FutureFuel Corp. Stock price
Is FutureFuel Corp. a Top Scorer Stock based on the Dividend, High-Growth-Investing or Leverman Strategy?
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Key metrics
📘 Market Capitalization
📈 What is it?
Market capitalization shows how much a company is currently worth on the stock market.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
It helps classify companies by size (Large, Mid, Small Cap) and indicates their market presence and relative stability.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- Large-cap companies tend to be more stable, often pay dividends, but may grow more slowly.
- Smaller firms may offer higher growth potential but come with more volatility.
- Market capitalization is a useful indicator of company size — but not a measure of whether a stock is undervalued or overvalued.
📘 Enterprise Value (EV)
📈 What is it?
Enterprise Value represents the total cost to acquire a company — including its debt and excluding its cash reserves.
🧮 How is it calculated?
(= Market Cap + Net Debt)
🏛️ Why is it important?
EV gives a more complete picture of a company's value than market cap alone and is used in key valuation ratios like EV/FCF or EV/Sales.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- Enterprise Value shows the true cost of buying a company, including all financial obligations.
- It is more accurate than just looking at market cap, especially when comparing companies with different levels of debt or cash.
- Professional investors prefer EV-based multiples because they better reflect the company’s full financial footprint.
📘 Net Debt
📈 What is it?
Net Debt shows how much debt remains after subtracting a company’s available cash reserves.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
It indicates how dependent a company is on borrowed money and how easily it can service its debt in the short term.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- Low or negative net debt signals financial strength and flexibility.
- Companies with strong cash positions are better positioned in crises.
- High net debt increases financial risk — especially in environments with rising interest rates or economic downturns.
📘 Cash
📈 What is it?
Cash represents all liquid assets a company can access immediately — including cash, bank deposits, and short-term investments.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
It reflects a company’s financial flexibility and resilience — enabling investments, buybacks, or buffer in downturns.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A strong cash position means greater room for maneuver and crisis resistance.
- Cash-rich companies can invest, pay down debt, or repurchase shares.
- But excess idle cash might indicate a lack of growth opportunities.
📘 Shares Outstanding
📈 What is it?
Shares outstanding represent the total number of a company’s shares currently held by investors — excluding treasury stock.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
It’s the basis for key metrics like Earnings Per Share (EPS), Market Capitalization, or the Price/Earnings ratio (P/E).
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- Fewer shares in circulation typically increase earnings per share — making each share more valuable.
- Share buybacks reduce the number of shares and boost per-share metrics.
- Issuing new shares does the opposite — diluting shareholder value and lowering per-share figures.
📘 Price-to-Earnings Ratio (P/E)
📈 What is it?
The P/E ratio shows how many times a company's earnings per share are reflected in its current share price — in other words, how "expensive" the stock appears relative to its profits.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
The P/E ratio is one of the most widely used valuation metrics. It helps investors assess whether a stock appears cheap or expensive compared to its earnings power.
🧮 Calculation
📊 P/E (TTM) = Based on earnings from the last 12 months (Trailing Twelve Months):🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A low P/E may indicate undervaluation — or signal underlying issues.
- A high P/E may reflect strong growth expectations — or an overvalued stock.
📘 Price-to-Sales Ratio (P/S)
📈 What is it?
The P/S ratio shows how much investors are paying for $1 of the company’s revenue – regardless of profitability.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
P/S is especially useful for evaluating growth companies or businesses not yet profitable. It reflects how the market values the company’s sales.
🧮 Calculation
Market Cap = $226.33m | Revenue (TTM) = $153.21m
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A low P/S may indicate undervaluation — or low profitability.
- A high P/S can reflect strong growth expectations — or excessive optimism.
- Especially helpful when evaluating companies where profits are low, volatile, or negative.
📘 Enterprise Value to Sales (EV/Sales)
📈 What is it?
EV/Sales shows how much investors are paying for $1 of revenue — considering not just equity, but also debt and cash. It’s the capital structure–adjusted version of the P/S ratio.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
It’s ideal for comparing companies with different levels of debt. It reflects a company's true cost relative to its revenue.
🧮 Calculation
Enterprise Value = $191.96m | Revenue (TTM) = $153.21m
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- EV/Sales allows for capital structure–neutral company comparisons.
- A lower ratio may indicate undervaluation; a higher one may signal strong growth expectations or overvaluation.
- Especially helpful when evaluating high-growth companies with low or negative earnings.
📘 Enterprise Value to Free Cash Flow (EV/FCF) | ex SBC
📈 What is it?
EV/FCF compares a company’s enterprise value with its free cash flow. The metric therefore shows the multiple of current free cash flow at which a company is valued. EV/FCF ex SBC additionally accounts for stock-based compensation (SBC). While SBC does not represent a direct cash outflow, issuing shares as compensation can dilute existing shareholders. Therefore, SBC is deducted from free cash flow in this adjusted version.
🧮 How is it calculated?
EV/FCF ex SBC = Enterprise Value ÷ (Free Cash Flow (TTM) − SBC)
🏛️ Why is it important?
EV/FCF provides a valuation based on free cash flow and therefore complements earnings-based valuation metrics such as the P/E ratio. The ex SBC version additionally accounts for the economic impact of stock-based compensation and provides a more conservative view from a shareholder perspective.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A low EV/FCF means that enterprise value is low relative to current free cash flow. The reasons should always be considered in the context of the company and its industry.
- A high EV/FCF means that enterprise value is high relative to current free cash flow. This can, for example, reflect high growth expectations or temporarily weak cash generation.
- When SBC is positive and adjusted free cash flow remains positive, EV/FCF ex SBC is generally higher than the standard EV/FCF.
- The metric is particularly useful for companies with relatively stable and predictable cash flows.
- If free cash flow is negative or very low, EV/FCF has limited usefulness and should not be interpreted like a standard valuation multiple.
📘 Price-to-Book Ratio (P/B)
📈 What is it?
The P/B ratio compares a company’s market value to its book value — showing how much investors are paying for each dollar of net assets.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
P/B is commonly used for asset-heavy industries like banks or industrials. It helps assess whether a stock is trading above or below its net asset value.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A P/B below 1 may signal undervaluation — or weak profitability.
- A P/B above 1 implies the market expects future value creation (e.g., brand, IP, growth).
- Best used for companies with tangible assets and strong balance sheets.
📘 Dividend per Share (DPS)
📈 What is it?
Dividend per Share shows how much cash a company pays out to shareholders for each share they own – usually on an annual or quarterly basis.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
DPS is the absolute value of the payout per share – crucial for income-focused investors and dividend strategies.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A stable or growing DPS often signals a strong, shareholder-friendly business.
- DPS alone doesn’t tell you how attractive the payout is – the stock price also matters (→ see Dividend Yield).
- Long-term dividend growth is often a hallmark of high-quality companies – like the dividend aristocrats.
📘 Dividend Yield
📈 What is it?
Dividend yield shows how large a company’s dividend is in relation to its current share price.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
It allows investors to compare dividend payouts across stocks, regardless of price or payout size.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A stable yield can reflect reliable distributions.
- Comparing 1Y and 5Y yield shows whether dividend growth keeps pace with stock price appreciation.
