AstroNova, Inc. (NASDAQ: ALOT)

Sector: Technology Industry: Computer Hardware CIK: 0000008146
Market Cap 65.03 Mn
P/B 0.85
P/E -3.86
P/S 0.43
ROIC (Qtr) -14.02
Div Yield % 0.00
Rev 1y % (Qtr) -3.10
Total Debt (Qtr) 42.38 Mn
Debt/Equity (Qtr) 0.55

About

AstroNova, Inc., often recognized by its ticker symbol ALOT, is a prominent player in the specialty printers and data acquisition and analysis systems industry. The company is segmented into two main categories: Product Identification (PI) and Test & Measurement (T&M). The PI segment encompasses specialty printing systems and related supplies under the QuickLabel, TrojanLabel, and GetLabels brand names. Contrarily, the T&M segment includes aerospace printers, ethernet networking products, and test and measurement data acquisition systems sold under...

Read more

Price action

Investment thesis

Bull case

  • Robust free cash flow of 10.42M exceeds capital expenditure of 172000 by 60.56x, indicating strong organic growth funding capability.
  • Tangible assets of 101.64M provide exceptional 53.30x coverage of deferred revenue 1.91M, showing strong service capability backing.
  • Operating cash flow of 10.59M provides strong 5.55x coverage of deferred revenue 1.91M, indicating service delivery capability.
  • Robust tangible asset base of 101.64M provides 3.03x coverage of working capital 33.52M, indicating strong operational backing.
  • Retained earnings of 48.14M provide full 2.28x coverage of long-term debt 21.09M, indicating strong internal capital position.

Bear case

  • Operating cash flow of 10.59M barely covers its investment activities of (172000), with a coverage ratio of -61.56, indicating heavy reliance on external financing for growth which may not be sustainable in a tighter credit environment.
  • With cash reserves of 3.61M against inventory of 45.12M, the 0.08 cash-to-inventory ratio suggests potential liquidity risks if inventory turnover slows, particularly concerning given current supply chain volatilities.
  • Investment activities of (172000) provide weak support for R&D spending of 6.77M, which is -0.03x, suggesting potentially insufficient investment in innovation relative to other capital deployment.
  • Operating earnings of (11.55M) show weak coverage of depreciation charges of 4.69M, with a -2.46 ratio indicating high capital intensity and potential reinvestment needs.
  • Free cash flow of 10.42M represents just -1.02x of debt issuance (10.18M), suggesting concerning reliance on leverage rather than internal cash generation for growth.

Peer comparison

Companies in the Computer Hardware
S.No. Ticker Company Market Cap P/E P/S Total Debt (Qtr)
1 ANET Arista Networks, Inc. 164.72 Bn 49.07 19.50 0.00 Bn
2 DELL Dell Technologies Inc. 86.37 Bn 16.20 0.83 31.24 Bn
3 WDC Western Digital Corp 60.34 Bn 23.73 5.03 4.68 Bn
4 STX Seagate Technology Holdings plc 58.67 Bn 34.25 6.14 4.99 Bn
5 SNDK Sandisk Corp 34.41 Bn -19.78 4.42 1.35 Bn
6 PSTG Pure Storage, Inc. 21.84 Bn 167.52 6.27 0.23 Bn
7 HPQ Hp Inc 21.10 Bn 8.34 0.38 9.67 Bn
8 SMCI Super Micro Computer, Inc. 17.45 Bn 22.01 0.83 4.78 Bn

Industry comparisons

Current Valuation Value Ind Avg Percentile
EV to Assets EV to Assets 0.76 2.06
EV to Cash from Ops. EV/CFO 10.09 -0.65
EV to Debt EV to Debt 2.52 56.37
EV to EBIT EV/EBIT -9.25 2.89
EV to EBITDA EV/EBITDA -16.52 -1.74
EV to Free Cash Flow [EV/FCF] EV/FCF 10.26 -7.44
EV to Market Cap EV to Market Cap 1.64 7.64
EV to Revenue EV/Rev 0.71 78.30
Price to Book Value [P/B] P/B 0.85 -28.73
Price to Earnings [P/E] P/E -3.86 6.39
Dividend Metrics Value Ind Avg Percentile
Dividend Coverage Ratio Div Coverage (Qtr) 0.00 1.25
Dividend Payout Ratio % Div Payout % (Qtr) 0.00 12.30
Dividend per Basic Share Div per Share (Qtr) 0.00 0.27
FCF Dividend Payout Ratio % FCF Div Payout % (Qtr) 0.00 7.93
Interest Coverage Int. cover (Qtr) -3.34 -105.42
Growth Metrics Value Ind Avg Percentile
Capex Growth (1y) % Capex 1y % (Qtr) 74.78 -11.38
Cash and Equivalents Growth (1y) % Cash & Equiv 1y % (Qtr) -18.64 867.36
Dividend Growth (1y) % Div 1y % (Qtr) 0.00 4.71
EBIAT Growth (1y) % EBIAT 1y % (Qtr) -296.44 -189.41
EBITDA Growth (1y) % EBITDA 1y % (Qtr) -153.00 -40.76
EBIT Growth (1y) % EBIT 1y % (Qtr) -254.72 -117.00
EBT Growth (1y) % EBT 1y % (Qtr) -447.12 -116.68
EPS Growth (1y) % EPS 1y % (Qtr) -539.22 -70.06
FCF Growth (1y) % FCF 1y % (Qtr) 28.70 712.64
Gross Profit Growth (1y) % Gross Profit 1y % (Qtr) -6.46 34.90
Liquidity Ratios Value Ind Avg Percentile
Asset Utilization Ratio Asset Util Ratio (Qtr) 1.07 0.80
Cash Payout Ratio Cash Payout (Qtr) 0.00 0.06
Cash Ratio Cash Ratio (Qtr) 0.09 7.26
Current Ratio Curr Ratio (Qtr) 1.83 13.59
Debt to Equity Ratio Debt/Equity (Qtr) 0.55 -3.57
Interest Cover Ratio Int Coverage (Qtr) -3.34 -105.42
Times Interest Earned Times Interest Earned (Qtr) -3.34 -105.42
Profitability Value Ind Avg Percentile
EBITDA Margin % EBITDA Margin % (Qtr) -4.60 -629.92
EBIT Margin % EBIT Margin % (Qtr) -7.68 -683.67
EBT Margin % EBT Margin % (Qtr) -9.98 -687.58
Gross Margin % Gross Margin % (Qtr) 34.10 34.79
Net Profit Margin % Net Margin % (Qtr) -11.20 -692.43