Acacia Research Corporation
🔔 Watch stock
Assessment
Our Rating
A journalistic assessment by our editorial team at the time of the deep dive — it rates the company, not the entry point. Not investment advice and not a solicitation to buy or sell.
The business works in principle, but one material question is open. As long as it stays open, our findings do not carry a quality verdict.
Why this colour
The asset base is proven and not in dispute: $307.5 million of cash and $528.5 million of equity as of March 31, 2026, $90.5 million of debt held solely at the subsidiaries and not due until 2029, plus $58.5 million of free cash flow in 2025 — none of it points to a threat to the going concern. What is open is a purely operational question, and it carries weight: 88 percent of the record 2025 profit came from a single licensee, and in the first quarter of 2026 that segment booked just $0.7 million and acquired not a single new patent portfolio. Behind it sits a head office that consumed $24.7 million in 2025, 79 percent of the $31.1 million of total segment income — whether acquisitions ever earn that superstructure back is unproven so far. The three remaining segments do run steadily ($53.5 million of revenue in the first quarter of 2026 after $54.5 million), but they do not yet carry the holding company on their own. That is not a threat to substance, but it is not proven earnings quality either — hence yellow. The decision is yours.
What the thesis turns on
Assessment: Opportunities & Risks
Acacia Research is the vault trap in its purest form: $307.5 million of cash and a book value above the share price look like a safety net, yet 88 percent of the record 2025 profit came from a single licensee, the head office consumed $24.7 million of the $31.1 million of segment income, and in the first quarter of 2026 the patent segment booked just $0.7 million. Above it all sits Starboard Value with 63.4 percent - and with no dividend since 2015 and no buyback since December 2024 there is currently no mechanism that closes the discount to book value. Not investment advice.
Balance sheet and liquidity
As of March 31, 2026 the books held $307.5 million of cash and $528.5 million of equity; the $90.5 million of debt sits at the subsidiaries and runs to 2029. Free cash flow came to $58.5 million in 2025. The asset base is real and recently grew larger.
Quality of earnings
The 2025 profit hung on a single licensee that accounted for 88 percent of patent revenue; $69.9 million of the $78.4 million landed in one quarter. In the first quarter of 2026 the patent segment booked $0.7 million and posted a $7.4 million operating loss. Without that one-off, earning power sits in the low tens of millions.
Cost of the holding company
Parent general and administrative expenses ran to $24.7 million in 2025 - 79 percent of the $31.1 million of total segment income; in 2024 it was $30.3 million against a $2.6 million segment loss. In the first quarter of 2026 that line rose 41 percent to $6.7 million. The superstructure still has to earn its keep.
Ownership structure
Starboard Value LP owns roughly 63.4 percent (as of March 9, 2026) and is named the controlling shareholder in the annual report. The filing itself warns that this concentration may delay or deter a change of control and reduce the value of the investment. A takeover premium is effectively impossible without Starboard.
Operating segments
Industrial, energy and manufacturing booked $53.5 million together in the first quarter of 2026 after $54.5 million a year earlier - stable, but without growth. Benchmark Energy delivered its strongest quarter since the acquisition at $18.7 million, yet lost $10.7 million on its price hedge over the same period.
Valuation
At roughly $450 million of market value (as of July 25, 2026) and $5.47 of book value per share (March 31, 2026) the stock trades at about 0.85 times book; on paper the four operating businesses cost around $210 million. Cheap - but with no dividend since 2015 and no buyback since December 2024, the lever that would close the discount is missing.
Worth Noting
Acacia Research reached our research list through our in-house stock scanner "Big Earnings Surprise" (U.S. selection, rank 46 of 81 hits, RS rating 63, as of July 25, 2026). The lists are recalculated daily. One important qualification: the measured surprise refers to the adjusted earnings figure (Q1 2026: -$0.07 per share), not the GAAP number (-$0.16). The run of quarters is also not unbroken - the quarter ended June 30, 2025 came in 20 percent below the estimate.
As-of dates differ and are stated with every figure: balance sheet and segment values as of December 31, 2025 (Form 10-K) and March 31, 2026 (Form 10-Q), share count as of May 4, 2026 (10-Q cover page), the Starboard stake as of March 9, 2026, market data as of July 25, 2026. The closing price of July 24, 2026 serves solely as a dated valuation anchor, not as an argument to buy.
Easily confused: Acacia Research Corporation (Nasdaq: ACTG) is unrelated to similarly named consulting or real estate firms and should not be mixed up with its subsidiary Acacia Research Group, which denotes only the patent segment. The segments trade under their own brands - Printronix, Benchmark Energy, Deflecto.
