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Quest Resource (QRHC)
NASDAQ:QRHC

Quest Resource (QRHC) AI Stock Analysis

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QRHC

Quest Resource

(NASDAQ:QRHC)

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Neutral 44 (OpenAI - 5.2)
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Neutral 44 (OpenAI - 5.2)
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Neutral 44 (OpenAI - 5.2)
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Neutral 44 (OpenAI - 5.2)
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Neutral 44 (OpenAI - 5.2)
Rating:44Neutral
Price Target:
$0.84
▼(-4.89% Downside)
Action:ReiteratedDate:03/18/26
The score is held down primarily by weak financial performance (ongoing losses, deteriorating operating profitability, and rising leverage) and very bearish technicals (price far below key moving averages with negative MACD). Improving cash flow and operational actions discussed on the earnings call (SG&A cuts, working-capital improvements, and debt reduction) provide some support, but valuation is not compelling given negative earnings and no dividend yield.
Positive Factors
Improving cash generation
Sustained positive operating and free cash flow provides durable internal funding to repay debt and support working capital. Over 2–6 months, consistent cash generation reduces refinancing dependence, funds modest reinvestment, and underpins recovery if maintained versus prior multi-year volatility.
Material SG&A reductions
Meaningful, sustained SG&A cuts lower the company's structural breakeven and improve operating leverage. Permanent headcount and lease savings reduce fixed costs, making profitability easier to attain as revenue recovers and supporting margin durability over the coming quarters.
Refinancing and liquidity extension
A new ABL and covenant amendments materially reshape funding lines and extend maturities, providing near-term liquidity and runway. This structural financing change lowers immediate refinancing risk and enables continued deleveraging and operational fixes over the next several quarters.
Negative Factors
Top-line weakness
Sustained revenue declines weaken scale economics and limit ability to convert fixed-cost reductions into margin expansion. If industrial volumes and elongated sales cycles persist, revenue recovery may be slow, constraining durable margin and cash-flow improvement over 2–6 months.
Persistent losses and thin margins
Ongoing negative operating performance and razor-thin EBITDA margin indicate limited buffer against cost or volume shocks. Even with SG&A cuts, low margins and persistent losses constrain equity rebuild and reduce resilience, requiring sustained revenue mix or pricing improvements for durable profitability.
Elevated leverage and shrinking equity
Higher leverage and declining equity increase financial fragility and limit strategic flexibility. Covenants and interest obligations amplify downside risk if cash flow slips, making deleveraging a necessary multi-month priority to restore balance-sheet capacity for growth or M&A.

Quest Resource (QRHC) vs. SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY)

Quest Resource Business Overview & Revenue Model

Company DescriptionQuest Resource Holding Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides solutions for the reuse, recycling, and disposal of various waste streams and recyclables in the United States. It offers disposal and recycling services for motor oil and automotive lubricants, oil filters, scrap tires, oily water, goods destruction, food waste, meat renderings, cooking oil and grease trap waste, plastics, cardboard, metal, glass, mixed paper, construction debris, as well as a large variety of regulated and non-regulated solid, liquid, and gas wastes. The company provides santifreeze and windshield washer fluid, dumpster and compacting equipment, and other minor ancillary services. In addition, it offers landfill diversion services. The company's services focus on the waste streams and recyclables from big box, grocers, and other retailers; automotive maintenance, quick lube, dealerships, and collision repair; transportation, logistics, and internal fleet operators; manufacturing plants; multi-family and commercial properties; restaurant chains and food operations; and construction and demolition projects. It markets its services to automotive, manufacturing, hospitality and retail, construction and demolition, and commercial and multi-family property management industries through direct sales force and strategic partnerships. The company was formerly known as Infinity Resources Holdings Corp. and changed its name to Quest Resource Holding Corporation in October 2013. Quest Resource Holding Corporation was incorporated in 2002 and is based in The Colony, Texas.
How the Company Makes MoneyQRHC primarily makes money by acting as a managed-services provider for waste, recycling, and sustainability programs. It typically contracts with business clients (often multi-site retailers, restaurants, and other distributed-location operators) to design, implement, and manage their waste/recycling and related environmental programs; QRHC then coordinates pickup, processing, and other services through a network of third-party haulers, recyclers, and specialty vendors. Revenue is generally generated from service fees charged to clients for program management and administration, and from pass-through billings where QRHC invoices clients for third-party vendor services and retains a margin (spread) for managing and optimizing those services. Additional revenue can come from specialized services (e.g., organics/food waste, sustainability reporting, compliance support, and other value-added program elements) when included in customer contracts. Specific material revenue-share arrangements (e.g., sharing in the value of recovered recyclables) and named strategic partnerships are not available in the provided context; null.

