Forensic Analysis · Industrials / Manufacturing / Defense · as of Jun 28, 2026
NL INDUSTRIES INC (NL)
A forensic read on NL INDUSTRIES INC built from its complete SEC filings — financial-health screens, earnings quality, red flags and a price-aware rating. Reproducible math, not opinion.
C · Mixed — selective
Forensic grade
Safe
Financial health
7.5
Altman Z-score
Clean
Earnings quality
3
Forensic signals
-9.2%
ROE
$286M
Market cap
6.94%
Dividend yield
NL INDUSTRIES INC earns a C (Mixed — selective) forensic quality grade, and its Altman Z-score is 7.5, placing it in the Safe zone. 3 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by return on invested capital.
What the filings flag
3%Return on invested capital.Return on invested capital is 3% and steady — well below its ~9% cost of capital, so reinvested dollars may be destroying value, not building it.
+0.0%/yrShare-count dilution.Diluted share count changed +0% over the last 3 years to FY2025 (+0.0%/yr). Roughly flat — buybacks are about offsetting stock comp, not shrinking the count. Per-share value isn't being meaningfully helped or hurt by the count.
-56%Dividend — cut.The payout was CUT ~56% in FY2023 (from FY2022). It still returns some cash, but it is NOT the dependable, rising dividend an unbroken streak implies — weigh the cut when judging reliability.
Key fundamentals
Net Margin-23.9%
Debt / Equity0.00x
Free Cash Flow$-40.1M
Latest Revenue$158.3M
Return on Equity-10.5%
Revenue Growth YoY+8.5%
Go deeper — free with an account
The forensic grade and screens above are free — no account needed. An account adds the full interactive deep-dive on NL INDUSTRIES INC:
🔒The written investment read — what the numbers mean, in plain English
🔒Ask anything about NL's filings — AI Q&A across the 10-K, 10-Qs & 8-Ks
🔒Interactive valuation — reverse-DCF sliders, Monte Carlo & scenario stress
🔒Calibrated 12-month price forecast, with the math shown