Stock Watch
This analysis is as of August 26, 2026. Stock Watch will tell you what's changed at ACTG since then.
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Price history
Chart
Interactive price chart (TradingView).
52-week range: 3.20 $ to 5.20 $ · Last price: 4.50 $ (As of: September 17, 2026)
Key figures
Key figures at a glance
Every figure we hold for this stock, grouped by topic. The question mark next to a label explains what the number means.
Basics
Performance
Technical Indicators
Calculated from the price history · as of 09/18/2026
Valuation
Profitability
Balance Sheet & Safety
Growth
Dividend
This stock currently pays no dividend.
Quality & Screener
Highlighted are things our editorial team noticed: green = stands out as strong, red = deserves a closer look. No single metric is a verdict on its own — always read it in context.
Comparison
Industry comparison
The stock alongside the largest companies in the same group. The median row is the middle value of the companies shown above — not of the whole industry.
Industry: Business Equipment & Supplies
| Company | Market cap ($B) | P/E | EV/EBITDA | Gross Margin % | EBIT Margin % | Sales Growth (Year) % | Perf. 1Y % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acacia Research Corporation ACTG | 0.4 | – | 12.7 | 22.2 | -15.4 | 133.2 | 36.9 |
| Ennis Inc EBF | 0.5 | 13.4 | 7.1 | 30.8 | – | -0.6 | 24.2 |
| Xerox Corp XRX | 0.5 | – | 12.3 | 30.6 | – | 12.9 | 3.1 |
| Acco Brands Corporation ACCO | 0.4 | 5.8 | 6.7 | 32.8 | – | -8.5 | 15.6 |
| Median of companies shown | 0.5 | – | 9.7 | 30.7 | – | 6.2 | 19.9 |
Based on the most recently reported figures. Only stocks from the same trading venue are lined up, so the market caps are counted in one currency. Compare in a chart →
Fiscal years
Annual Figures
Fiscal years from the audited annual reports, oldest first. EBIT is the operating profit before interest and taxes; total assets are everything the company owns.
Revenue, operating income and net income per fiscal year $M
Revenue Operating income Net income
| Fiscal Year | Revenue ($M) | EBIT ($M) | Net Income ($M) | EPS ($) | Operating Cash Flow ($M) | Equity ($M) | Total Assets ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 153 | -37 | -54 | -1.08 | 34 | 267 | 296 |
| 2017 | 65 | -27 | 22 | 0.44 | 24 | 296 | 309 |
| 2018 | 132 | -25 | -105 | -2.10 | 21 | 191 | 224 |
| 2019 | 11 | -23 | -17 | -0.34 | -2 | 175 | 218 |
| 2020 | 30 | -20 | 109 | 1.90 | -20 | 293 | 516 |
| 2021 | 88 | 15 | 149 | 1.52 | 13 | 419 | 799 |
| 2022 | 59 | -40 | -125 | -1.37 | -37 | 258 | 483 |
| 2023 | 125 | 21 | 67 | 0.73 | -23 | 568 | 634 |
| 2024 | 122 | -33 | -36 | -0.36 | 50 | 515 | 756 |
| 2025 | 285 | 6 | 22 | 0.22 | 75 | 543 | 771 |
Quarters
Quarterly Figures
Each bar is one quarter, the last one is the most recent. Use the switch to step through the individual figures.
Revenue & Profit
Cash Flow
Balance Sheet
Margins
Per Share
Click the chart or tab into it, then use ← and → to step through the periods.
None of the selected stocks reports this metric. Pick another metric or switch between annual and quarterly.
· Total · per year
These companies report in different currencies — switch on “Indexed” or pick a margin for a fair comparison.
The figures could not be loaded right now.
Source: fundamental data
| Quarter | EPS (Earnings Per Share) | EPS YoY (%) | Sales ($M) | Sales YoY (%) | Net Margin (%) | OCF ($M) | FCF ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024: Q2 | -0.02 | 88.90 | 26 | 226.90 | -32.70 | 16 | -136 |
| 2024: Q3 | -0.08 | 50.00 | 23 | 131.20 | -60.00 | -1 | -7 |
| 2024: Q4 | -0.13 | -116.00 | 49 | -47.10 | -27.50 | -20 | -24 |
| 2025: Q1 | 0.34 | 21.40 | 124 | 411.60 | 19.50 | 2 | 0 |
| 2025: Q2 | -0.06 | -200.00 | 51 | 98.30 | -6.40 | 50 | 48 |
| 2025: Q3 | -0.03 | 62.50 | 59 | 155.00 | -4.60 | 10 | 4 |
| 2025: Q4 | 0.03 | 123.10 | 50 | 2.60 | 6.80 | 13 | 7 |
| 2026: Q1 | -0.07 | -120.60 | 54 | -56.40 | -29.00 | 3 | -6 |
| 2026: Q2 | 0.00 | 100.00 | 115 | 123.80 | 0.00 | 4 | 4 |
What Do These Terms Mean?
