Friedman Industries Inc. Common Stock (FRD)
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Our scanner reports triple-digit revenue growth, but at the small steel processor Friedman Industries that is the upswing of a price cycle — measured, of all places, from a loss-making low — plus an acquisition. We read the annual report (10-K): a profit that hangs almost entirely on the steel price spread, a prior year that stayed in the black only thanks to futures contracts, and a cheap price-to-earnings ratio sitting right at peak earnings. Not investment advice — just an honest look at what a cheap price-to-earnings ratio is really worth at the top of a steel cycle.
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This stock currently matches 14 of our scanner strategies — each hit links to the scanner.
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Basics
Performance
Valuation
Profitability
Balance Sheet & Safety
Growth
Dividend
Quality & Screener
AI Rating
NeutralFriedman 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
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.
Quarterly Figures
| 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 |
- 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.
Assessment: Opportunities & Risks
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
- 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.
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 |
| Website | friedmanindustries.com |
| IPO Date | 17. Mar 1992 |
| Next Earnings | 6. Aug 2026 |
Management
| Name | Title | Birth Year |
|---|---|---|
| Michael J. Taylor | Chairman of the Board, President & CEO | 1959 |
| Alex LaRue CPA | CFO, Secretary & Treasurer | 1986 |
| Gaurav Chhibbar | Chief Operating Officer | 1987 |
| Kimberly Thomas | Director of Human Resources | – |
Executives per the latest required filings; titles kept in their original language. Source: fundamental data.
Chart
Interactive price chart (TradingView).
Data as of: July 20, 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.