- A low yield isn’t always negative – it can signal strong past performance or growth focus.
📘 Dividend Growth
📈 What is it?
Dividend growth shows how much a company has increased its dividend per share over time.
🧮 How is it calculated?
5Y: Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR)
🏛️ Why is it important?
Consistently rising dividends are often a sign of financial strength and shareholder orientation – especially relevant for long-term investors.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- Stable dividend growth is a sign of sustainable earning power.
- High dividend growth can significantly boost your total return:
- If a company pays $1 in dividends and increases it by 15% annually over 5 years, you’ll receive $2 per share in year 5 – twice as much as at the start!
📘 Payout Ratio
📈 What is it?
The payout ratio shows what percentage of a company’s earnings (per share) is distributed to shareholders as dividends.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
It helps assess whether the dividend is sustainable – especially in relation to the company’s profitability.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A low payout ratio means the company retains more earnings for reinvestment – typical for growth companies.
- A moderate payout (e.g. 25–50%) indicates a healthy balance between returns and reinvestment.
- High payout ratios may seem attractive but can carry risk if earnings decline.
📘 Consecutive Dividend Increases
📈 What is it?
This metric shows how many consecutive years a company has raised its dividend per share – without any cuts or pauses.
🧮 How is it calculated?
(Special dividends are not considered.)
🏛️ Why is it important?
A long track record of increases reflects financial strength, consistency, and shareholder commitment.
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A long dividend increase streak builds confidence – especially in volatile markets.
- Such companies are seen as reliable and income-friendly investments.
- The longer the streak, the stronger the company’s dividend discipline.
📘 Revenue
📈 What is it?
Revenue shows how much a company earns in total from selling its products and services – the gross income before any costs are deducted.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
Revenue is one of the key figures to assess a company’s size, market position, and growth potential.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- Growing revenue indicates rising demand and can be an early signal of future earnings growth.
- Comparing actual and expected revenue reveals trends in the market environment and analyst sentiment.
- Note: Strong revenue alone isn’t enough – margins and profitability matter just as much.
📘 EBITDA
📈 What is it?
EBITDA stands for “Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization.” It reflects a company’s operating profit before the effects of financing, taxes, and accounting depreciation.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
EBITDA is widely used to evaluate a company’s operating performance – especially across capital-intensive sectors or international comparisons.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A high or growing EBITDA indicates strong operational profitability – independent of taxes, interest, or accounting methods.
- It’s especially useful for comparing companies across sectors or geographies.
- Important: EBITDA is not a net income figure – it excludes key costs like depreciation and interest.
📘 EBIT
📈 What is it?
EBIT stands for “Earnings Before Interest and Taxes.” It reflects a company’s operating profit after depreciation, but before interest and tax expenses.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
EBIT is a core profitability metric that shows how well the company performs in its main business operations – independent of capital structure and tax environment.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A high EBIT indicates strong profitability from the company’s core business – before financial and tax effects.
- It allows better comparison between companies with different debt levels or tax structures.
- Compared to EBITDA, EBIT already accounts for depreciation and reflects capital intensity more clearly.
📘 Net Income
📈 What is it?
Net income is the company’s total profit – the amount left after all expenses, taxes, interest, and depreciation have been deducted.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
Net income is the most comprehensive measure of a company’s profitability – showing how much actual profit remains after all business and financing costs.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- Growing net income indicates that the company is managing all of its costs efficiently.
- It directly influences valuation metrics like P/E ratio and the company’s dividend capacity.
- Over time, net income trends reveal how resilient and profitable the business model really is.
📘 Free Cash Flow (FCF) | ex SBC
📈 What is it?
Free cash flow shows how much cash remains after a company has covered its operating and capital expenditures. FCF ex SBC additionally deducts stock-based compensation (SBC) to adjust the cash flow for the effect of non-cash SBC.
🧮 How is it calculated?
Free Cash Flow ex SBC = Operating Cash Flow − SBC − Capital Expenditures (CAPEX)
🏛️ Why is it important?
FCF reflects a company’s actual financial strength – independent of reported accounting earnings. It shows how much flexibility a company has for dividends, share buybacks, or debt reduction. FCF ex SBC also deducts stock-based compensation and shows how much cash generation remains after SBC.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- High free cash flow indicates that a company has strong financial strength – independent of reported earnings.
- It is often a solid basis for sustainable dividends and share buybacks.
- Declining FCF can be a warning sign, even if reported earnings remain stable.
📘 Revenue Growth
📈 What is it?
Revenue growth shows how much a company’s sales have changed compared to the previous year – both on a trailing basis (TTM) and based on forward projections.
🧮 How is it calculated?
Forward = (Expected revenue ÷ Revenue in prior year − 1) × 100
Forward growth is based on analyst estimates for the current fiscal year.
🏛️ Why is it important?
Rising revenue signals growing demand, business expansion, and market share gains – especially important for growth-oriented companies.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- Growth is the engine of long-term value creation – especially in tech and growth sectors.
- What matters is not just current growth, but its sustainability.
- Forward projections reflect whether analysts expect continued momentum – or a slowdown.
📘 EBITDA Growth
📈 What is it?
EBITDA growth shows how much a company’s operating profit (before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) has increased or decreased compared to the previous year.
🧮 How is it calculated?
Forward = (Expected EBITDA ÷ EBITDA from prior year − 1) × 100
The forward estimate is based on analyst projections for the current fiscal year.
🏛️ Why is it important?
Growing EBITDA indicates improving operational profitability – regardless of financing or accounting effects.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- Strong EBITDA growth signals operational efficiency and scalability – especially during growth phases.
- EBITDA growth can be an early indicator of margin and earnings expansion – but should be assessed alongside revenue and EBIT.
📘 EBIT Growth
📈 What is it?
EBIT growth shows how much a company’s operating profit (after depreciation, but before interest and taxes) has increased compared to the previous year.
🧮 How is it calculated?
Forward = (Expected EBIT ÷ EBIT from prior year − 1) × 100
The forward estimate is based on analyst projections for the current fiscal year.
🏛️ Why is it important?
EBIT growth is a direct indicator of a company’s business performance – taking into account capital intensity through depreciation.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- Rising EBIT signals improving operating profitability – even after accounting for depreciation.
- It’s especially important for evaluating companies with significant capital expenditures.
- Combined with revenue and EBITDA growth, EBIT growth provides a well-rounded view of operational progress.
📘 Net Income Growth
📈 What is it?
Net income growth shows how much a company’s bottom-line profit has increased or decreased compared to the previous year – both on a trailing basis (TTM) and based on analyst projections.
🧮 How is it calculated?
Forward = (Expected net income ÷ Net income from prior year − 1) × 100
The forward estimate reflects analysts’ expectations for the current fiscal year.
🏛️ Why is it important?
Net income is the ultimate measure of profitability. Growing net income signals stronger efficiency, cost control, and sustainable earnings power.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- Stronger net income boosts valuation, dividend potential, and investor confidence.
- If profits stall while revenue grows, it may signal margin pressure.
📘 Free Cash Flow Growth
📈 What is it?
