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what it is
Leggett & Platt makes the parts inside mattresses, furniture, store displays, and some car seats.
how it gets paid
Last year Leggett & Platt made $4.1B in revenue. Bedding products was the main engine at $1.64B, or 40% of sales.
why growth slowed
Revenue fell 7.5% last year. Revenue fell about 11% to $939M. Retailer merchandising shifts hit adjustable beds and specialty foam.
what just happened
$0.22 EPS missed the $0.27 estimate by 18.52% as revenue fell about 11% to $939M.
At a glance
B+ balance sheet — decent shape, but not bulletproof
70/100 earnings predictability — reasonably predictable
11.0x trailing p/e — the market's not buying it — or you found a deal
1.7% dividend yield — cash in your pocket every quarter
7.0% return on capital — nothing to write home about
xvary composite: 57/100 — below average
What they do
Leggett & Platt makes the parts inside mattresses, furniture, store displays, and some car seats.
You buy beds and furniture, not Leggett's logo. Bedding is 40% of sales, furniture is 32%, and specialized products are 28%. That split means one weak market does not hit every aisle at once, and your supplier list gets sticky once factories are built around its parts.
How they make money
$4.1B
annual revenue · their business grew -7.5% last year
Bedding products
$1.64B
Furniture products
$1.31B
Specialized products
$1.15B
The products that matter
bedding components supplier
bedding components
part of a $4.1B business
the snapshot does not break out this line by revenue. what you do know is the whole company generated $4.1B and declined 7.5% from last year, so mattress demand and replacement cycles matter more than product-story hype.
cyclical demand
residential and office inputs
furnishings components
9.4% operating margin
this is the kind of business where margin tells you more than branding. a 9.4% operating margin is decent for manufacturing, but not high enough to shrug off a weak order book.
margin matters
engineered industrial products
the wider components portfolio
3.7% net margin
leggett keeps about 4 cents of each revenue dollar after costs. that is the catch: you do not need a collapse to hurt earnings when margins are this thin.
thin cushion
Key numbers
$4.1B
annual sales
That is the whole revenue base. A 7.5% drop means $410M less to spread across the plant floor.
11.0x
trailing p/e
You are paying 11.0 times earnings for a company with projected earnings growth of -1.5%.
9.4%
operating margin
That means $9.40 of every $100 stays after operations. Thin margins leave little room for another sales drop.
$1.5B
long-term debt
Debt equals 48% of capital. That is not fatal, but it limits how much the company can spend fixing itself.
Financial health
B+
strength
- balance sheet grade B+ — solid but not elite
- risk rank 3 — safer than 50% of stocks
- price stability 40 / 100
- long-term debt $1.5B (48% of capital)
- net profit margin 3.7% — keeps 4 cents of every dollar in revenue
- return on equity 14% — $0.14 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 LEG 3 years ago → it's now worth $3,770.
The index would have given you $14,540.
source: institutional data · total return
What just happened
missed estimates
$0.22 EPS missed the $0.27 estimate by 18.52% as revenue fell about 11% to $939M.
Revenue fell about 11% to $939M. Retailer merchandising shifts hit adjustable beds and specialty foam. Automotive supply-chain disruptions added pressure. Textiles, work furniture, and higher trade wire activity helped offset part of it.
$939M
revenue
$0.22
eps
18.5%
gross margin
eps miss
The $0.22 print versus $0.27 was the number that mattered. It was an 18.52% miss.
-
leggett & platt posted mixed fourth-quarter results.
-
revenues fell about 11% vs. prior year to $939 million, pressured by several key factors.
-
retailer merchandising shifts in its adjustable bed and specialty foam segments, automotive supply-chain disruptions, lower hydraulic cylinder activity, and the prior-year aerospace divestiture caused the reduction in top-line revenue.
-
these declines were partially offset by gains in textiles, work furniture, higher trade wire and rod activity, and metal margin expansion tied to steel tariffs.
-
a lower top line led to a decline in gross profits, but the company benefited from reduced administrative costs.
source: company earnings report, 2026
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What could go wrong
the #1 risk is customer and legal exposure tied to somnigroup international, but the fuller problem is a thin-margin manufacturer carrying $1.5B of debt into a soft demand backdrop.
med
somnigroup exposure is large enough to matter
a public filing on 28 feb 2025 flagged litigation, legal, reputational, and related risk tied to Somnigroup International.
stated exposure of $615M–$1.0B in revenue is not a footnote. it is a material chunk of a $4.1B business.
med
$1.5B of debt limits your margin for error
long-term debt equals 48% of capital. that is manageable when volumes cooperate and less comfortable when they do not.
with only a 3.7% net margin, a few bad quarters hit equity value faster than they hit a sturdier balance sheet.
med
demand softness is still the main operating problem
sales fell 7.5% from last year. this is a supplier business, so weak end-market orders show up fast.
if revenue keeps shrinking from the $4.1B base, the low multiple stops looking cheap and starts looking descriptive.
med
returns are too ordinary for a premium rerating
return on capital is 7.0% and operating margin is 9.4%. those are workable numbers, not standout numbers.
the stock needs an earnings recovery to re-rate. multiple expansion by itself is a thin thesis when business quality looks average.
put it together: a $4.1B manufacturer with $1.5B of debt, a 3.7% net margin, and a possible $615M–$1.0B customer/legal exposure does not get many bad surprises for free.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
earnings
the next revenue print
after a 7.5% sales drop, you want proof the decline is bottoming. flat is better than another step down.
margin
operating margin versus 9.4%
above 9.4%, the recovery story gains credibility. below it, the value case gets thinner fast.
risk
somnigroup updates
$615M–$1.0B of potential revenue exposure is too large to ignore. you want clarity, not more vague legal language.
flow
institutional buying staying alive
114 buyers versus 102 sellers in 4Q2025 is constructive. if that fades while fundamentals stay weak, the support bid gets thinner.
Analyst rankings
earnings predictability
70 / 100
in human-speak, the business is steady enough to model, but not steady enough for you to treat estimates like facts.
risk rank
3
roughly middle of the pack on safety. not distressed. not a defensive safe haven either.
price stability
40 / 100
the share price has not behaved like a steady compounder. the $6–$13 range already told you that.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
institutions have been net buying for 2 consecutive quarters — 114 buyers vs. 102 sellers in 4q2025. total institutional holdings: 0.1B shares. net buying for 2 quarters.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
$4
$15
$12
current price
$10
target midpoint · 13% from current · 3-5yr high: $25 (+115% · 22% ann'l return)
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