Exponent
Exponent's revenue rose 4.2% to $582 million in fiscal 2025. Its operating margin was 20.6%, down from 21.4% a year earlier. Free cash flow was $122 million, down 11.1%. It paid out $158 million in dividends and buybacks, 129% of free cash flow. The diluted share count fell 0.6%.
Operating margin is operating income as a share of revenue. Free cash flow is cash from operations minus capital spending. Return on capital is after-tax operating income as a share of the money invested in the business: debt plus equity, minus cash. Market cap is the last closing share price times the latest diluted share count, so it is approximate. P/E is the last close divided by diluted earnings per share over the last four quarters, or the latest fiscal year where the quarters aren't available; there is none when the company made a loss.
Charts show fiscal years, from the 10-K filings.
Revenue and margins
Net income and earnings per share
From fiscal 2016 to 2025, earnings per share grew 10.1% a year and net income 9.3% a year, as buybacks cut the share count by 6%.
Returns on capital
Cash flow
Payouts and share count
Valuation
Two ways to value Exponent yourself, both starting from its filings: a discounted cash flow model and the price-to-earnings method.
Discounted cash flow (DCF)
A discounted cash flow (DCF) model values a business as the cash it may generate in future, discounted back to today. The starting figures come from Exponent's 10-K (or, for net cash and shares, its latest 10-Q) and the assumptions are yours: start from one of three example scenarios, then change any figure to see what it implies for a share, and how that compares with the last share price.
Value per share on three example scenarios, from Exponent's fiscal 2025 free cash flow of $122M, net cash of $222M at January 2, 2026 and 51 million diluted shares, from its filings. The scenarios are fitted to Exponent: the base scenario's growth in years 1 to 5 is its revenue growth over the last 3 years, 4.3% a year; the cautious and optimistic ones are lower and higher, and growth in years 6 to 10 is halfway to the long-run rate. The base scenario's discount rate is 10%: 9% for a business of moderate risk (Research & Consulting Services), plus 1 point as a smaller company, worth $3.8B; the cautious and optimistic ones use a point more and a point less. Select one to load it into the calculator. These are the model's arithmetic on those assumptions, not a forecast or a price target.
- Last close, October 26, 2026
- $77.66
- Value on these assumptions, against the last close
- —
- Cash flows in years 1 to 10, valued today
- —
- Everything after year 10, valued today
- —
- Plus net cash
- —
- Share of value from after year 10
How the value changes with two assumptions
Price-to-earnings (P/E) method
Another common way to value a company is to multiply its earnings per share by a price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple: the number of years of today's earnings an investor pays for a share. A higher multiple usually means investors expect earnings to grow. Choose a multiple, for example from similar companies, to see the value it gives.
Value per share on three example scenarios, from Exponent's earnings per share of $2.23 (over the last four quarters). Each grows earnings for a year at the cash flow scenarios' rates and applies a multiple to next year's earnings: 26.7×, the middle of Exponent's own P/E today, its peers' median and its sector's median (the Industrials median) for the base scenario, 20% less and more for the cautious and optimistic ones. The price is brought back a year at 11%, 10% and 9%. Select one to load it into the calculator. These are the model's arithmetic on those assumptions, not a forecast or a price target.