Free cash flow (FCF) growth shows how a company’s available cash – after covering operating expenses and capital expenditures – has changed compared to the previous year.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
Free cash flow reflects real financial strength. Growing FCF indicates more flexibility for dividends, share buybacks, and reinvestment.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- Declining FCF may point to rising investments, increasing costs, or weaker operating performance.
- Especially for dividend investors, FCF growth is critical – since dividends are paid from actual available cash.
- A negative trend isn't always bad, but it deserves closer attention.
📘 Gross Margin
📈 What is it?
Gross margin shows how much of a company’s revenue remains after deducting the direct costs of goods sold (like materials and production). It represents the company’s “raw profit” before fixed costs, taxes, and interest.
🧮 How is it calculated?
Or simply: Gross Margin = Gross Profit ÷ Revenue × 100
🏛️ Why is it important?
Gross margin indicates how efficiently a company can produce or procure what it sells. It is a key measure of product-level profitability and pricing power.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A high gross margin suggests strong pricing power and efficient production.
- Falling margins may signal rising input costs or competitive pressure.
- Compared to peers, gross margin offers insights into the quality of a business model.
📘 EBITDA Margin
📈 What is it?
The EBITDA margin shows how much of a company’s revenue remains as operating profit before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization.It reflects operating efficiency without being distorted by financing or accounting factors.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
The EBITDA margin reveals how much operating income a company generates per dollar of revenue – independent of capital structure and tax effects.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A high EBITDA margin reflects strong core profitability – before accounting distortions.
- It allows for effective comparisons across companies and sectors.
- A stable or growing margin signals efficient cost control and business scalability.
📘 EBIT Margin
📈 What is it?
The EBIT margin shows what percentage of revenue remains as operating profit after depreciation but before interest and taxes.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
The EBIT margin reflects a company’s core profitability while accounting for capital intensity (e.g. machinery, infrastructure). It’s especially useful for comparing businesses with different levels of depreciation.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A high EBIT margin shows that the company remains efficient even after factoring in depreciation.
- It’s especially relevant for capital-intensive industries.
- Stable or rising EBIT margins over time are a strong indicator of pricing power and business quality.
📘 Net Margin
📈 What is it?
Net margin shows how much of a company’s revenue remains as bottom-line profit after deducting all costs, interest, taxes, and depreciation.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
Net margin reflects a company’s overall efficiency – across operations, financing, and taxation. It shows how much actual profit is generated from each dollar of revenue.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A high net margin means the company is not only strong operationally but also manages financing and taxes efficiently.
- Peer comparisons reveal business quality and competitiveness.
- Declining margins despite revenue growth can be a red flag for rising costs or inefficiencies.
📘 Free Cash Flow Margin | ex SBC
📈 What is it?
The Free Cash Flow Margin shows how much free cash flow a company generates relative to its revenue. In simplified terms, free cash flow is calculated as operating cash flow minus capital expenditures. The Free Cash Flow Margin ex SBC additionally accounts for stock-based compensation (SBC). While SBC does not represent a direct cash outflow, issuing shares as compensation can dilute existing shareholders. Therefore, SBC is deducted from free cash flow in this adjusted metric.
🧮 How is it calculated?
Free Cash Flow Margin ex SBC = (Free Cash Flow − SBC) ÷ Revenue × 100
🏛️ Why is it important?
The Free Cash Flow Margin shows how efficiently a company converts its revenue into free cash flow. Strong free cash flow can provide financial flexibility for dividends, share buybacks, debt repayment, or further investments. The ex SBC version additionally accounts for the economic impact of stock-based compensation and therefore provides a more conservative view of cash generation from a shareholder perspective.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A high Free Cash Flow Margin shows that a company converts a high proportion of its revenue into free cash flow.
- This can provide greater financial flexibility for dividends, share buybacks, debt repayment, or investments.
- The Free Cash Flow Margin ex SBC additionally accounts for potential shareholder dilution from stock-based compensation.
- The long-term trend is particularly important. Declining margins can, for example, result from higher investments, changes in working capital, or weaker operating performance.
📘 Equity Ratio
📈 What is it?
The equity ratio indicates what portion of a company’s total assets is financed by shareholders’ equity – in other words, how much it relies on its own capital.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
A high equity ratio reflects financial strength and stability, especially during downturns. It’s a key indicator of a company’s solvency and long-term risk profile.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- Companies with high equity ratios are generally more resilient and less dependent on external debt.
- Low equity ratios can signal higher risk or aggressive financial strategies.
- Important: Always assess the equity ratio in combination with the return on equity (ROE). This shows not just how stable the company is – but also how efficiently it uses shareholder capital.
📘 Return on Equity (ROE)
📈 What is it?
Return on equity (ROE) shows how efficiently a company uses its shareholders’ equity to generate profit. In other words: how much net income is earned per dollar of equity.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
ROE is a core profitability metric. It helps investors understand whether a company delivers attractive returns on the capital provided by its shareholders.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A high ROE indicates that the company is using its capital efficiently and profitably.
- It’s especially meaningful for capital-intensive businesses or firms with high equity bases.
- Important: A very high ROE can also result from high debt levels – always interpret it alongside the equity ratio to assess financial health.
📘 Return on Capital Employed (ROCE)
📈 What is it?
ROCE measures how efficiently a company generates profits from its total capital – including both equity and interest-bearing debt.
🧮 How is it calculated?
It evaluates the return on all capital employed, regardless of how it’s financed.
🏛️ Why is it important?
ROCE is ideal for comparing companies with different financing structures. It shows how well management uses capital to create value for both shareholders and creditors.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A high ROCE means the company uses its capital efficiently – regardless of whether it's funded by debt or equity.
- The higher the ROCE compared to peers, the more value the company creates with its invested capital.
- Especially relevant for capital-intensive sectors like industrials, energy, or infrastructure.
📘 Return on Invested Capital (ROIC)
📈 What is it?
ROIC measures how efficiently a company generates returns from the capital invested in its core operations – regardless of whether the capital comes from equity or debt.
🧮 How is it calculated?
- NOPAT = Net Operating Profit After Taxes
- Invested Capital = Operating assets minus non-interest-bearing liabilities
🏛️ Why is it important?
ROIC is one of the most accurate indicators of capital efficiency. Unlike return on equity, it is not distorted by leverage and shows how much value is created for all capital providers.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A high ROIC shows how effectively a company uses the capital that is truly invested in its core operations.
- Unlike ROCE, ROIC focuses only on the capital that is actively used to run the business – and that requires a return (i.e. interest-bearing).
- Especially useful when comparing companies with large amounts of excess cash or non-interest-bearing liabilities – giving a more realistic picture of capital efficiency.
📘 Leverage Ratio (Debt-to-Equity)
📈 What is it?
The leverage ratio indicates how much a company relies on interest-bearing debt (such as loans and bonds) relative to its shareholders’ equity.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
This ratio helps assess a company’s financial structure and risk profile. High leverage can enhance returns – but also increases exposure to interest rate changes and financial stress.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A low leverage ratio signals financial strength and independence.
- A higher ratio can improve returns in good times but increases risk during downturns or rising interest rate periods.
- 👉 Always interpret in the context of industry, capital intensity, and interest rate environment.
📘 SBC | in % Revenue
📈 What is it?
