Kadant

KAI · NYSE · Industrials · Financials, fiscal 2016 to 2025

KAI · Last close · November 6, 2026

$292.74

Kadant's revenue fell 0.1% to $1.1 billion in fiscal 2025. Its operating margin was 14.9%, down from 16.3% a year earlier. Free cash flow was $154 million, up 14.9%. It paid out $16 million in dividends and buybacks, 10% of free cash flow. The diluted share count rose 0.2%.

KADANT INC Latest fiscal year ended January 3, 2026 10-K filed March 3, 2026 · 0000886346-26-000018 Updated November 5, 2026

Revenue

$1.1B

0.1%

Operating margin

14.9%

1.3 pts

Net income

$102M

8.6%

Free cash flow

$154M

14.9%

Return on capital

9.9%

3.8 pts

Market cap

$3.5B

Nov 6 close

P/E

31.5x

On $9.30 EPS, 4 qtrs

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.

What Kadant does

Kadant makes equipment and engineered systems for industries that process fiber, wood, minerals and other materials. Its customers are makers of paper, packaging and tissue, wood products, food, metals and building materials, and mining and recycling operations. It sells new machinery and also the parts, consumables and service these machines need. Some of its businesses have operated for more than 100 years.

It reports three segments. Flow Control makes fluid-handling systems for industrial piping, plus doctoring, cleaning and filtration systems that keep rolls in paper machines clean. Industrial Processing makes equipment for the wood products industry, such as debarkers, stranders and chippers, and for stock preparation, boiler cleaning and other processing. Material Handling covers equipment for moving material, partly for the mining industry, including coal.

Kadant expects acquisitions to be a main driver of its growth. In 2025 it bought Babbini, an Italian dewatering and power transmission business, for approximately $16.5 million, and Clyde Industries, a boiler cleaning technology maker, for $173.7 million, both net of cash acquired. As of January 3, 2026, it had approximately 3,900 full-time employees worldwide, with 50% in North America.

Its biggest risks, as it describes them

Large equipment sales are hard to predict and fall when the economy is uncertain.
Its acquisition strategy may fail or bring high integration costs.
Weak housing and lumber markets, and swings in timber supply and the oriented strand board (OSB) market, reduce demand for its wood equipment.
More digital media reduces demand for paper-industry products.
Its mining business depends on cyclical mining conditions and on continued demand for coal.

From Kadant's annual report on Form 10-K, filed March 3, 2026, in our words; the 10-K has the full description and every risk factor. Updated with each new annual report.

Income statement

Revenue and net income

US$ billions, fiscal years; net losses in red. Revenue on the left axis, net income on the right; zero is the same line on both.

Revenue (left axis)Net income (right axis)

Gross profit, R&D and operating income

US$ billions, fiscal years. Gross profit is revenue minus the cost of what was sold; research and development is one of the costs paid from it; what remains after all operating costs is operating income. Losses in red.

Gross profitResearch and developmentOperating income

Margins

Percent of revenue

GrossOperatingNetFree cash flow

From fiscal 2016 to 2025, earnings per share grew 13.0% a year and net income 13.7% a year, as new shares raised the share count by 6% and diluted each share's earnings.

Diluted earnings per share

US$ per share, fiscal years, restated for any stock splits; loss years in red.

Returns on capital

Return on capital and on equity

Percent. Return on capital is after-tax operating income over the money invested in the business (debt plus equity, minus cash); return on equity is net income over shareholders' equity. Both use the average of opening and closing balances.

Return on capitalReturn on equity

Balance sheet

Cash and debt

US$ billions, at each fiscal year end. Debt includes finance leases.

Cash and short-term investmentsDebt

Assets, liabilities and equity

US$ billions, at each fiscal year end. Assets equal liabilities plus equity; negative equity in red.

Total assetsTotal liabilitiesShareholders' equity

Debt and liquidity ratios

Times. Debt to equity, current assets over current liabilities, and net debt over EBITDA (a full year's).