Quest Resource Earnings Call Summary

Earnings Call Date:Mar 12, 2026
(Q4-2025)
|
% Change Since: |
Next Earnings Date:May 18, 2026
Earnings Call Sentiment Neutral
The call balanced clear near-term financial headwinds—most notably a 16% YoY revenue decline and substantial gross profit contraction—with meaningful operational progress: significant SG&A reductions (24% YoY), improved working capital (working capital days down from 23 to 11), debt reduction and refinancing actions, $29M of new revenue additions year-over-year, and ongoing vendor and technology improvements. Management framed the challenges as primarily macro-driven (soft industrial volumes and elongated sales cycles) while highlighting execution on cost, cash, and wallet-expansion initiatives that should support recovery as the macro backdrop improves.
Q4-2025 Updates
Positive Updates
Operational Cost Reductions and SG&A Improvement
SG&A for Q4 was $7.7M, down 24% year-over-year and 17% sequentially, driven by headcount reductions, lower bad debt, divestiture impacts, efficiency initiatives, and workforce reductions; company expects SG&A below $9M in Q1 and anticipates approximately $400k of annualized savings from HQ lease rationalization.
Working Capital and Receivables Progress
DSOs improved from the low 80s a year ago to the mid-70s this quarter (modest increase from Q3), AR fell sequentially by $1.7M, and working capital days declined from 23 days in 2024 to 11 days at quarter-end, supporting cash generation and better cash cycle management.
Debt Reduction and Financing Flexibility
Paid down approximately $2M of debt in Q4 and reduced net notes payable to $64M from $76.3M at the beginning of the year; refinanced ABL with Texas Capital Bank and negotiated covenant easements with Monroe Capital to provide operating cushion and flexibility to reduce interest expense.
Positive New Revenue and Wallet Expansion
Added approximately $29M in new revenues versus prior year from full-year impact of 2024 client wins, incremental 2025 wins, and wallet-share expansion; isolation of industrial headwinds and divestiture shows the remaining two-thirds of the business grew ~$7.4M (about 5%).
New Client Launches and Ramp Progress
Large retailer and restaurant chain wins launched and are becoming meaningful contributors to revenue; additional wallet-share and new client launches in Q4 expected to provide fuller gross profit contributions in 2026 as ramp and optimization complete.
Operational Excellence and Vendor Network Improvement
Continued execution of operational excellence initiatives (order-to-cash, procure-to-pay, source-to-contract) delivering efficiencies; vendors now accepting payment to term, vendor base growth, record-low service disruption rates, and investments in portal/zero-touch capabilities to drive future efficiency and cash improvements.
Quarterly Cash Generation
Generated just over $1M in cash from operations in Q4 and $1.7M of free cash flow, while maintaining ~$37.7M of available borrowing capacity on a $45M operating line, providing liquidity while the company executes improvement initiatives.
Negative Updates
Revenue Decline
Q4 revenue was $58.9M, down 16% year-over-year and down 7% sequentially; the decline was driven primarily by softer industrial volumes and the divested mall-related business which together accounted for a $10.7M reduction in quarterly revenue versus the prior year.
Significant Gross Profit Pressure
Gross profit dollars were $9.1M in Q4, down 15% year-over-year and down 21% sequentially, resulting in a gross margin of 15.5%; pressures were caused by volume declines, lower industrial margins (~$1M impact), reduced gross margin leverage, and ~$0.5M of one-time implementation costs.
Pronounced Seasonal and Sequential Volume Weakness
Management noted a more pronounced sequential decline in Q4 volumes than typical for the quarter—industrial client volumes fell approximately $4.3M sequentially—and retail/restaurant volumes were also lower than expected, reducing the usual offset to industrial seasonality.
Lower Initial Margins on New Business
New client wins and wallet-share expansions typically produce lower margins in the early months due to one-time startup costs and optimization timing; these land-and-expand dynamics are contributing to near-term margin pressure.
Limited Cash on Hand
Cash on hand at quarter-end was $1M (roughly unchanged from prior quarter), reflecting constrained near-term liquidity despite available borrowing capacity and modest cash generation in the quarter.
Elongated Sales Cycle and Decision Delays
Management reported elongated sales cycles and a 'wait-and-see' approach among prospects due to macroeconomic uncertainty, which is delaying some expected new business conversions into 2026.
Ongoing Margin Pressure Outlook
Company expects continued margin pressure in 2026 driven by a challenged industrial volume environment and mix impact from the land-and-expand strategy, requiring execution on optimization and share-of-wallet strategies to offset pressures.
Company Guidance
Management guided that Q4 revenue was $58.9M (down 16% YoY, down 7% sequentially) with gross profit of $9.1M (gross margin 15.5%, down 15% YoY and 21% sequentially) and SG&A of $7.7M (down 24% YoY, 17% sequentially); they reported $1M cash on hand, ~$37.7M available borrowing capacity on a $45M ABL, ~ $1M of cash from operations and $1.7M of free cash flow, DSOs in the mid‑70s (improved from the low‑80s a year ago) and working capital days down to 11 from 23, paid down ~ $2M of debt in Q4 (net notes payable $64M vs $76.3M at the start of the year) and noted full‑year debt reduction in the mid‑teens million range, added roughly $29M of new revenue in 2025 (and, excluding industrial headwinds and a mall divestiture, the remaining two‑thirds of the business grew about $7.4M or ~5%); looking ahead they expect Q1 SG&A to be below $9M (with a seasonal bonus accrual), a modest sequential improvement in gross profit dollars as new client and wallet‑share launches ramp, continued focus on improving cash generation and DSO, continued aggressive debt reduction, anticipated ~$400k of annualized lease savings in 2026, but still some margin pressure in 2026 to be offset by operational and commercial initiatives.