SBC (Stock-Based Compensation) refers to equity-based compensation granted by a company to its employees and executives. The percentage shows SBC relative to revenue.
🧮 How is it calculated?
SBC as % of Revenue = (SBC ÷ Revenue) × 100
🏛️ Why is it important?
Stock-based compensation is a real cost factor for shareholders. It can increase the number of shares outstanding and therefore dilute existing shareholders. The percentage of revenue shows how heavily a company relies on equity-based compensation and how significant this form of compensation is relative to the size of the business.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A lower figure is generally positive: Stock-based compensation is relatively small compared with the company's revenue.
- A high figure can indicate greater reliance on stock-based compensation and a higher potential risk of dilution. However, it is also important to consider whether the company offsets dilution through share buybacks.
- The trend over time should also be considered. A high but declining percentage presents a different picture from a persistently high or increasing percentage.
- A single-digit SBC-to-revenue ratio is not unusual among many growth-oriented and technology companies.
📘 SBC as % of FCF
📈 What is it?
SBC (Stock-Based Compensation) refers to equity-based compensation granted by a company to its employees and executives. The percentage shows SBC relative to free cash flow (FCF).
🧮 How is it calculated?
SBC as % of FCF = (SBC ÷ Free Cash Flow) × 100
🏛️ Why is it important?
Stock-based compensation is a real cost factor for shareholders. It can increase the number of shares outstanding and therefore dilute existing shareholders. The percentage of free cash flow shows how significant SBC is relative to the cash generated by the company. Since SBC is non-cash compensation, it is typically not deducted as a cash outflow when calculating FCF.
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A lower value is generally favorable. Stock-based compensation is relatively small compared with the company's cash generation.
- A high value means that SBC represents a significant portion of the company's reported free cash flow, even though SBC itself is non-cash.
- The higher the value, the more significant SBC can be as an economic cost to shareholders, particularly when it results in share dilution.
📘 SBC Growth 1Y
📈 What is it?
SBC Growth 1Y shows how much a company's stock-based compensation has changed compared to the previous year.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
SBC Growth shows whether stock-based compensation is becoming more or less significant for shareholders. If SBC increases significantly, it can lead to greater shareholder dilution over time. At the same time, SBC is a non-cash expense that reduces earnings on the income statement but is added back in the cash flow statement.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A high positive value is generally negative, as rising SBC can increase the burden on shareholders, particularly through potential dilution.
- What matters is whether the development of SBC is sustainable over the long term. Some level of SBC is common among many growth and technology companies.
📘 Share Count Growth 1Y
📈 What is it?
Share Count Growth 1Y shows how much the number of shares outstanding has increased or decreased over a one-year period.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
The number of shares determines how many shares the company's earnings and assets are distributed across. If the share count decreases, existing shareholders' relative ownership increases. If it increases, existing shareholders are diluted. The metric therefore makes dilution and share buybacks directly visible.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A negative value is generally positive, as the number of shares outstanding is decreasing.
- A positive value indicates dilution of existing shareholders.
- A declining share count is not automatically positive: It also matters at what price the shares are repurchased and how the buybacks are financed.
📘 Shareholder Yield
📈 What is it?
Shareholder Yield measures how much capital a company returns to shareholders or uses to reduce debt relative to its market capitalization. It goes beyond dividend yield by also including share buybacks and debt reduction.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
Dividend yield only tells part of the story. Companies can also return capital through share buybacks, while reducing debt can strengthen the balance sheet. Shareholder Yield combines all three components into one metric, giving investors a broader view of how a company uses its capital.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A higher Shareholder Yield generally indicates more capital being returned to shareholders or used to reduce debt.
- The mix matters: dividends, buybacks, and debt reduction can affect shareholders in different ways.
- Share buybacks are most beneficial when shares are repurchased at attractive valuations.
- Investors should also consider whether dividends, buybacks, and debt reduction are sustainable over time.
📘 Earnings per share (EPS)
📈 What is it?
Earnings per Share (EPS) shows how much profit is attributable to a single share – and is one of the most important metrics for evaluating a company's performance.
🧮 How is it calculated?
The diluted share count reflects potential new shares that could be issued through options, convertible bonds, or other rights.
🏛️ Why is it important?
EPS is the basis for many key valuation metrics like P/E ratio, PEG ratio, or payout ratio. It enables comparisons of profitability across companies, regardless of their size.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- EPS captures per-share profitability and is especially useful for comparisons over time or with analyst estimates.
- Rising EPS may signal consistent growth or share buybacks.
- Important: Always use diluted EPS for more realistic valuations – especially in companies with stock-based compensation.
📘 Free cash flow per share (FCF per share)
📈 What is it?
Free Cash Flow per Share shows how much free cash flow a company generates per outstanding share – after investments, but before dividends or debt repayments.
🧮 How is it calculated?
Free cash flow is calculated as operating cash flow minus capital expenditures (CapEx).
🏛️ Why is it important?
FCF per Share reveals how much real cash is available per share – useful for dividends, buybacks, or reducing debt. Unlike net income, free cash flow is harder to manipulate and often seen as a more reliable metric.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- High FCF per share signals strong financial flexibility.
- It shows how much capital the company can effectively reinvest or return to shareholders.
- Particularly relevant for dividend payers and capital-efficient businesses.
📘 Short interest
📈 What is it?
Short interest indicates how many shares of a company are currently sold short – that is, borrowed and sold by investors who expect the price to decline.
🧮 How is it calculated?
It reflects the percentage of a company’s shares that are being shorted relative to the total shares available.
🏛️ Why is it important?
Short interest serves as a sentiment indicator: A high value may signal skepticism or bearish expectations – but also increases the potential for a short squeeze if prices rise unexpectedly.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- Low short interest usually indicates market confidence in the company.
- High short interest can be a warning sign – or an opportunity if sentiment shifts.
- Especially relevant in volatile markets or ahead of key earnings releases.
📘 Employees
📈 What is it?
The employee count shows how many people a company employs worldwide – offering insights into its size, structure, and business model.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
It helps assess operational scale, labor intensity, and cost structure. Combined with revenue and profit, it enables key metrics like revenue per employee or productivity.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A high headcount can signal operational complexity – but also significant growth capacity.
- Revenue per employee is a key indicator of efficiency.
- Especially useful for comparing tech, industrial, or service-heavy companies.
📘 Revenue per employee
📈 What is it?
Revenue per employee indicates how much revenue a company generates on average per employee – a key measure of efficiency and productivity.
🧮 How is it calculated?
The employee count is typically taken from the most recent annual report.
🏛️ Why is it important?
This metric helps compare business models – especially between labor-intensive and technology-driven companies. A high value suggests automation, operational efficiency, or strong value creation per head.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A high revenue per employee indicates a scalable and margin-strong business model.
- A low figure may reflect labor-intensive operations or lower value-add.
- Especially helpful when comparing tech companies to industrial or service sectors.
FutureFuel Corp. Stock Analysis
Analyst Opinions
9 Analysts have issued a FutureFuel Corp. forecast:
Analyst Opinions
9 Analysts have issued a FutureFuel Corp. forecast:
FutureFuel Corp. Events
Past Events
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AUG
11
Q2 2026 Earnings Call
about 2 months ago
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StocksGuide Free
FutureFuel Corp. — Q2 2026 Earnings Call
1. Management Discussion
Greetings, and welcome to the FutureFuel Second Quarter Results Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] As a reminder, this conference is being recorded.
