutive or high-cost external financing.

Business diversification & strategic M&A

Diversified revenue streams across IP monetization, manufacturing, energy and industrials plus targeted acquisitions reduce single-market dependence. This structural mix improves resilience to shocks in any one end market and offers multiple cash-generative levers.

Negative Factors

Earnings and cash volatility

Large multi-year swings in profits and cash flow undermine predictability of recurring earnings and free cash flow. That volatility complicates planning for sustained litigation spend, acquisitions, or dividend policy and raises execution risk over the medium term.

GAAP losses despite adjusted profitability

Persistent GAAP losses, even with positive adjusted EBITDA, indicate recurring non-cash charges or one-offs that erode retained earnings. This can constrain long-term equity returns, affect covenants or tax attributes, and reduce investor confidence in sustained net income.

End-market and commodity sensitivity

Significant exposure to cyclic end markets and commodity prices makes revenue and margins sensitive to macro and trade shifts. Demand weakness, tariffs, or lower oil prices can persist for months, pressuring segment cash flows and limiting consistent portfolio monetization.

Acacia Research Business Overview & Revenue Model

Company Description

Acacia Research Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, invests in intellectual property and related absolute return assets; and engages in the licensing and enforcement of patented technologies. The company operates through two segments, Intellectual Property Operations and Industrial Operations. The company owns or controls the rights to various patent portfolios, which include U.S. patents and foreign counterparts covering technologies used in a range of industries. It has executed approximately 1,600 license agreements, and approximately 200 patent portfolio licensing and enforcement programs. It also designs manufactures printers and parts, and consumable products through dealers and distributors for various industrial printing applications. In addition, the company offers supply-chain printing solutions for manufacturing, transportation and logistics, retail distribution, food and beverage distribution, and pharmaceutical distribution industries; and line matrix printers for mission critical applications within labeling and inventory management, build sheets, invoicing, manifests and bills of lading, and reporting industries. Acacia Research Corporation was incorporated in 1993 and is based in New York, New York.

How the Company Makes Money

Acacia Research has historically generated revenue primarily by monetizing intellectual property. This model typically works as follows: (1) Asset acquisition: Acacia acquires patent portfolios (or rights to patents) from inventors, companies, or other holders, often paying upfront and/or agreeing to contingent payments. (2) Monetization via licensing and settlements: Acacia then approaches companies that it believes use the patented technologies, seeking license agreements that produce recurring or term-based royalties and/or lump-sum license fees. (3) Enforcement-driven recoveries: If licensing discussions do not result in agreements, Acacia may pursue patent enforcement actions; successful outcomes can produce settlement payments or court-awarded damages, which can be recorded as revenue. (4) Portfolio/structure economics: Depending on the deal structure, Acacia may share proceeds with original patent owners, third-party partners, or financing counterparties, so realized income can be impacted by revenue-sharing arrangements and legal/contingency costs. In addition to IP monetization, Acacia has also pursued a holding-company strategy involving acquisitions and investments; to the extent it owns operating subsidiaries, it can earn revenue from those businesses’ operations, and it can also realize gains (or losses) from investment and asset sales. Specific, current revenue mix details and named material partnerships are null.

Acacia Research Financial Statement Overview

Summary

Strong balance sheet with very low leverage and improved 2025 profitability and free cash flow, but results remain highly volatile across years, limiting confidence in durability.

Income Statement

Results show a sharp rebound in 2025 (annual) with revenue up ~45% and profitability returning to positive net income after a sizable loss in 2024. Gross margin also expanded materially in 2025 versus 2024, indicating stronger monetization and/or mix. However, the multi-year pattern is highly volatile (large profits in 2021 and 2023, deep losses in 2022 and 2024), and operating profitability appears inconsistent versus revenue, which reduces confidence in durability.

Balance Sheet

The balance sheet looks conservatively positioned in 2025 (annual) with low leverage (debt to equity near ~0.02) and a large equity base relative to assets, giving the company flexibility. Debt has also come down meaningfully versus 2024. The main weakness is that returns on equity have been inconsistent over time (negative in down years and modest in 2025), reflecting an earnings profile that can swing materially despite the strong capitalization.