Quest Resource Financial Statement Overview

Summary
Fundamentals are mixed: revenue is down (~4.2% TTM) and profitability remains weak with persistent net losses and negative operating profit, while leverage has increased (debt-to-equity ~1.63) and equity has declined. The main offset is a notable TTM cash flow rebound (operating cash flow ~$9.6M; free cash flow ~$8.7M), though it remains small relative to debt and has been volatile historically.
Income Statement
34
Negative
QRHC’s top line has softened recently, with revenue down ~4.2% in TTM (Trailing-Twelve-Months) after being roughly flat in 2024. Profitability remains the key issue: net losses have persisted from 2022 through TTM, and TTM shows negative operating profit with very thin EBITDA margin (~0.6%) versus ~4.0% in 2024 and ~5.0% in 2022–2023. Gross margin has been relatively stable (~17% in recent years), but the company has not converted that into consistent operating or net profitability.
Balance Sheet
38
Negative
Leverage is elevated and trending worse, with debt-to-equity rising to ~1.63 in TTM (Trailing-Twelve-Months) (from ~1.46 in 2024 and ~0.89 in 2021). Equity has declined (TTM equity ~$40.5M vs ~$54.2M in 2024), and returns to shareholders are meaningfully negative (TTM return on equity ~-33.5%), reflecting continued losses. The balance sheet is not under immediate stress based on the data provided, but the combination of higher leverage and negative returns increases financial risk if profitability does not improve.
Cash Flow
55
Neutral
Cash flow is a relative bright spot in the most recent period: TTM (Trailing-Twelve-Months) operating cash flow is positive (~$9.6M) and free cash flow is positive (~$8.7M), a sharp rebound from negative operating and free cash flow in 2022–2024. That said, cash generation has been volatile, and the company’s cash flow remains small relative to its debt load (TTM operating cash flow is about ~9% of total debt), which limits flexibility. Overall, improving free cash flow momentum is encouraging, but durability needs to be proven given the multi-year inconsistency.
BreakdownDec 2025Dec 2024Dec 2023Dec 2022Dec 2021
Income Statement
Total Revenue250.22M288.53M288.38M284.04M155.72M
Gross Profit37.27M49.99M50.06M48.86M28.71M
EBITDA4.91M11.44M14.40M14.45M9.12M
Net Income-15.38M-15.06M-7.29M-6.05M1.69M
Balance Sheet
Total Assets145.55M175.65M177.12M181.49M175.67M
Cash, Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments1.01M396.00K324.01K9.56M8.43M
Total Debt65.01M79.18M67.57M73.95M65.73M
Total Liabilities105.04M121.49M110.84M110.35M102.04M
Stockholders Equity40.51M54.16M66.28M71.14M73.63M
Cash Flow
Free Cash Flow9.31M-12.05M-3.26M-4.04M1.93M
Operating Cash Flow9.56M-6.08M-1.36M-2.34M2.57M
Investing Cash Flow4.58M-5.97M-1.90M-4.33M-16.93M
Financing Cash Flow-13.52M12.13M-5.98M7.81M15.27M