It is now my pleasure to introduce Rose Sparks, Chief Financial Officer. Please go ahead.
Thank you. Good morning, and welcome to the FutureFuel Second Quarter 2026 Results Conference Call. Leading the call today are our Chairman and CEO, Roeland Polet; and I'm Rose Sparks, the company's Chief Financial Officer.
After the close of U.S. trading yesterday, we issued a press release detailing our second quarter operational and financial results. This release is publicly available in the Investor Relations section of our corporate website at www.futurefuelcorporation.com.
I would like to remind you that management's commentary and responses to questions on today's conference call may include forward-looking statements, which, by their nature, are uncertain and outside the company's control. Although these forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations and beliefs, actual results could differ materially. For a discussion of some of the factors that could cause actual results to differ, please refer to the Risk Factors section of our latest reports filed with the SEC.
Additionally, please note that you can find reconciliations of all historical non-GAAP financial measures mentioned on this call in the press release issued this morning. Today's call will begin with prepared remarks from Roeland Polet, who will provide a business update, followed by my review of our second quarter financial performance. At the conclusion of these prepared remarks, we will open the line for questions.
With that, I'll turn the call over to Roeland.
Thank you, Rose, and good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining our call today. Again, I am Roeland Polet, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of FutureFuel. I joined the company nearly 2 years ago following more than 35 years in the specialty chemicals industry, including senior leadership roles at global manufacturing companies such as Valspar, Celanese and DSM-Firmenich.
Since joining FutureFuel in the late 2024, I've had the privilege of working alongside our more than 500 dedicated employees to position the business for a new chapter of profitable growth and long-term value creation. Over that period, we have strengthened the foundation of the company, sharpened our strategic priorities and developed a clear roadmap for the future, which I will be discussing in greater detail today.
This is FutureFuel's first quarterly results conference call with investors in more than a decade. With that in mind, my remarks today will serve as a reintroduction of the company, who we are, what we do, how we are competitively differentiated and the opportunities we see to create meaningful shareholder value over time.
Going forward, our leadership team is committed to providing shareholders with greater access, transparency and insight into our business. The resumption of quarterly investor conference calls is an important step in that commitment and reflects our intention to engage more consistently with the investment community.
With that introduction and given that this is our first conference call together, let's begin with a high-level overview of our business for those less acquainted with us.
FutureFuel is a 100% U.S.-based manufacturer operating through 2 distinct businesses: Specialty Chemicals and Biofuels, both are supported by our approximately 2,200-acre manufacturing complex in Batesville, Arkansas, where we combine product development, engineering, and commercial production on one integrated campus. The Batesville site has supported complex chemical manufacturing for approximately 50 years and represents an established operating platform that will be difficult to replicate where it builds today, given factors of scale, permitting and production unit complexity.
Our Chemicals business has 2 primary areas of focus: custom chemicals manufacturing for third parties together with proprietary specialty chemicals manufacturing. In custom manufacturing, we work closely with customers to develop scale and commercially produce specialized products under long-term production agreements. Our proprietary portfolio involves the production of our formulations using our own IP, which are then sold into a variety of different applications. The total production capacity of our chemicals operations is approximately 250 million pounds annually.
Our Biofuel business manufactures biodiesel from the same Batesville complex, which has approximately 60 million gallons of annual biodiesel production capacity. The business benefits from significant feedstock optionality, which allows us to optimize production economics. While biodiesel economics differ from those of our Specialty Chemicals segments, and are more influenced by commodity and regulatory conditions, the Biofuel segment serves as a complementary business to our core specialty chemicals focus serving future optimized, the Batesville complex, while facilitating economies of scale.
Next, let's walk through our unique value proposition and why we win in the markets we serve. Our primary competitive advantage is a scale, integration and technical depth of our Batesville complex. When a chemical customer comes to us, we provide them with one integrated site that includes state-of-the-art laboratories, engineering resources, flexible manufacturing units, wastewater treatment, logistic infrastructure permits and experienced technical teams.
Our platform allows customers to move from development to commercial production with fewer handoffs, lower execution risk and more capital-efficient production options. We offer a one-stop shop solution that is difficult to replicate within the continental United States, positioning us as an attractive reshoring play for chemicals customers who want to avoid supply chain risk associated with sourcing key formulations from overseas partners.
While the integration of the Batesville asset is itself a major draw for customers, our deep technical expertise and experienced skilled workforce are another integral piece of our overall value proposition. At Batesville, our teams manage production, raw material procurement, production quality and formulation consistency across batch and continuous processes. We have built a strong reputation for being the go-to production partner on complex, technical demanding programs that customers may not be able to manufacture efficiently themselves. In regard to our value proposition, it centers on reducing technical, operational and supply chain risk for the customer.
A typical relationship begins with customer bringing us molecule process or manufacturing challenge. We then evaluate the chemistry, safety requirements, production economics and equipment needs, then work through development and scale up before entering commercial production. As we demonstrate value, the relationship may expand through additional volumes, longer contracts, new products or customer-funded capacity because changing manufacturers can require requalifications, audits, process transfer and production risk. Customer programs are often multiyear engagements, creating long-term stickiness within the customer base.
To that end, the average relationship of our top customers in 2025 was more than 15 to 20 years, highlighting the long-term nature and stickiness of our customer relationships.
Before I walk us through what's next for FutureFuel, it is important to provide some perspective around the challenges we faced over the last several years. How we've responded to those challenges and why we were excited about, what comes next for the organization.
In the years leading up to 2026, there were 3 primary factors that impacted our operation and financial performance: Plant and production reliability, regulatory certainty around biofuels economics, and elevated raw material input costs.
Beginning with plant reliability. Over the past 2 years, we have made strides to improve the plant process, enhancing the site safety and driving higher site utilization through executing on a number of high-impact capital projects. As I'll discuss shortly, we are encouraged by the improvement utilization of Batesville in the first half of the year.
Second, with respect to the regulatory environment, we, together with the broader biofuels industry were granted much needed relief with a new set of 2 RFS volume mandates issued by the EPA in March of 2026.
Under the new mandates, the EPA established the highest blending mandates in the program's history, targeting a 60% increase over 2025. To meet the 2027 volume targets existing U.S. domestic biofuels production levels are expected to reach peak capacity, which we expect will benefit us. Further, also during the first quarter of 2026, the U.S. Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service issued regulations providing expanded guidance on a 45Z credit integrating changes from the budget Reconciliation Act of 2025. The rule is expected to help level the competitive environment for biodiesel by reducing the tax credit for SAF from $1.75 per gallon to $1 per gallon effective January 1, 2026. Requiring that all feedstocks be sourced from North America and requiring for biomass-based diesel and extending the 45Z credit for additional 2 years through year end 2029. Rose will speak more on how this benefits our business model shortly.
Finally, while both plant reliability and regulatory environment has improved meaningfully for us, raw material input costs remain elevated, which remains an area of focus for us.
