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what it is
Albany sells the fabrics paper mills need to run and also makes aerospace parts like landing gear braces and fan blades.
how it gets paid
Last year Albany made ~$1.2B in revenue. Paper machine clothing remained the largest segment in many filings (~60% class); reconcile segment tables to your reporting period.
why growth slowed
Revenue fell ~3.9% last year on a consolidated view. Q3 2025 showed how fast reported gross profit can break when program charges hit—use segment disclosures, not one stale margin % pulled from a bad feed.
what just happened
Q3 2025: revenue ~$261M (down double-digits YoY on reported figures) with heavy CH-53K-related charges; adjusted EPS ~$0.71 slightly beat some consensus feeds while GAAP EPS was deeply negative—label which EPS your headline uses.
At a glance
B++ balance sheet — above average — nothing keeping you up at night
80/100 earnings predictability — you can trust these numbers
19.0x trailing p/e — priced about right
2.2% dividend yield — cash in your pocket every quarter
8.5% return on capital — nothing to write home about
xvary composite: 53/100 — below average
What they do
Albany sells the fabrics paper mills need to run and also makes aerospace parts like landing gear braces and fan blades.
Albany owns about 30% of the global paper machine clothing market. That is replacement demand, not wishful thinking: if your paper line stops, your mill stops, and downtime costs more than the fabric. You are buying a company that sits inside a customer process, with custom-engineered products and 47% of sales coming from outside the U.S. in 2024.
How they make money
$1.2B
annual revenue · their business grew -3.9% last year
Paper machine clothing
$0.72B
5.0%
Aircraft engine fan blades
$0.19B
+8.0%
Aircraft landing gear braces
$0.17B
+6.0%
Other engineered composites
$0.12B
+3.0%
The products that matter
engineered fabrics for paper mills
Paper Machine Clothing
30% global share
this is the legacy cash engine. management says Albany holds about 30% of the global market, but this page does not show a segment revenue split, so you cannot see from this snapshot alone how much of the recent slowdown sits here.
mature core
advanced aerospace composite parts
Engineered Composites
LEAP program exposure
this is the growth bet. management pointed to stronger LEAP program volumes in 2025, and that matters because a $1.2B company with shrinking consolidated revenue needs the higher-value side of the portfolio to start showing up in reported numbers.
growth bet
3d weaving and engineered components
Higher-margin mix shift
post-2025 repositioning
Albany is walking away from lower-margin structural assembly work after discontinuing Gulfstream and CH-53K contracts. that's the quiet part: some revenue leaving the building is good revenue to lose if the replacement work earns better margins.
margin watch
Key numbers
3.1%
operating margin
Operating margin is profit before interest and taxes as a percent of sales. This snapshot’s ~3% class reading is thin; Q3 2025 included major charges—use segment adjusted EBITDA from the release when you want a cleaner operations read.
19.0x
trailing p/e
P/E means price versus last year's earnings. You are paying 19 times trailing profit for a business with falling EPS.
8.5%
return on capital
Return on capital means how much profit the company gets from the money tied up in the business. At 8.5%, this is decent, not elite.
$481M
long-term debt
Debt is 24% of capital, which is manageable, but it gives Albany less room if the paper business stays soft.
Financial health
B++
strength
- balance sheet grade B++ — above average financial health
- risk rank 3 — safer than 50% of stocks
- price stability 55 / 100
- long-term debt $481M (24% of capital)
- net profit margin 7.9% — keeps 8 cents of every dollar in revenue
- return on equity 12% — $0.12 profit for every $1 investors have put in
B++ — functional but not a standout on the balance sheet.
Total return vs. market
You invested $10,000 in AIN 3 years ago → it's now worth $5,450.
The index would have given you $13,920.
source: institutional data · total return
What just happened
mixed / noisy
Q3 2025 revenue ~$261M (down ~12% YoY on reported figures); adjusted EPS ~$0.71 vs. ~$0.70 consensus on some feeds.
Third quarter 2025 was dominated by CH-53K program charges and reserves—reported GAAP EPS was sharply negative while adjusted items can look better. Ignore impossible lines like “$862M revenue up 230%” for this ticker; they were feed corruption, not filings.