- EPS (Earnings Per Share):
- Quarterly profit divided by the total share count — how much of the profit works out to a single share.
- YoY (Year over Year):
- Change versus the same quarter a year ago — this is how you compare without seasonal distortion (e.g. the holiday shopping season).
- Sales:
- All revenue for the quarter, before any costs are deducted — the top line of the income statement.
- Net Margin:
- What percentage of sales is left over as profit in the end. Negative means the company is posting a loss.
- OCF (Operating Cash Flow):
- The cash that actually flows into the till from the core business during the quarter — harder to dress up than book profit.
- FCF (Free Cash Flow):
- Operating cash flow minus capital expenditures — the money that's genuinely free to use, say for paying down debt, buybacks, or dividends.
Screening
Appears in These Scanners
This stock currently matches 8 of our scanner strategies — each hit links to the scanner.
Backtested Scanners
Quality & Balance Sheet
Earnings & Surprises
Momentum & Trend
Research
Only genuine hits from verified scanners count; pure ranking metrics (P/E, P/S, and similar, which just sort the whole universe) don't count as a hit. View all scanners
Outlook
Analysts & Price Target
Combined picture of the price targets and recommendations of every analyst covering the stock. Price targets are expectations for the next 12 months, not promises — and they often follow the price rather than predict it.
Distribution of Recommendations
Estimates by Fiscal Year
| Fiscal Year | EPS Estimate ($) | EPS Range ($) | Revenue Estimate ($M) | Expected Growth | Analysts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12/31/2026 | -0.34 | -0.34 – -0.34 | 259 | -213.3% | 1 |
| 12/31/2027 | -0.35 | -0.35 – -0.35 | 200 | -2.9% | 1 |
Average of the analyst estimates for the coming fiscal years. The range shows how far the most optimistic and the most cautious estimate sit apart — the wider it is, the less certain the expectation.
Valuation
What is priced in?
Instead of guessing what the stock is worth, we turn the question around: what free cash flow growth has to happen for today’s market value to add up? The assumptions behind it can be moved.
Today’s market value implies roughly 12.1% growth in free cash flow per year over ten years (assumptions: discount rate 10.0%, terminal growth 2.5%).
| Free cash flow (last twelve months) | $15.9M |
|---|---|
| Market cap | $440.0M |
| Free cash flow in year ten | $49.9M |
| Terminal value as a share of market value | 59.8% |
It shows which assumption is built into today’s price, not whether that assumption will hold. Every assumption can be changed with the sliders; the figures move with them.
A simplified model calculation — not a forecast and not a recommendation.
AI classification
AI Rating
In den sechs ausgewerteten SEC-Berichten (2 Geschäftsberichte 10-K, 4 Quartalsberichte 10-Q, Zeitraum 17.03.2025 bis 07.05.2026) kommt kein einziger Treffer zu „artificial intelligence“, „AI“, „machine learning“ oder „generative“ vor — weder als Umsatzquelle noch als Risiko im eigenen Geschäftsmodell; die vier Sparten Patentverwertung, Industriedrucker, Öl und Gas sowie Kunststoff-Fertigung werden ohne KI-Bezug beschrieben.
View the full file — quotes, sources, reviewed filings
Filings Reviewed: 10-K 2026-03-12 · 10-K 2025-03-17 · 10-Q 2026-05-07 · 10-Q 2025-11-06 · 10-Q 2025-08-07 · 10-Q 2025-05-09
Rated on July 25, 2026 · How the Rating Is Built
Growth
Growth Score
Ten checks against the annual reports — each one passed counts a point.
