Start here if you're new
what it is
Arq makes carbon products and emissions-control tech for boilers, water cleanup, and industrial purification.
how it gets paid
Last year Arq made $120M in revenue. Activated carbon products was the main engine at $72M, or 60% of sales.
why it's growing
Revenue grew 10.4% last year. Annual revenue reached $120M, up 10.4% vs. prior year.
what just happened
Arq posted $91M of latest-quarter revenue and lost $0.06 a share.
At a glance
B balance sheet — gets the job done, barely
10/100 earnings predictability — expect surprises
0.3x trailing p/e — the market's not buying it — or you found a deal
40.2% return on capital — every dollar works hard here
-$0.14 fy2024 eps est
xvary composite: 38/100 — weak
What they do
Arq makes carbon products and emissions-control tech for boilers, water cleanup, and industrial purification.
Arq sells the unglamorous gear that helps plants meet rules. CyClean, M-45, and M-45-PC treat coal before it burns, so nitrogen oxide and mercury drop. Your customer is buying a permit-friendly fix, not a brand, and $120M of annual revenue shows the need is real.
How they make money
$120M
annual revenue · their business grew +10.4% last year
Activated carbon products
$72M
+12.0%
Coal-treatment technologies
$18M
+8.0%
Mercury and air controls
$21M
+5.0%
Water and purification products
$9M
+6.0%
The products that matter
water and air filtration material
Powdered Activated Carbon
$120–125M 2026 revenue guide
This is the core business. If you own ARQ, this product family is carrying almost the entire 2026 plan.
core business
paused growth project
Granular Activated Carbon (GAC)
0 contribution in 2026 guidance
Production is suspended for optimization, so management's 2026 guide assumes no help from GAC. That removes one of the few obvious ways to broaden revenue beyond the current core product.
paused
Key numbers
$120M
annual revenue
You get $120M of sales against an ~$82M market cap. The market is pricing the whole company at less than 1x annual sales.
44.0%
operating margin
For every $100 of sales, $44 disappears at the operating line. That leaves very little room for mistakes.
$15M
long-term debt
Debt equals 16% of capital. That is manageable until earnings stay negative.
1.25
beta
A 1.25 beta means the stock swings 25% harder than the market. Your ride is bumpier than average.
Financial health
B
strength
- balance sheet grade B — adequate — nothing special
- risk rank 4 — safer than 20% of stocks
- price stability 5 / 100
- long-term debt $15M (16% of capital)
B — functional but not a standout on the balance sheet.
Total return vs. market
Return history isn't available for ARQ right now.
source: institutional data · return history unavailable
What just happened
missed estimates
Arq posted $91M of latest-quarter revenue and lost $0.06 a share.
Annual revenue reached $120M, up 10.4% vs. prior year. Gross margin was 13.6%, down from 36% in the prior-year quarter, so more sales did not turn into better profit.
$91.0M
revenue
-$0.06
eps
13.6%
gross margin
gross margin
13.6% gross margin mattered most. It was 22.4 points below 36% in the prior-year quarter.
source: company earnings report, 2026
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What could go wrong
the #1 risk is gross margin recovery in powdered activated carbon after Q4 fell to 13.6%.
med
Gross margin stays broken
Gross margin fell to 13.6% in Q4 2025 from 36% from a year ago. That is not a rounding error. That is the business model taking a bad quarter straight to the chin.
If margin stays closer to 13.6% than 36%, the $120–125M revenue target matters far less because too little of each sales dollar turns into profit.
med
Small player, limited pricing power
The top five companies control more than 50% of the global activated carbon market. ARQ is the company reacting to industry conditions, not dictating them.
If costs rise or customers push back, a subscale operator has fewer ways to protect margin. Q4 already showed what that looks like.
med
GAC stays on the bench
Granular Activated Carbon production is suspended for optimization, and the 2026 plan assumes zero contribution from it. That keeps ARQ tied to one core revenue stream.
If GAC stays paused longer than expected, the path to $17–20M of adjusted EBITDA rests almost entirely on the existing powdered activated carbon business improving fast.
A margin recovery from 13.6% back toward historical levels is the whole story. Without it, $17–20M of adjusted EBITDA looks aggressive and the stock stays cheap for a reason.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
margin
gross margin recovery
The next report needs to show whether 13.6% was a one-quarter failure or the start of a lower-margin reality. That's the catch with this stock.
guidance
2026 revenue and adjusted ebitda plan
Watch whether quarterly results keep the company on pace for $120–125M of revenue and $17–20M of adjusted EBITDA. After Q4, management has to earn that credibility back.
balance sheet
how much stress $15M of debt becomes
Debt is 16% of capital today. Fine if margins normalize. Less fine if another weak quarter shows up before earnings recover.
project
GAC restart timing
Any update on GAC matters because it is one of the few visible ways to reduce dependence on the current powdered activated carbon business.
Analyst rankings
earnings predictability
10 / 100
Low predictability means the business is hard to model. In human-speak: you should expect lumpy quarters and a market that reacts hard when the model breaks.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
institutional ownership data for ARQ is being compiled.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
n/a
n/a
$4
current price
n/a
target midpoint · n/a from current
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