Looking ahead, our value-creation road map centers on 3 key pillars, including commercial growth, operational excellence and a return-centric approach to capital allocation. Within our commercial growth pillar, our first priority is to increase penetration of key existing accounts as well as scale production volumes across the Batesville complex. We are focused on expanding the specialty chemicals pipeline, converting development products into commercial production and securing additional volumes from existing customers.
We will also pursue new custom manufacturing contracts and expand our proprietary chemicals portfolio into adjacent products and end markets for our technical capabilities and our existing infrastructure provide a clear advantage.
However, our objective is not simply to add volume. We intend to pursue programs that accelerate our shift towards higher value-add sales mix, whereby we capture ratable growth in margin realization within durable reoccurring revenue streams. By applying greater commercial discipline, we can concentrate our resources on the customers and opportunities with strongest potential to deliver profitable growth through the cycle.
Within our operational excellence pillar, we will seek to improve cost efficiency, utilization, safety, reliability across the Batesville complex. Higher sales volumes create value only when we can manufacture those volumes safely, consistently and an appropriate unit cost. We are therefore focused on plant reliability, production, scheduling, procurement, energy efficiency, maintenance practices and process productivity. We also intend to make operating performance more measurable and transparent by tracking metrics such as capacity utilization, plant uptime, safety performance and unit product costs, we can and will identify opportunities for improvement and hold the organization accountable for those improving results.
Finally, with respect to our capital allocation pillar, organic reinvestment will remain the top priority where products are supported by identifiable customer demand, including contractual commitments. Where appropriate, we will continue to seek customer-funded capacity expansions, while strengthening long-term commercial relationships. We will also evaluate complementary acquisition, particularly opportunities to add intellectual property, proprietary products or specialized capabilities that can be integrated into our Batesville platform. Any acquisition will strengthen our competitive position and meet disciplined financial return requirements.
Beyond reinvestment and acquisitions, we will continue to evaluate cash dividends and opportunistic share repurchases as part of a balanced approach to returning capital to shareholders. Taken together, each of the pillars of our strategic roadmap are designed to drive higher sales volumes, more efficient operations and stronger returns on invested capital. By growing selectively, operating more efficiently and allocating capital with discipline, we intend to produce more consistent earnings, cash generation and long-term shareholder value.
Turning now to a review of our second quarter results. The second quarter marked a return to profitable growth for FutureFuel, a performance driven by strengthening end market demand, improved production economics, continued cost discipline and enhanced optimization of our Batesville plant. At a strategic level, we remain highly focused on driving safe, reliable operations across the organization, while continuing to pursue customer co-investment in new capacity and capabilities as we seek to further accelerate growth within our core specialty chemical contract manufacturing markets.
As before, we remain on pace to deliver positive, adjusted EBITDA for the full year in 2026. At an operational level, total production increased 26% on a year-over-year basis in the second quarter, supported by broad-based demand growth across our specialty chemicals and biofuels end markets. Both segments generated positive gross profit per unit sold in the period and continue to exhibit strong operational momentum entering the second half of 2026.
Total Chemical segment production increased 34% year-over-year in the second quarter as increased demand across the energy and industrial end markets drove broad-based strength in both performance and custom chemical manufacturing. Chemicals gross profit was $5 million in the second quarter versus $1.1 million in the year ago period, reflecting improved volume throughput and stronger margin realization.
Biofuels segment production increased 21% year-over-year in the second quarter despite the impact of a more than 3-week biodiesel plant outage during the period as improved regulatory clarity and mandated renewable fuel production targets for 2026 and 2027 incentivized domestic production.
Biofuels gross profit was $10.1 million in the second quarter versus a gross loss of $13.5 million in the year ago period, reflecting improved plant reliability, higher throughput, better production economics, including a timing benefit related to ongoing biofuel hedging activities.
Our biodiesel production continues to ramp higher with third quarter production rates expected to exceed second quarter levels. Looking ahead, demand continues to remain robust across our chemicals and biofuel segment. While elevated input costs may continue to represent a near-term headwind for our business, we believe that our 100% domestic production footprint, deep technical expertise within specialty chemical manufacturing, capital-light approach to growth and long-term collaborations with world-class customer position our business for continued positive momentum.
With that, I'd like to hand the call over to Rose for her prepared remarks.
Thank you, Roeland, and good morning again to all those joining us. Today, I will provide a high-level overview of our second quarter financial performance, including a discussion of our balance sheet and liquidity profile at quarter end. Please note that the prior year comparisons have been adjusted to conform to the weighted average method of inventory costing adopted by the company January 1, 2026.
Total revenue was $78.7 million in the second quarter of 2026, an increase of 120.7% compared to $35.7 million in the second quarter of 2025. The increase in revenue was driven by higher throughput and improved revenue volume mix and higher average pricing in both the Chemical and Biofuel segments. Total volume growth was 40.4% during the second quarter of 2026, while average blended price increased by 80.2%.
Total gross profit was $15 million during the second quarter of 2026 versus a gross loss of $12.4 million during the second quarter of 2025. Second quarter gross profit benefited by $9.1 million related to the sale of physical inventory at prices above hedge levels, which fully offset realized derivative losses of $9.1 million recognized during the first quarter of 2026. Gross profit was benefited by unrealized derivative gains of $3.2 million during the second quarter of 2026. Excluding the derivative impacts, the year-over-year improvement in gross profit was driven by higher throughputs, improved price realization in both Chemicals and Biofuel segments.
We reported net income of $11.4 million during the second quarter of 2026 versus a net loss of $14.2 million in the second quarter of 2025. Adjusted EBITDA was $11.8 million during the second quarter of 2026 versus a loss of $11.4 million during the second quarter of 2025.
Turning to the Chemical segment. Chemical segment revenue increased $25.8 million during the second quarter of 2026 compared to $16.6 million in the second quarter of 2025. The increase was primarily driven by a 49% increase in volume product mix effects and a 6% benefit from higher average prices.
Custom Chemical revenue increased $18.5 million during the second quarter, up 30% from $14.3 million last year, primarily due to higher volumes of products sold to energy customers.
Performance Chemical revenue of $7.3 million during the second quarter was up from $2.4 million last year, primarily due to increased volumes for a new customer that began production during the fourth quarter of 2025. Chemical segment gross profit was $5 million during the second quarter of 2026, an improvement from $1.1 million in the second quarter of 2025. The improvement was driven by increased sales volumes in the energy market, including the new product revenue brought online in the fourth quarter of 2025 as well as increased fixed price absorption driven by the improved biofuel volumes.
Market conditions within the Chemicals segment continued to improve during the second quarter as demonstrated by improved capacity utilization, higher pricing and a growing pipeline of project activity. During the last 12 months, we've increased total chemical production capacity by 12% and expect to achieve continued improved operating leverage as production scales from current levels. Chemical segment capacity utilization improved to 65% during the second quarter of 2026, up from 54% in the prior year period.
Biofuels segment revenue increased $52.9 million during the second quarter of 2026 compared to $19.1 million in the same period last year. The increase was primarily driven by increased regulatory clarity, surrounding the Clean Fuel Production Credit and record high RVO levels.