Debt to equityCurrent ratioNet debt to EBITDA

Five years at a glance

Fiscal year end	FY21	FY22	FY23	FY24	FY25
Cash and short-term investments	91	76	104	95	120
Debt incl. finance leases	266	201	111	288	374
Net debt (negative means net cash)	175	125	7	194	255
Net debt to EBITDA	1.2x	0.6x	0.0x	0.9x	1.2x
Debt to equity	0.5x	0.3x	0.1x	0.3x	0.4x
Interest coverage	24.2x	26.4x	19.7x	8.6x	10.1x
Current ratio	1.7x	1.9x	2.0x	2.3x	2.4x
Quick ratio	1.1x	1.2x	1.3x	1.6x	1.5x

US$ millions unless stated, at each fiscal year end. Net debt to EBITDA is debt minus cash, divided by operating income before depreciation and amortization: roughly how many years of those earnings the net debt equals. Debt to equity is debt as a multiple of shareholders' equity. Interest coverage is operating income divided by interest expense. The current ratio is current assets over current liabilities; the quick ratio leaves out inventory.

Cash flow

Cash from operations, capital spending and free cash flow

US$ billions, fiscal years. Free cash flow is cash from operations minus capital spending; negative years in red.

Cash from operationsCapital spendingFree cash flow

Stock-based compensation and buybacks

US$ billions, fiscal years. Shares paid to employees (stock-based compensation, a cost that uses no cash) against cash spent buying shares back. Buybacks that only match it leave the share count roughly where it was.

Stock-based compensationShare buybacks

Dividends and buybacks

US$ billions, cash paid in each fiscal year

DividendsShare buybacks

Diluted share count

Weighted-average diluted shares, millions

Projections

Project Kadant's revenue, net income and earnings per share five years ahead in a bull, a base and a bear case with your own figures, and see the share prices your P/E estimates give them, or value it with a discounted cash flow model. Every projected figure is yours: it is not a forecast of ours.

Open Kadant's projections

Insider trades

Over the 12 months between November 7, 2025 and November 6, 2026, no insider bought Kadant shares on the open market, and 4 insiders sold $1.5 million.

Buys and sells by month

US$ millions, open-market purchases (up) and sales (down) by officers, directors and 10% owners in each month.

BoughtSold

Date	Insider	Trade	Shares	Price	Value	Filing
May 27, 2026	Stacy D. KrauseSVP, GC and Secretary	Sold	1,227	$334.17	$410,027	Form 4
May 18, 2026	Thomas Andrew BlanchardVice President	Sold	1,400	$322.04	$450,856	Form 4
Nov 25, 2025	Erin L RussellDirector	Sold	1,435	$282.36	$405,187	Form 4
Nov 11, 2025	Rebecca Martinez O'MaraDirector	Sold	699	$266.91	$186,569	Form 4

Open-market purchases and sales by officers, directors and 10% owners, from their Form 4 filings with the SEC: one row per person, day and filing, at the day's average price. Grants, option exercises and shares withheld for tax aren't counted. Insiders buy and sell for many reasons, such as taxes, spreading their savings or a plan set up months earlier, so a trade on its own says little about where a company is heading. For information only, not investment advice. Insider trades at all companies

Indicators

Four widely used measures, worked out from the company's filings. The cutoffs are the ones their authors or users go by, not a verdict of ours.

Indicator	FY23	FY24	FY25
Piotroski F-score	7 of 9	6 of 9	5 of 9
Rule of 40	19.8%	22.7%	14.6%
Altman Z''	6.36	5.49	5.06
Accruals ratio	−4.3%	−3.4%	−4.4%

Piotroski F-score: how many of nine simple tests of profitability, funding and efficiency the company passed in the year (Piotroski, 2000); 8 or 9 is strong, 0 to 2 weak. Rule of 40: revenue growth plus free cash flow margin; software investors treat 40% or more as the bar. Altman Z'': working capital, retained earnings, operating income and equity weighed against assets and liabilities (Altman, 1995); Altman puts above 2.6 in the safe zone and below 1.1 in the distress zone. Accruals ratio: net income minus cash from operations, over average total assets; lower means profit is backed by cash.

The nine F-score tests

Test	FY23	FY24	FY25
Net income is positive	Pass	Pass	Pass
Cash from operations is positive	Pass	Pass	Pass
Return on assets rose	Fail	Fail	Fail
Cash from operations exceeds net income	Pass	Pass	Pass
Debt fell relative to assets	Pass	Fail	Fail
Current ratio rose	Pass	Pass	Pass
Share count didn't rise	Fail	Fail	Fail
Gross margin rose	Pass	Pass	Pass
Revenue rose relative to assets	Pass	Pass	Fail
F-score	7 of 9	6 of 9	5 of 9

Companies that report no gross profit are scored on the other eight.

