Friedman Industries Inc.
🔔 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
With a cyclical, the entry point in the price cycle decides more than any metric — and Friedman is showing all the signs of peak earnings right now: a cheap price-to-earnings ratio, a forward P/E above it, a share price 37 percent over the fiscal-year high. Whoever deliberately bets on a continued friendly steel price environment can take that on; whoever mistakes the doubled revenue figure for structural growth buys at the top of the cycle. The next set of numbers is due on August 6, 2026. The decision is yours.
What the thesis turns on
Assessment: Opportunities & Risks
Friedman Industries is a thoroughly solid small steel processor with a substance-heavy balance sheet — but the doubled revenue figure that triggers the scanner is a steel price upswing from a loss-making low plus an acquisition, not structural growth. Profit hangs on the price cycle and partly on futures contracts, the cheap price-to-earnings ratio sits at the peak, and the share price has run far ahead of the story. A considered cyclical investment for those who know the cycle, not a growth stock. Not investment advice.
Substance & balance sheet
Valued with plenty of substance (price-to-sales 0.37, price-to-book 1.6), roughly $151 million of equity, high liquidity in current assets, a very good Altman Z-score. A small but reliable dividend payer with a low payout ratio.
Revenue "growth"
The doubling is measured from the loss-making low of the steel price cycle (fourth quarter of 2024) and amplified by the Century acquisition ($61.5 million). Annual results are a roller coaster between $78 and $647 million of revenue with two loss years — not a structural trend.
Earnings quality
In fiscal year 2025, roughly 99 percent of pre-tax profit ($7.6 of $7.7 million) came from futures contracts, not from the steel business; in 2026 too, $3.4 of $26.4 million came from hedging plus a $1.4 million paper gain. Operating cash flow ($8.5 million) well below the reported profit.
Balance-sheet risk
A thin cash box ($2.45 million), the credit facility secured by practically all assets nearly doubled from $47.7 to $92.6 million for the acquisition. Concentration risks: one customer at 15 percent of revenue, few suppliers with a "material adverse effect" warning.
Valuation & share price
The optically cheap price-to-earnings ratio of 12.5 sits at peak earnings (about 39 on the prior year's profit); the forward P/E of 14.4 signals expected earnings decline. The share price stands roughly 37 percent above the fiscal-year high, and as a micro cap the stock is illiquid.
Worth Noting
The fiscal year ends March 31; "fiscal year 2026" is April 2025 through March 2026. The quarterly figures for January through March 2026 are derived from the annual report (10-K) — there is no separate quarterly filing for a fiscal fourth quarter.
As a smaller reporting company, Friedman is exempt from the risk-factors chapter ("Item 1A. Risk Factors — Not required"); disclosure is correspondingly thinner than at larger companies.
Price and valuation figures are dated July 6-8, 2026; analyses are evergreen, daily prices are not a buy argument.
Stock Watch
This analysis is as of August 26, 2026. Stock Watch will tell you what's changed at FRD since then.
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Price history
Chart
Interactive price chart (TradingView).
52-week range: 17.00 $ to 48.10 $ · Last price: 41.80 $ (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
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: Steel
| Company | Market cap ($B) | P/E | EV/EBITDA | Gross Margin % | EBIT Margin % | Sales Growth (Year) % | Perf. 1Y % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Friedman Industries Inc. FRD | 0.3 | 14.6 | 9.0 | 14.5 | – | 45.5 | 97.4 |
| Nucor Corp NUE | 61.9 | 25.5 | 11.0 | 15.6 | 11.8 | 5.7 | 88.2 |
| ArcelorMittal SA MT | 56.7 | 31.7 | 10.7 | 9.0 | 6.3 | -1.7 | 113.5 |
| Steel Dynamics Inc STLD | 36.5 | 25.8 | 13.5 | 14.6 | 10.3 | 3.6 | 72.6 |
| Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co RS | 20.5 | 24.8 | 13.1 | 28.3 | 9.1 | 3.3 | 40.9 |
| Ternium SA TX | 11.4 | 16.2 | 5.6 | 17.7 | 12.2 | -11.6 | 69.9 |
| Cleveland-Cliffs Inc CLF | 7.8 | – | 29.7 | -1.1 | -2.9 | -3.0 | 13.0 |
| Worthington Steel Inc WS | 1.7 | – | 16.1 | 11.7 | – | -9.8 | 3.9 |
| Northwest Pipe Company NWPX | 1.0 | 24.1 | 12.4 | 20.9 | 9.2 | 6.8 | 98.8 |
| Median of companies shown | 11.4 | 24.8 | 12.4 | 14.6 | 9.2 | 3.3 | 72.6 |
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 78 | -4 | -3 | -0.39 | 0 | 60 | 63 |
| 2018 | 121 | 4 | 3 | 0.39 | 3 | 63 | 74 |
| 2019 | 187 | 6 | 5 | 0.73 | 10 | 72 | 87 |
| 2020 | 142 | -7 | -5 | -0.75 | 11 | 67 | 78 |
| 2021 | 126 | 16 | 11 | 1.63 | 8 | 65 | 95 |
| 2022 | 285 | 29 | 14 | 2.12 | -13 | 80 | 159 |
| 2023 | 548 | 21 | 21 | 2.96 | 64 | 115 | 199 |
| 2024 | 516 | 25 | 17 | 2.41 | 5 | 127 | 230 |
| 2025 | 445 | 3 | 6 | 0.88 | -4 | 132 | 227 |
| 2026 | 647 | 26 | 20 | 2.80 | 9 | 151 | 337 |
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: Q4 | -0.16 | -197.30 | 94 | -18.90 | -1.20 | 3 | 2 |
| 2025: Q1 | 0.75 | 7.80 | 129 | -2.30 | 4.10 | -12 | -13 |
| 2025: Q2 | 0.71 | 95.90 | 135 | 17.70 | 3.70 | 16 | 14 |
| 2025: Q3 | 0.32 | – | 152 | 42.70 | 1.50 | 0 | -2 |
| 2025: Q4 | 0.43 | – | 168 | 78.60 | 1.80 | -5 | -6 |
| 2026: Q1 | 1.29 | 72.00 | 192 | 48.40 | 4.80 | -3 | -4 |
| 2026: Q2 | 1.79 | 152.10 | 240 | 78.00 | 5.30 | 7 | 5 |
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 13 of our scanner strategies — each hit links to the scanner.