Biofuel segment gross profit for the second quarter of 2026 was $10.1 million compared to a gross loss of $13.5 million in the prior year period, reflecting meaningful improvement driven by higher sales volumes and stronger price realization, while we continue to benefit from significant feedstock optionality, elevated input costs have partially offset the favorable pricing environment for finished products.
As previously disclosed, we recognized a $9 million hedging loss in the first quarter of 2026, and second quarter results reflect corresponding benefit of a similar magnitude as the underlying physical inventory was sold, and those previously recognized hedging costs were recovered.
Market conditions within the Biofuel segment continued to improve during the second quarter of 2026, given a favorable regulatory environment. Biofuel capacity utilization improved to 56% during the second quarter and sales volumes are expected to further improve during the second half of 2026, given improved regulatory clarity. Input costs for soybean oil and other raw materials used in the production of biofuels remain elevated, which is expected to have a continued near-term impact on Biofuels gross profit per gallon sold.
Turning the discussion to cash flow, balance sheet and liquidity. Net cash flow from operations was $18.8 million in the second quarter of 2026 compared to $5.2 million in the prior year period. Capital expenditures were $8 million in the second quarter, including $2.9 million of maintenance-related expenditures and $5.1 million of discretionary programs. In the first 6 months of 2026, capital expenditures were $13.4 million, including $4.1 million and $9.3 million related to maintenance and discretionary programs, respectively. Of the discretionary capital expenditures in the second quarter and the first 6 months of 2026, approximately $1.9 million and $3.5 million, respectively, were customer-funded investments related to capacity expansions and new customer programs.
As of June 30, 2026, the company had total cash and cash equivalents of $34.3 million up from $22.4 million at March 31, 2026, and a $35 million revolving credit facility with no outstanding borrowing. The increase in total cash between the first quarter of 2026 and the second quarter of 2026, was related to the reported operating profit in the second quarter of 2026 and customer funding related to custom chemical contract, partially offset by increased working capital requirements related to new program activity and capital expenditures to support growth.
During the second quarter, we secured a 4-year agreement with a third party to monetize Section 45Z Clean Fuel Production and Small Producer Tax Credits, consistent with our continued focus on balance sheet optimization. During the second half of 2026, we expect to receive $22 million in gross proceeds from the monetization of credits including approximately $3 million in the third quarter and $19 million in the fourth quarter.
That concludes our prepared remarks. Operator, we are now ready for the question-and-answer portion of our call.
[Operator Instructions]
Our first question is from Jeffrey Grampp with Northland Capital Markets.
2. Question Answer
Roeland, I was curious -- sure. I was curious to circle back on some of the comments you made about the improvements to plant performance and that being kind of a focus over the last couple of years for you guys. I'm curious if you could kind of contextualized things, I don't know, from the innings in a baseball game standpoint, maybe or whatever analogy you prefer, like where are we at in that kind of improvement cycle? Are we at where you guys want to be at today? Is there more optimization initiatives to go? Just any context there would be helpful.
Yes. Very good. Yes, Jeff, I'm a soccer guy. So we're kind of at the first half in injury time with the second half still need to be played. So we've made significant improvements in the last -- let me take a step back. We have about $1 billion of invested replacement value assets here in Batesville. So we have a significant site with significant capabilities, significant infrastructure that support those capabilities. So we've chosen to invest in the infrastructure around our site, wastewater treatment, the chemical incineration, all the assets that we need, nitrogen that we need to keep the plant running, the site running.
And then our site contains a lot of manufacturing cells that are put here by our customers that need to be supported. So I think we're -- I'm not a baseball guy, so I'm not sure about innings, but I'd say we're about 60% of the way -- 60% to 70% of the way there on really going after the most important infrastructure to make sure it's secure, to make sure it's dependable. And then our next step will be driving investment into efficiency. So we have a number of projects that we rank based on the payback that we can get on them where we will deploy capital against those projects to gain further efficiencies, operational efficiencies in the plant.
Got it. Those are helpful details. And for my follow-up, with respect to 45Z monetization I wanted to clarify, does that -- the agreement that you guys discussed in the release, does that cover essentially all of your expected 45Z generation through 2029? Is there additional monetization to do? And any clarity, I guess, on the quantum of monetization throughout that contract period?
Jeff, this is Rose. So, yes, the that we have quoted is for 2026 and 2025. So there's approximately $3 million that we were able to cash in Q3. And then there will be an additional $19 million on a gross basis that we will cash in December of this year. So that's an annual monetization that will occur each year as we produce product and sell it.
Our next question is from Jason Tilchen with Canaccord Genuity.
Congrats on the strong results and for hosting the first call in quite some time. It's an honor to participate. One thing I was curious about, you mentioned focus on some of these very niche complex, dangerous chemistries that others maybe don't want to or can't produce on-site. Can you elaborate on some of those core competencies that allow you to take on these projects in a safe and compliant manner? And what are some of the ways either through pricing or long-term relationships that you're able to extract value from those capabilities?
Yes. And again, thank you very much for calling in. Our history dates back to -- and not to take you back too far, but dates back to the Kodak days. And this plant made photographic chemicals as well as was set up to make sort of precursors to the pharmaceutical industry. So it has a long history, and it was permitted to operate very complex chemistries and in certain instances, dangerous chemistries.
This was also the site that all chemistries for later on Eastman and all chemistries were proven at this site and were tested at this site to make sure that they can be run and we have extensive facilities to do that, to be run in the Eastman plant and now in the FutureFuel plant. So it has a history that it's permitted to run complex dangerous chemistries. There's a lot of permit head space. The equipment that was installed and then we have since then reinvested in a lot of this equipment was installed to handle those complex chemistries.
And we're sitting on 2,200 acres in the middle of Arkansas, where we have the permit capability, and we have the capability to expand even further to drive it. But it really goes back to our history as a plant that was purpose-built to make complex chemistries.
And then I'll add one point to that, because we're in the middle of Arkansas, we are very self-contained. So we have everything that we need here. We also have the R&D department, the testing department. We have everything that we need in order to support that production.
Great. That's very helpful overview. And in the release in the prepared remarks, you mentioned an agreement with one of your customers to fund an investment of more than $40 million over the next 2 years to support incremental capacity. Just wondering if you could maybe share a little more about how that relationship has evolved? And if that's one of those 15, 20 relationships or maybe it's a bit on the newer side? And then more broadly, are there other opportunities like this that you're currently evaluating? And if so, do those have to sort of happen consecutively? Can there be multiple projects similar to this that you're pursuing at once? Any color would be really appreciated.
Yes, those are great questions. So our business model, and we do biodiesel and we run chemicals, right? In our Chemicals division, we have some proprietary chemicals that we make for ourselves and we market. But the majority of our business is contract manufacturing. So where on our site under our permitting with the benefit of chemical incineration, with the benefit of oversized wastewater treatment and all that, our customers build plants. We call them plants, but they're really kind of small production cells, right, that they build on our site and take advantage of existing infrastructure that we have here, so the lowest capital cost for them, the complex and dangerous chemistry knowledge that we have.
