Start here if you're new
what it is
Compass Minerals sells road salt and crop nutrients, so your thesis depends on winter storms and farm demand.
how it gets paid
Last year Compass Minerals made $1.2B in revenue. Highway deicing salt was the main engine at $0.66B, or 55% of sales.
why it's growing
Revenue grew 11.3% last year. The quarter worked because salt volumes showed up.
what just happened
Latest quarter revenue hit $396M, up 29% vs. prior year, and EPS landed at $0.43.
At a glance
B balance sheet — gets the job done, barely
55/100 earnings predictability — expect surprises
46.3x trailing p/e — you're paying up for this one
6.5% return on capital — nothing to write home about
xvary composite: 47/100 — below average
What they do
Compass Minerals sells road salt and crop nutrients, so your thesis depends on winter storms and farm demand.
This is a delivery moat, not a brand moat. When roads ice over, your city needs product fast, and the salt business just posted 12% revenue growth in the September quarter on highway deicing demand. That matters because a late shipment is not an inconvenience. It is a budget meeting and a pileup.
How they make money
$1.2B
annual revenue · their business grew +11.3% last year
Highway deicing salt
$0.66B
+12.0%
Consumer & industrial salt
$0.18B
flat
Magnesium chloride
$0.12B
+29.0%
Sulfate of potash
$0.18B
flat
Micronutrient plant nutrition
$0.06B
flat
The products that matter
road deicing products
Salt and Magnesium Chloride
$1.2B revenue base
this is the business that pays the bills, and its demand swings with winter weather more than investors usually like.
core
specialty mineral products
Industrial and Agricultural Minerals
$420M · 35% of sales
this part of the business adds roughly $420M in revenue, but 35% of sales is still not enough to make CMP a diversified industrial.
partial offset
Key numbers
$832M
long-term debt
That debt load is larger than the roughly $800 million market cap, so your upside comes after a very real creditor stack.
2.0%
operating margin
Operating margin means profit after running the business. Plain English: Compass keeps 2 cents of every sales dollar before interest and taxes, so small mistakes matter.
46.3x
trailing p/e
P/E means price divided by earnings. Plain English: you are paying 46 times past profit for a company expected to earn just $0.40 in fiscal 2026.
$16
18-month target
That target sits below the current $18.53 price, which tells you the baseline analyst view is downside first, recovery later.
Financial health
B
strength
- balance sheet grade B — adequate — nothing special
- risk rank 4 — safer than 20% of stocks
- price stability 15 / 100
- long-term debt $832M (51% of capital)
- net profit margin 3.8% — keeps 4 cents of every dollar in revenue
- return on equity 13% — $0.13 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 CMP 3 years ago → it's now worth $4,530.
The index would have given you $13,920.
source: institutional data · total return
What just happened
beat estimates
Latest quarter revenue hit $396M, up 29% vs. prior year, and EPS landed at $0.43.
The quarter worked because salt volumes showed up. Company commentary said salt segment revenue rose 12% in the September period thanks to strong highway deicing demand.
$396M
revenue
$0.43
eps
16.0%
gross margin
the number that mattered
$396 million mattered because this is a fixed-cost business, and volume growth is the fastest way to rescue a 2.0% operating margin.
-
compass minerals international reported another quarter of better operating performance.
-
the top line advanced nearly 9% for the september period, from a year ago.
-
salt segment revenue led the way, rising 12% thanks to impressive volume growth.
-
this was due to strong demand for highway deicing products.revenue at the much smaller plant nutrition operation was essentially flat compared with the prior-year levels.
-
operating costs also declined, and the share deficit narrowed considerably for the period, to $0.17. Results may well continue to improve, though we expect a measure of unevenness will persist.
source: company earnings report, 2026
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What could go wrong
the top risk is a weak winter that cuts deicing demand while leverage stays high.
high
weather risk is still the whole story
about 65% of sales still tie back to deicing. a light winter can hit volume fast.
most of the $1.2B revenue base is still exposed to snow and ice demand
high
debt leaves little room for mistakes
long-term debt is $832M, or 51% of capital. that's a lot for a business earning 1.2% net margins.
balance sheet pressure can outlast one better quarter
med
thin margins turn small misses into big earnings swings
gross margin is 16.0%. net margin is 1.2%. there is not much cushion between operating friction and lost profit.
the $0.40 fy2026 EPS estimate does not leave much room for a stumble
med
institutions are still leaning the wrong way
79 buyers versus 106 sellers across the last three quarters is not a vote of confidence.
continued selling can cap multiple expansion even if operations stabilize
with $832M in long-term debt, a 1.2% net margin, and most revenue still tied to deicing, CMP does not need a disaster to disappoint you.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
metric
whether EPS can clear the $0.40 full-year bar
that estimate is low. missing it would tell you margin pressure is still in charge.
risk
debt staying stuck near $832M
for a business with 1.2% net margins, leverage matters almost as much as weather.
calendar
the next winter-driven quarter
this is when deicing demand shows up in the numbers instead of the story.
trend
whether institutional selling finally stops
three straight quarters of net selling is a pattern. one quarter of net buying would be new information.
Analyst rankings
short-term outlook
average
momentum score 3. in human-speak, analysts do not see a strong short-term edge either way.
risk profile
below average
stability score 4. plain English: this stock tends to swing more than most, and the business gives it reasons to.
chart momentum
average
technical score 3. the chart is not screaming turnaround yet.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
institutions have been net selling for 3 consecutive quarters — 79 buyers vs. 106 sellers in 3q2025. total institutional holdings: 38.5M shares. net selling for 3 quarters.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
$6
$25
$19
current price
$16
target midpoint · 14% from current · 3-5yr high: $25 (+35% · 9% ann'l return)
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