~$261M
Q3 revenue
~$0.71
adj. EPS (ref.)
charges
GAAP noise
the number that mattered
Whether engineered-composites charges are contained—and whether machine clothing cash generation holds—matters more than any single adjusted EPS penny-beat headline.
-
albany international has endured a challenging 2025, thus far.
-
third-quarter results were pressured by softer machine clothing volumes, particularly in asia and china, modest margin compression from lower utilization, higher interest expense, and continued drag from lower-margined structural assembly work, partially offset by disciplined cost control and stronger leap program volumes within engineered composites.although there is some indication that performance improved in the december period, the headwinds earlier in 2025 have set the tone.
-
all told, we have lowered our top- and bottom-line estimates to reflect these struggles.we look for sales to come in at around $1.16 billion (down from $1.2 billion previously) and earnings to fall to $2.70 a share (previously $3.05 a share).
-
there are some positives worth considering here.we believe that sales and earnings growth should improve as engineered composites benefits from increased leap program volumes and broader adoption of advanced aerospace materials, which ought to drive higher revenue and margins. meanwhile, a recovery in machine clothing end markets, especially tissue and packaging, plus cost optimization and strategic focus on high-value segments, should further bolster the top and bottom lines in 2026.
-
the ongoing shift away from lower-margined structural assembly work (discontinuation of gulfstream/ch-53k contracts), toward core 3d weaving and engineered components, positions the company to capture higher-margined opportunities across commercial aerospace, defense platforms, and industrial applications.
sources: Albany International Q3 2025 materials (SEC/IR) · cross-check segment tables vs. any consensus EPS feed
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What could go wrong
the #1 risk is paper-machine clothing demand staying weak while engineered composites stays too small to carry consolidated results.
high
machine clothing volumes keep sliding
Management already pointed to softer volume in Asia and China. Revenue fell 3.9% last year, and the latest quarter was down 12% from a year ago.
this is still the business that throws off the cash. if volume stays weak, margin pressure does too.
high
the aerospace offset shows up too slowly
The bull case leans on stronger LEAP volumes and more advanced composites work. If that ramp disappoints, you are left owning a shrinking industrial business at 19x trailing earnings.
the stock loses the part of the story investors are willing to pay up for.
med
mix shift takes longer than management wants
Albany is exiting lower-margin structural assembly work and leaning into 3D weaving and engineered components. That makes strategic sense, but the transition can still make reported results uglier before they get better.
the latest quarter already showed the downside of waiting: -$3.37 EPS and a -4.8% margin.
$1.2B of revenue, $481M of long-term debt, and a 7.1% net margin do not leave much room for a long stall. If paper stays soft and aerospace growth slips, the recovery case gets delayed again.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
earnings
the next volume read in paper-machine clothing
if revenue is still down double digits next quarter, the turnaround clock moves back again. this is the cleanest test of whether 2025 was the trough or just the first bad year.
growth
LEAP volumes showing up in consolidated numbers
management said LEAP improved in 2025. you want to see that growth matter at the company level, not just in commentary.
margin
whether -4.8% was a one-quarter mess or the new baseline
Albany does not need heroic margins. it does need to get back above zero fast enough to prove the operating model still works.
estimates
whether analysts stop cutting the numbers
revenue expectations already dropped to about $1.16B from $1.2B and EPS to $2.70 from $3.05. if cuts keep coming, the stock probably does not rerate yet.
Analyst rankings
short-term outlook
below average
momentum score 4. in human-speak, analysts think this stock still has more proving to do than most names.
risk profile
average
stability score 3. this is not a bunker stock, but it is not a balance-sheet emergency either.
chart momentum
below average
technical score 4. the chart still agrees with the cautious reading of the fundamentals.
earnings predictability
80 / 100
the numbers are fairly dependable. the issue is not accounting noise. the issue is weak demand hitting a business with limited margin cushion.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
institutions have been net selling for 3 consecutive quarters — 111 buyers vs. 150 sellers in 3q2025. total institutional holdings: 31.5M shares. net selling for 3 quarters.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
$39
$103
$51
current price
$71
target midpoint · +38% from current · 3-5yr high: $105 (+105% · 21% ann'l return)
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