Cash Flow

Cash generation improved notably in 2025 (annual) with solid operating cash flow and positive free cash flow, a major turnaround from the deeply negative free cash flow in 2024. That said, the historical cash flow track record is uneven (including negative operating cash flow in several years), and the relationship between profits and cash flow has been inconsistent across periods, which adds uncertainty around repeatability.

Breakdown	Dec 2025	Dec 2024	Dec 2023	Dec 2022	Mar 2022
Income Statement
Total Revenue	285.23M	122.31M	125.10M	59.22M	88.05M
Gross Profit	235.22M	29.65M	72.27M	21.84M	51.95M
EBITDA	49.76M	2.85M	84.33M	-107.20M	193.26M
Net Income	21.68M	-36.06M	67.06M	-125.06M	149.20M
Balance Sheet
Total Assets	770.96M	756.39M	633.54M	482.93M	798.86M
Cash, Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments	330.09M	333.76M	439.91M	386.14M	707.47M
Total Debt	100.49M	124.33M	13.51M	63.88M	184.21M
Total Liabilities	186.92M	203.78M	43.94M	213.61M	368.38M
Stockholders Equity	543.45M	514.83M	568.27M	258.28M	419.43M
Cash Flow
Free Cash Flow	58.55M	-98.55M	-28.70M	-43.07M	-7.76M
Operating Cash Flow	75.24M	50.12M	-22.51M	-37.34M	13.33M
Investing Cash Flow	-21.01M	-212.96M	16.18M	184.46M	35.75M
Financing Cash Flow	-22.73M	97.56M	58.63M	-166.14M	59.74M

Acacia Research Technical Analysis

• Technical Analysis Sentiment: Positive
• Last Price: 4.88
• 50DMA: Positive
• 100DMA: Positive
• 200DMA: Positive
• MACD: Negative
• RSI: Negative
• STOCH: Negative

Evaluating momentum and price trends is crucial in stock analysis to make informed investment decisions. For ACTG, the sentiment is Positive. The current price of 4.88 is above the 20-day moving average (MA) of 4.23, above the 50-day MA of 4.03, and above the 200-day MA of 3.67, indicating a bullish trend. The MACD of 0.18 indicates Negative momentum. The RSI at 73.76 is Negative, neither overbought nor oversold. The STOCH value of 84.20 is Negative, not indicating any strong overbought or oversold conditions. Overall, these indicators collectively point to a Positive sentiment for ACTG.

Acacia Research Peers Comparison

Name	Overall Rating	Market Cap	P/E Ratio	ROE	Dividend Yield	Revenue Growth	EPS Growth
ACTG	67 Neutral	$470.80M	16.61	0.91%	―	71.28%	-89.20%
Sector *	63 Neutral	$10.79B	15.43	7.44%	2.01%	2.89%	-14.66%
QUAD	59 Neutral	$342.85M	11.05	27.02%	4.69%	-9.23%	―
NTIP	54 Neutral	$34.00M	-12.37	-5.95%	7.58%	-92.03%	-77.99%
KODK	48 Neutral	$679.57M	-5.94	-16.48%	―	-0.67%	-141.58%
OMEX	47 Neutral	$85.28M	-1.15	95.57%	―	-41.55%	-249.30%
SGRP	44 Neutral	$18.36M	-0.69	-95.31%	―	-35.72%	-277.39%

Acacia Research Corporate Events

Acacia Research announces director Geoff Ribar to step down

On February 2, 2026, Acacia Research Corporation announced that board member Geoff Ribar, who serves as chairman of the Nominating, Governance and Sustainability Committee and is a member of the Audit Committee, will not stand for reelection at the company’s 2026 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, citing personal reasons and time commitments to other boards. The company emphasized that Ribar’s decision to step down at the end of his current term did not arise from any disagreement with management or the board over operations, policies or practices, suggesting a smooth governance transition without signaling underlying strategic or operational disputes to investors or other stakeholders.

The most recent analyst rating on (ACTG) stock is a Buy with a $4.50 price target. To see the full list of analyst forecasts on Acacia Research stock, see the ACTG Stock Forecast page.