Quest Resource Technical Analysis

Technical Analysis Sentiment
Negative
Last Price0.88
Price Trends
50DMA
1.85
Negative
100DMA
1.82
Negative
200DMA
1.83
Negative
Market Momentum
MACD
-0.24
Positive
RSI
18.93
Positive
STOCH
3.03
Positive
Evaluating momentum and price trends is crucial in stock analysis to make informed investment decisions. For QRHC, the sentiment is Negative. The current price of 0.88 is below the 20-day moving average (MA) of 1.55, below the 50-day MA of 1.85, and below the 200-day MA of 1.83, indicating a bearish trend. The MACD of -0.24 indicates Positive momentum. The RSI at 18.93 is Positive, neither overbought nor oversold. The STOCH value of 3.03 is Positive, not indicating any strong overbought or oversold conditions. Overall, these indicators collectively point to a Negative sentiment for QRHC.

Quest Resource Risk Analysis

Quest Resource disclosed 35 risk factors in its most recent earnings report. Quest Resource reported the most risks in the "Finance & Corporate" category.
Finance & Corporate - Financial and accounting risks. Risks related to the execution of corporate activity and strategy
Latest Risks Added 0 New Risks

Quest Resource Peers Comparison

Overall Rating
UnderperformOutperform
Sector (63)
Financial Indicators
Name
Overall Rating
Market Cap
P/E Ratio
ROE
Dividend Yield
Revenue Growth
EPS Growth
63
Neutral
$10.79B15.437.44%2.01%2.89%-14.66%
60
Neutral
$226.47M-25.42-19.87%-9.64%40.01%
47
Neutral
$10.18M1.340.47%-4.84%-81.73%
47
Neutral
$12.67M>-0.01-274.21%-106.93%
44
Neutral
$18.44M-2.54-44.35%-9.25%-189.37%
* Industrials Sector Average
Performance Comparison
Ticker
Company Name
Price
Change
% Change
QRHC
Quest Resource
0.88
-2.06
-70.07%
AWX
Avalon Holdings
2.61
-0.39
-13.00%
PESI
Perma-Fix
12.23
4.69
62.20%
GWAV
Greenwave Technology Solutions
3.72
-27.52
-88.09%
AQMS
Aqua Metals
4.25
-16.25
-79.27%

Quest Resource Corporate Events

Business Operations and StrategyPrivate Placements and Financing
Quest Resource Refinances Credit Facilities and Extends Warrants
Positive
Mar 12, 2026

On March 12, 2026, Quest Resource Holding Corporation and certain domestic subsidiaries amended their existing Monroe Capital credit agreement, modifying financial covenants, and extended the expiration of Monroe-related warrants from March 19, 2028 to June 28, 2030, affecting 850,000 shares. On the same date, the company entered a new $40 million asset-based revolving credit facility with Texas Capital Bank, featuring a $10 million accordion, comprehensive collateral and covenant package, and a December 30, 2029 maturity, while terminating and fully repaying its prior loan and security agreement with PNC Bank, thereby reshaping its capital structure and liquidity profile.

The TCB facility, backed by first-priority liens on substantially all tangible and intangible personal property of certain subsidiaries and stock pledges, imposes limits on additional indebtedness, asset sales, and other transactions, with customary default provisions that could accelerate repayment. These concurrent financing moves signal a refinancing of Quest Resource’s working capital lines, a tightening and recalibration of covenant frameworks with Monroe, and an extension of potential equity upside for Monroe affiliates, with implications for leverage flexibility and future dilution for existing shareholders.

The most recent analyst rating on (QRHC) stock is a Hold with a $2.50 price target. To see the full list of analyst forecasts on Quest Resource stock, see the QRHC Stock Forecast page.

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.Date of analysis: Mar 18, 2026