Compare

Put Kadant 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
Kadant	FY25	−0.1%	14.9%	14.7%	9.9%	1.2x	5
ESCO Technologies	FY25	19.2%	15.6%	18.8%	8.8%	0.4x	4	Compare
EnPro Industries	FY25	9.0%	14.1%	13.9%	5.8%	2.0x	6	Compare
Albany International	FY25	−3.9%	−3.0%	7.0%	−2.6%	6.6x	4	Compare
Tennant	FY25	−6.5%	5.7%	3.6%	6.9%	1.3x	5	Compare

Each company's latest fiscal year. Fiscal years end in different months, so the periods don't line up exactly. Free cash flow margin is free cash flow as a share of revenue. Net debt to EBITDA is explained under the balance sheet, and the F-score under Indicators.

10 years of figures

Fiscal year	FY16	FY17	FY18	FY19	FY20	FY21	FY22	FY23	FY24	FY25
Income statement
Revenue	414	515	634	705	635	787	905	958	1,053	1,052
Revenue growth	6.2%	24.4%	23.1%	11.2%	−9.9%	23.9%	15.0%	5.8%	10.0%	−0.1%
Gross profit	188	231	278	294	277	337	390	416	466	476
Research and development	7	10	11	11	11	11	13	14	14	15
Operating income	47	62	89	88	81	117	171	166	171	157
Net income	32	31	60	52	55	84	121	116	112	102
Diluted EPS (US$)	2.88	2.75	5.30	4.54	4.77	7.21	10.35	9.90	9.48	8.65
Diluted shares (millions)	11	11	11	12	12	12	12	12	12	12
Cash flow
Cash from operations	51	65	63	97	93	162	103	166	155	171
Capital expenditure	6	17	17	10	8	13	28	32	21	17
Free cash flow	45	48	46	87	85	150	74	134	134	154
Dividends paid	8	9	10	10	11	12	12	13	15	16
Share buybacks	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Acquisitions	57	205	0	178	7	144	4	1	300	190
Stock-based compensation	5	6	7	7	7	8	9	10	11	11
Balance sheet at fiscal year end
Cash and short-term investments	72	75	46	67	66	91	76	104	95	120
Debt incl. finance leases	66	242	176	297	230	266	201	111	288	374
Total assets	471	761	726	939	928	1,132	1,150	1,176	1,430	1,712
Total liabilities	186	429	351	512	431	567	494	399	572	721
Shareholders' equity	283	331	373	426	495	564	654	774	847	980
Margins and ratios
Gross margin	45.5%	44.9%	43.9%	41.7%	43.7%	42.9%	43.1%	43.5%	44.2%	45.2%
Operating margin	11.3%	12.0%	14.0%	12.5%	12.8%	14.8%	18.9%	17.3%	16.3%	14.9%
Net margin	7.8%	6.0%	9.5%	7.4%	8.7%	10.7%	13.4%	12.1%	10.6%	9.7%
Free cash flow margin	10.9%	9.3%	7.3%	12.4%	13.4%	19.0%	8.2%	14.0%	12.8%	14.7%
Rule of 40 (growth + FCF margin)	17.1%	33.7%	30.4%	23.6%	3.5%	42.9%	23.2%	19.8%	22.7%	14.6%
Return on capital	13.3%	8.7%	13.6%	11.5%	9.3%	12.6%	16.6%	15.6%	13.7%	9.9%
Return on equity	11.7%	10.1%	17.2%	13.0%	12.0%	15.9%	19.9%	16.3%	13.8%	11.2%
Return on assets	7.2%	5.0%	8.1%	6.2%	5.9%	8.2%	10.6%	10.0%	8.6%	6.5%
Net debt to EBITDA	−0.1x	2.1x	1.2x	1.9x	1.5x	1.2x	0.6x	0.0x	0.9x	1.2x

US$ millions unless stated. Where a later 10-K restated a year, the latest filed figure is shown. Download all figures (CSV, US$ millions)

Source: Kadant's Form 10-K filings, from SEC EDGAR. For information only, not investment advice. The Filing Desk is not affiliated with Kadant.