- Revenue grows by more than 15% a year over three years 68.9%
- More than 10% revenue growth is expected for the coming year -84.1%
- Share count grows by less than 3% a year 2.0%
- Revenue growth plus cash-flow margin add up to at least 40 ("Rule of 40") 153.7%
- Gross margin at 40% or higher and without meaningful erosion 82.5%
- Goodwill from acquisitions does not grow faster than revenue 3.4%
- Net debt below twice EBITDA 225 m net cash
- Operating cash flow covers the profits of the last three years 50 m
- Return on capital at 15% or higher, or up versus two years ago 0.9%
- Insiders hold at least 10% or are net buyers 1.9%
A criterion without figures counts neither as passed nor as failed; a score is only produced from 7 judgeable criteria upwards. Source: fundamental data. All ten criteria in detail
Quality check
AAQS
2/10The AAQS (AlleAktien Quality Score) checks 10 quality criteria on growth, profitability, and balance-sheet strength — per the methodology developed and published by AlleAktien, calculated by us from our own fundamental data. A stock counts as a quality stock from 9 out of 10 points. Where a company has a shorter listing history, we calculate over the fiscal years available (at least five).
- Sales growth 10Y > 5% 7.2%
- Exp. sales growth 3Y > 5% -16.3%
- EBIT growth 10Y > 5% –
- Exp. EBIT growth 3Y > 5% -16.3%
- Net debt < 4x EBIT -35.2x
- EBIT positive, 10Y straight 3
- Max. EBIT decline < 50% 100.0%
- Return on equity > 15% 4.6%
- ROCE > 15% 0.9%
- Expected return > 10% -5.1%
View stocks with the full AAQS score · Read the methodology at AlleAktien
Source: fundamental data
Insiders
Insider Transactions
Reportable transactions by officers and major shareholders from SEC Form 4 filings. "Other" includes things like stock grants and option exercises without a buy/sell character.
| Date | Person | Role | Type | Shares | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 15, 2026 | Kohlberg Isaac T. | Director | Sell | 24,000 | 4.55 | 109,200 |
| Sep 3, 2026 | Oconnell Maureen | Director | Sell | 12,466 | 4.57 | 56,970 |
| Sep 2, 2026 | Oconnell Maureen | Director | Sell | 20,534 | 4.63 | 95,072 |
| Aug 28, 2026 | Felman Michelle | Director | Other | 16,086 | 4.49 | 72,226 |
| Aug 19, 2026 | Oconnell Maureen | Director | Sell | 10,000 | 4.60 | 46,000 |
| Aug 12, 2026 | Kohlberg Isaac T. | Director | Sell | 32,188 | 4.67 | 150,318 |
The company
About the Company
Acacia Research Corporation operates as an acquirer and operator of businesses across industrial, energy, and technology sectors in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific. It operates through four segments: Intellectual Property Operations, Industrial Operations, Energy Operations, and Manufacturing Operations. The company is involved in investing in IP; and licensing and enforcement of patented technologies. It also designs and manufactures printers, including hardware and embedded software, as well as consumable products, such as inked ribbons for various industrial printing applications. In addition, the company acquires, explores, develops, and produces oil and natural gas resources located in Texas and Oklahoma. Further, it designs and manufactures purchase brochure, folder, and applications display holders; plastic injection-molded office supply, as well as arts, crafts, and education products; plastic and aluminum air venting and air control products; extruded vinyl chair mats; safety reflectors for bicycles; and emergency warning triangles, mud flaps, and splash guards for the heavy duty truck market and transportation industry. Acacia Research Corporation was incorporated in 1993 and is headquartered in New York, New York.
- Employees
- 986
- Headquarters
- New York, NY
- Address
- 777 Third Avenue, 10017 New York, United States
- Phone
- 332 236 8500
- Website
- acaciaresearch.com
- IPO Date
- 07/08/1996
- ISIN
- US0038813079
- Stock Split
- 11:10 on 11/19/2001
- Stock Split
- 2:1 on 06/15/1998
Management
| Name | Title | Birth Year |
|---|---|---|
| Martin D. McNulty Jr. | CEO, COO, Head of M&A and Director | 1978 |
| Michael Zambito | Chief Financial Officer | – |
| Robert Rasamny | Chief Administrative Officer | 1979 |
| Jason W. Soncini J.D. | General Counsel | 1977 |
| Kirsten Hoover | Controller | 1979 |
| Daniel Troy | Principal | – |
| Jennifer Graff | Corporate Secretary | – |
Executives per the latest required filings; titles kept in their original language. Source: fundamental data.
Filings
Company Filings (8-K)
An 8-K is the filing a US company must use to disclose material events immediately — takeovers, changes at the top, major contracts or payment troubles, for instance. The links open the original document at the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
- 08/05/2026 ACACIA RESEARCH CORP (ACTG): Results of Operations and Financial Condition; Financial Statements and Exhibits SEC ↗
Data as of: September 17, 2026 · Source: fundamental data & SEC filings (annual and quarterly reports, 10-K/10-Q)
Note: pure fact-based analysis, not investment advice and not a solicitation to buy or sell. All figures without guarantee.