Growth
Quality & Balance Sheet
Dividends
Momentum & Trend
- 21-EMA Trend
- Above the 50- & 200-SMA
- Gary Antonacci: Dual Momentum (Stock Adaptation)
- High ADR (≥5%)
- Qullamaggie: Top Gainers 1M
- RS Leader (≥90)
- Stan Weinstein: Checklist
- Stan Weinstein: Stage 2
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
Valuation
What is priced in?
Free cash flow over the past twelve months is negative, which rules out a serious reverse calculation. Any growth rate only makes a negative cash flow more negative; no present value comes out of it. What the price reflects here is therefore not a stream of cash flows, but the expectation that there will be one at all.
A simplified model calculation — not a forecast and not a recommendation.
AI classification
AI Rating
Friedman Industries verarbeitet und handelt Stahl (Coil- und Rohr-Segment); in den sechs geprüften Filings — vier 10-Qs und zwei 10-Ks — findet sich keine einzige Erwähnung von künstlicher Intelligenz, Machine Learning oder verwandten Begriffen: keine KI-Umsatzquelle, kein KI-Geschäftsrisiko in den Risk Factors und kein belegter operativer KI-Einsatz. Die einzigen Treffer auf „automat…“ stehen in der Cybersecurity-Beschreibung (Item 1C der 10-Ks: automatisierte Intrusion-Detection und Phishing-Trainings) und haben keinen KI-Bezug.
View the full file — quotes, sources, reviewed filings
Filings Reviewed: 10-Q 2026-02-09 · 10-Q 2025-11-10 · 10-Q 2025-08-07 · 10-Q 2025-02-07 · 10-K 2026-06-11 · 10-K 2025-06-12
Rated on July 8, 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 5.7%
- More than 10% revenue growth is expected for the coming year no data
- Share count grows by less than 3% a year -1.2%
- Revenue growth plus cash-flow margin add up to at least 40 ("Rule of 40") 45.7%
- Gross margin at 40% or higher and without meaningful erosion 13.4%
- Goodwill from acquisitions does not grow faster than revenue 0.0%
- Net debt below twice EBITDA 2.9 x EBITDA
- Operating cash flow covers the profits of the last three years -34 m
- Return on capital at 15% or higher, or up versus two years ago 9.8%
- Insiders hold at least 10% or are net buyers 7.1%
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% 26.5%
- Exp. sales growth 3Y > 5% –
- EBIT growth 10Y > 5% –
- Exp. EBIT growth 3Y > 5% –
- Net debt < 4x EBIT 3.8x
- EBIT positive, 10Y straight 8
- Max. EBIT decline < 50% 100.0%
- Return on equity > 15% 12.9%
- ROCE > 15% 9.8%
- Expected return > 10% –
View stocks with the full AAQS score · Read the methodology at AlleAktien
Source: fundamental data
The company
About the Company
Friedman Industries, Incorporated befasst sich mit der Herstellung und Verarbeitung von Stahlprodukten in den USA. Das Unternehmen ist in zwei Segmenten tätig: Flat-Roll Products und Tubular Products.
- Employees
- 381
- Headquarters
- Longview, TX
- Address
- 1121 Judson Road, 75601 Longview, United States
- Phone
- 903 758 3431
- Website
- friedmanindustries.com
- IPO Date
- 03/17/1992
- ISIN
- US3584351056
- Stock Split
- 21:20 on 04/26/2000
- Stock Split
- 21:20 on 04/28/1999
- Stock Split
- 21:20 on 04/29/1998
Management
| Name | Title | Birth Year |
|---|---|---|
| Michael J. Taylor | Chairman of the Board, President & CEO | 1959 |
| Alex LaRue C.P.A. | CFO, Secretary & Treasurer | 1986 |
| Gaurav Chhibbar | Chief Operating Officer | 1987 |
| Jonathan Holcomb | Vice President of Sales and Purchasing | – |
| Kimberly Thomas | Director of Human Resources | – |
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).
- 09/10/2026 FRIEDMAN INDUSTRIES INC (FRD): Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement; Creation of a Direct Financial Obligation or an Obligation under an Off-Balance Sheet Arrangement of a Registrant SEC ↗
- 08/06/2026 FRIEDMAN INDUSTRIES INC (FRD): 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.