- Last close, October 26, 2026
- $77.66
- Value at this multiple, against the last close
- —
- Exponent's P/E at the last close
- 34.8×
| Company | Last close | Earnings per share | P/E today |
|---|---|---|---|
| ExponentEXPO | $77.66 | $2.23 | 34.8× |
| Verisk AnalyticsVRSK | $196.19 | $6.57 | 29.9× |
| UL SolutionsULS | $72.96 | $2.48 | 29.4× |
| TransUnionTRU | $79.62 | $3.61 | 22.1× |
| FTI ConsultingFCN | $161.40 | $8.30 | 19.4× |
Balance sheet
| Fiscal year end | FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash and short-term investments | 298 | 162 | 187 | 259 | 222 |
| Debt incl. finance leases | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Net debt (negative means net cash) | −298 | −162 | −187 | −259 | −222 |
| Net debt to EBITDA | −2.6x | −1.1x | −1.6x | −2.0x | −1.7x |
| Debt to equity | 0.0x | 0.0x | 0.0x | 0.0x | 0.0x |
| Interest coverage | — | — | — | — | — |
| Current ratio | 3.0x | 2.2x | 2.3x | 2.7x | 2.4x |
| Quick ratio | 3.0x | 2.2x | 2.3x | 2.7x | 2.4x |
Insider trades
Over the 12 months between October 27, 2025 and October 26, 2026, 1 insider bought $12,595 of Exponent shares on the open market, and 6 insiders sold $3.0 million, $2.2 million of it under trading plans set up in advance.
| Date | Insider | Trade | Shares | Price | Value | Filing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 18, 2026 | Shukri Jeries SouriGroup Vice President | Bought | 184 | $68.45 | $12,595 | Form 4 |
| Aug 17, 2026 | Catherine CorriganChief Executive Officer, Director | Sold plan | 1,707 | $66.28 | $113,140 | Form 4 |
| Jul 15, 2026 | Catherine CorriganChief Executive Officer, Director | Sold plan | 1,737 | $62.78 | $109,049 | Form 4 |
| Jun 15, 2026 | Catherine CorriganPresident & CEO, Director | Sold plan | 4,119 | $57.13 | $235,318 | Form 4 |
| May 26, 2026 | Bradley A JamesGroup Vice President | Sold | 2,000 | $57.47 | $114,940 | Form 4 |
| May 19, 2026 | Richard ReissGroup Vice President | Sold | 1,672 | $58.65 | $98,063 | Form 4 |
| May 15, 2026 | Catherine CorriganPresident & CEO, Director | Sold plan | 4,194 | $54.06 | $226,728 | Form 4 |
| May 13, 2026 | Joseph RakowGroup Vice President | Sold | 2,945 | $54.66 | $160,974 | Form 4 |
| May 13, 2026 | Joseph SalaGroup Vice President | Sold | 2,066 | $56.66 | $117,060 | Form 4 |
| Apr 15, 2026 | Catherine CorriganPresident & CEO, Director | Sold plan | 3,909 | $67.70 | $264,639 | Form 4 |
| Mar 16, 2026 | Catherine CorriganPresident & CEO, Director | Sold plan | 3,912 | $67.49 | $264,021 | Form 4 |
| Feb 17, 2026 | Catherine CorriganPresident & CEO, Director | Sold plan | 3,920 | $67.15 | $263,233 | Form 4 |
Piotroski F-score
The F-score counts how many of nine simple tests of profitability, funding and efficiency a company passed in a year (Piotroski, 2000). The more tests passed, the stronger the year: 8 or 9 is strong, 0 to 2 weak. Companies that report no gross profit are scored on the other eight.
| Test | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net income is positive | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Cash from operations is positive | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Return on assets rose | Pass | Fail | Fail |
| Cash from operations exceeds net income | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Debt fell relative to assets | Fail | Fail | Fail |
| Current ratio rose | Pass | Pass | Fail |
| Share count didn't rise | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Gross margin rose | — | — | — |
| Revenue rose relative to assets | Pass | Fail | Fail |
| F-score | 7 of 8 | 5 of 8 | 4 of 8 |
| Accruals ratio | −4.4% | −5.0% | −3.3% |
Compare
Put Exponent side by side with any other company we cover: revenue, growth, margins, cash flow and returns, with ten years of charts.