So that is our business model. And so we made reference to a, expansion that we're doing. We're doubling or tripling the capacity in that expansion. But that is our business model with other customers. So we have a long pipeline, a healthy pipeline of customer product combinations that we're now in engineering phases to execute building of plants on our site that we then will operate on behalf of those customers. And that's exactly what our business model is in chemicals.
Okay. That makes a ton of sense. And just last one for me. You've guided to positive adjusted EBITDA in 2026. If you were to sort of fast forward 6, 7 months and you're talking about your full year results. Are there one or two things, either on the upside or the downside, if results come in above or below expectations, that would be sort of the key things that you can sort of see now that would either drive that upside or that downside relative to expectations?
Yes. Of course, we're like any other company, right, where we are not impervious to things that happen in the economy or shocks in the economy that will have an effect on us as well. We stick with our guidance towards profitable EBITDA year-end, having a profitable 2026. And there'll be some -- there will be some lumps in between that we work our way through if there's a shock in soybean oil, that could have a negative effect, the reversal of that is all our inputs in the biodiesel business are commodities. They are at all-time high. So we would expect them to start reverting back to more of the mean values, and that should have a positive effect in our business.
We are exposed to the oil and gas industry and the oil and gas complex. So the current geopolitical situation is somewhat beneficial to that. And if that continues longer, that should be beneficial, should that go away and oil prices come back down dramatically, that could have some effect on our business, right? So that's kind of how to think about it.
Our next question is from Jeff Van Sinderen with B. Riley Securities.
You mentioned sort of building out, I guess, you would call them production cells for customers on the chemical business. Just wondering if you can give us more color on what you're seeing there? Has there been an increase in incoming request to build out those cells? What does the time frame look like around those? And then how do you see that impacting revenue and profitability, say, over the next year or so for the chemical business?
So I will tell you there is something that's very positive about that business, something that could be frustrating about the business, right? So the positive news is -- but once you build these out, it tends to stay on the site and it doesn't leave. The frustrating part is there is lead times, right? There's 1.5 to 2-year lead times from starting the project to finishing the engineering, starting to build, we would have to modify part of our plants and build it and then start production.
So I'd say you have to think about lead times around 1.5 years to 2 years from the start of a project to -- and we have projects that are currently in the pipeline, so not all projects that we're working on at that full 2 years. And then once commercialized right? A lot of the capital is allocated by the customer to the projects or we will recover the capital over the life of a project. And the life of a project, you have to think about that they usually started about 3 years -- 3-year contracts, and they will often continue on to 5 to 6 years, if not longer. We have projects -- products that we've been making here for 20 years under those kind of contracts. But they take a little time to ramp up. There's an approval. It's -- they are critical processes. But once they are ramped up, they tend to stay here.
Okay. Great. And then I guess, if we can switch a little bit over to the gross margin outlook. Any more color or any sense you can give us on gross margin outlook for the rest of the year? And then overall, what sort of quarterly cadence do you anticipate for the remainder of the year, maybe versus Q2?
The quarterly cadence in terms of -- maybe you can clarify it a little bit?
Yes, sure. Just trying to get a sense of -- I mean, is your metrics were really good here. I'm just wondering, do you think we're going to see sequential growth? Do you think we see gross margins improve further, just trying to get a sense of any metrics we can -- without giving -- without asking you to give guidance, just any sense...
So maybe to give color, right, let's go to the biofuels, right? So biofuels, we are running at margins that are higher than what we had anticipated, yet our inputs remain highly elevated, right? So when you see announcements like I think it was ADM or Cargill bringing on more soybean crush capacity because there's a bit of a shortage in soybean oil, that's good news for us, right? So that at some point, needs to translate to lower unit cost or lower cost in soybean oil, right?
Record harvest for soybeans at some point will translate to lower input costs. So the margin levels that we enjoy today, we don't see anything on the horizon that will dramatically disrupt that. And then in biodiesel, the elements that drive that input cost on the biodiesel market would have you believe that there's going to be a reversion back to the mean in terms of the cost. So there should be some upside, right? We don't have that in our numbers. We're not projecting that. But that's how we kind of think about it.
There are no further questions at this time. I would like to hand the floor back over to Roeland Polet for any closing comments.
Yes. Thank you very much, everyone, for showing an interest in FutureFuel. We believe we have a great business here. We also believe that we need to be more transparent with our investor base, and we intend to do so through investor presentations and further calls. And with that, we look forward to welcoming you back on our Q3 call later in the year. Thank you.
This concludes today's conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you again for your participation.
Financial data from FutureFuel Corp.
Revenue
Revenue is the sum of all sales generated by a company, e.g. for its products or services.
Revenue (TTM) metric explainedDirect Costs
Direct costs are the costs incurred directly in connection with the manufacture of the product or service.
Gross Profit
Gross Profit indicates how much of the revenue remains in the company after deducting direct production costs. If the percentage share of sales is calculated, this is referred to as the gross margin.
Gross Profit metric explainedSelling and Administrative Expenses
Selling, general and administrative expenses (SG&A) include all expenses for marketing and sales as well as the general administration of the company.
Research and Development Expense
Research and development costs (R&D) provide information on how much the company invests in the research and development of its products. The costs are particularly interesting as a percentage of revenue and in comparison to direct competitors.
EBITDA
EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization) is the company's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. The EBITDA margin is calculated as a percentage of sales.
Depreciation and Amortization
Depreciation represents reductions in the value of the company's assets (e.g. due to wear and tear on machinery).
EBIT (Operating Income)
EBIT (Earnings Before Interest and Taxes) is the company's profit before interest and taxes, also known as the operating income. The EBIT Margin is calculated as a percentage of sales at
.
Net Profit
Net Profit represents the profit or loss after deduction of all costs.
Net Profit metric explainedStocksGuide Premium
| Jun '26 |
+/-
%
|
||
| Revenue | 153 153 |
8%
8%
100%
|
|
| - Direct Costs | 170 170 |
7%
7%
111%
|
|
| Gross Profit | -17 -17 |
2%
2%
-11%
|
|
| - Selling and Administrative Expenses | 12 12 |
16%
16%
8%
|
|
| - Research and Development Expense | 3.07 3.07 |
32%
32%
2%
|
|
| EBITDA | -22 -22 |
6%
6%
-14%
|
|
| - Depreciation and Amortization | 10 10 |
12%
12%
7%
|
|
| EBIT (Operating Income) EBIT | -32 -32 |
1%
1%
-21%
|
|
| Net Profit | -31 -31 |
16%
16%
-20%
|
|
In millions USD.
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FutureFuel Corp. Stock News
Company Profile
FutureFuel Corp.is engaged in the development, manufacture and marketing of biofuels and specialty chemicals. It operates through the Chemicals and Biofuels segment. The Chemicals segment produces chemical products that are sold to third party customers. The Biofuels segment includes the manufacture and market of biodiesel, including biodiesel blends with petrodiesel, petrodiesel with no biodiesel added, RINs, biodiesel production byproducts and the purchase and sale of other petroleum products. The company was founded by Lee E. Mikles and Paul Anthony Novelly on August 12, 2005 and is headquartered in Clayton, MO.
StocksGuide Premium
| Head office | United States |
| CEO | Mr. Polet |
| Employees | 493 |
| Founded | 2005 |
| Website | www.futurefuelcorporation.com |