Similar companies
| Company | Year | Revenue growth | Operating margin | Free cash flow margin | Return on capital | Net debt to EBITDA | F-score | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exponent | FY25 | 4.2% | 20.6% | 21.0% | 52.2% | −1.7x | 4 | |
| UL Solutions | FY25 | 6.4% | 17.1% | 13.2% | 26.8% | 0.3x | 7 | Compare |
| Verisk Analytics | FY25 | 6.6% | 43.7% | 38.8% | 35.5% | 1.6x | 7 | Compare |
| FTI Consulting | FY25 | 2.4% | 10.3% | 2.5% | 16.6% | 0.2x | 4 | Compare |
| TransUnion | FY25 | 9.4% | 18.7% | 14.5% | 7.1% | 3.0x | 8 | Compare |
10 years of figures
| Fiscal year | FY16 | FY17 | FY18 | FY19 | FY20 | FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Income statement | ||||||||||
| Revenue | 315 | 348 | 380 | 417 | 400 | 466 | 513 | 537 | 558 | 582 |
| Revenue growth | 0.7% | 10.4% | 9.1% | 9.9% | −4.2% | 16.6% | 10.1% | 4.6% | 4.0% | 4.2% |
| Gross profit | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Research and development | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Operating income | 62 | 72 | 92 | 85 | 83 | 109 | 141 | 111 | 120 | 120 |
| Net income | 48 | 41 | 72 | 82 | 83 | 101 | 102 | 100 | 109 | 106 |
| Diluted EPS (US$) | 0.87 | 0.77 | 1.33 | 1.53 | 1.55 | 1.90 | 1.96 | 1.94 | 2.11 | 2.07 |
| Diluted shares (millions) | 54 | 54 | 54 | 54 | 53 | 53 | 52 | 52 | 52 | 51 |
| Cash flow | ||||||||||
| Cash from operations | 67 | 68 | 91 | 108 | 103 | 125 | 94 | 127 | 144 | 132 |
| Capital expenditure | 14 | 5 | 16 | 23 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 16 | 7 | 9 |
| Free cash flow | 53 | 63 | 75 | 85 | 98 | 118 | 82 | 111 | 138 | 122 |
| Dividends paid | 19 | 22 | 27 | 33 | 39 | 42 | 49 | 53 | 57 | 60 |
| Share buybacks | 24 | 12 | 28 | 22 | 40 | 7 | 156 | 24 | 6 | 97 |
| Acquisitions | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Stock-based compensation | 13 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 17 | 19 | 20 | 20 | 23 | 24 |
| Balance sheet at fiscal year end | ||||||||||
| Cash and short-term investments | 174 | 196 | 209 | 232 | 242 | 298 | 162 | 187 | 259 | 222 |
| Debt incl. finance leases | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total assets | 404 | 440 | 469 | 563 | 580 | 684 | 587 | 647 | 777 | 778 |
| Total liabilities | 130 | 150 | 155 | 213 | 219 | 267 | 266 | 291 | 356 | 387 |
| Shareholders' equity | 273 | 289 | 314 | 350 | 362 | 417 | 321 | 356 | 421 | 390 |
| Margins and ratios | ||||||||||
| Gross margin | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Operating margin | 19.6% | 20.7% | 24.1% | 20.4% | 20.8% | 23.4% | 27.4% | 20.7% | 21.4% | 20.6% |
| Net margin | 15.1% | 11.9% | 19.0% | 19.8% | 20.6% | 21.7% | 19.9% | 18.7% | 19.5% | 18.2% |
| Free cash flow margin | 16.7% | 18.1% | 19.7% | 20.4% | 24.6% | 25.2% | 15.9% | 20.7% | 24.6% | 21.0% |
| Return on capital | 44.6% | 37.5% | 71.5% | 60.1% | 59.7% | 73.5% | 78.2% | 50.1% | 53.4% | 52.2% |
| Return on equity | 17.7% | 14.7% | 24.0% | 24.8% | 23.2% | 26.0% | 27.7% | 29.6% | 28.1% | 26.1% |
| Return on assets | 12.0% | 9.8% | 15.9% | 16.0% | 14.4% | 16.0% | 16.1% | 16.3% | 15.3% | 13.6% |
| Net debt to EBITDA | −2.5x | −2.5x | −2.1x | −2.5x | −2.7x | −2.6x | −1.1x | −1.6x | −2.0x | −1.7x |