Start here if you're new
what it is
NTIC sells rust-prevention products and compostable plastics in more than 65 countries.
how it gets paid
Last year Northern Tech made $84M in revenue. ZERUST industrial was the main engine at $55.2M, or 66% of sales.
why growth slowed
Revenue fell 1.0% last year. The key number was 0.2% operating margin, because decent gross margin still turned into almost no operating profit.
what just happened
NTIC posted $23M in quarterly revenue, up 9% vs. prior year, but EPS fell 50% to $0.03.
At a glance
B balance sheet — gets the job done, barely
30/100 earnings predictability — expect surprises
652121226043247872.0x trailing p/e — you're paying up for this one
0.5% dividend yield — cash in your pocket every quarter
0.4% return on capital — nothing to write home about
xvary composite: 45/100 — below average
What they do
NTIC sells rust-prevention products and compostable plastics in more than 65 countries.
NTIC wins with niche products that solve expensive, boring problems. Rust prevention sounds small until you remember it is sold in over 65 countries and ZERUST industrial alone produced $55.171 million of the company’s $84.234 million in annual sales. If your factory trusts one packaging system to keep parts from corroding, switching is a hassle with real failure risk.
How they make money
$84M
annual revenue · their business grew -1.0% last year
ZERUST industrial
$55.2M
+2.4%
ZERUST oil and gas
$10.1M
6.9%
Natur-Tec resin compounds
$12.0M
6.9%
Natur-Tec finished products
$7.0M
6.9%
The products that matter
industrial corrosion prevention products
ZERUST Industrial
$55.2M · 66% of sales
It's the core business at $55.2M, and it grew 2.4% last year. If you want the story to improve, this segment has to do more than just stay positive.
main revenue base
oil and gas corrosion services
ZERUST Oil & Gas
$28.8M · 34% of sales
This is still a third of the company, but sales fell 6.0% last year. When a segment this large shrinks, the rest of the business feels it.
shrinking segment
wholly owned China operation
NTIC China
$4.9M in q1 · +23.5%
China posted $4.9M in sales in the latest quarter, up 23.5% from a year ago. That's the best growth figure on the page, but it's still small next to the $84M whole.
fastest pocket of growth
Key numbers
0.2%
operating margin
Operating margin → profit after running the business → so what, NTIC keeps about $0.002 on each $1 of sales.
$84.2M
annual revenue
This is a real, established business, but the scale is still tiny against public-market expectations.
$55.2M
ZERUST industrial
One product family drives about 65.5% of sales, which tells you where the business is strong and where concentration risk lives.
0.6
beta
Beta → how jumpy a stock is versus the market → so what, NTIC has traded less wildly than many microcaps.
Financial health
B
strength
- balance sheet grade B — adequate — nothing special
- risk rank 4 — safer than 20% of stocks
- price stability 40 / 100
- long-term debt $1M (1% of capital)
B — functional but not a standout on the balance sheet.
Total return vs. market
Return history isn't available for NTIC right now.
source: institutional data · return history unavailable
What just happened
missed estimates
NTIC posted $23M in quarterly revenue, up 9% vs. prior year, but EPS fell 50% to $0.03.
Sales improved, but profit did not keep up. Gross margin was 36.0%, yet net income for fiscal Q1 2026 was only $238,000, showing how thin the earnings cushion is.
$23M
revenue
$0.03
eps
36.0%
gross margin
the number that mattered
The key number was 0.2% operating margin, because decent gross margin still turned into almost no operating profit.
source: company earnings report, 2026
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What could go wrong
The #1 risk is margin compression inside the ZERUST business model. NTIC already showed you the pattern: higher sales, lower profit.
high
Revenue growth keeps missing the profit line
Latest-quarter sales rose 9.2%, but net income fell 76% to $238k. That is not a small miss. It is a business warning you that incremental revenue is not carrying much margin.
Impact: if this pattern holds, the stock stops being a turnaround candidate and starts looking like a permanently low-margin distributor.
med
Joint venture income keeps sliding
Joint venture income fell 13% to $2.3M in the latest quarter, and joint venture operating income dropped 12.9%. This matters because the network is a core part of the business story.
Impact: weaker JV economics reduce one of the few differentiated pieces of the NTIC model.
med
Oil & Gas stays weak
ZERUST Oil & Gas is 34% of annual sales and declined 6.0% last year. When a third of the company is shrinking, the rest has to work much harder just to keep total revenue flat.
Impact: if Oil & Gas keeps falling, industrial growth alone is unlikely to carry the whole business.
The combined risk picture is simple: $84M in annual sales produced a 0.2% operating margin, and the latest quarter produced only $238k in net income. There is no buffer here.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
next report
Q2 2026 earnings on Apr. 9, 2026
One quarter does not make a trend. Two start to. If net income is still hugging zero, the margin problem is the story.
joint ventures
Whether JV income stops falling
The latest quarter showed a 13% drop to $2.3M. You want stabilization here because the network is supposed to add earnings breadth, not remove it.
profitability
Any move above a 0.2% operating margin
This is the cleanest test on the page. Sales can bounce around. A margin this thin is what keeps the stock cheap.
segment risk
Whether Oil & Gas keeps shrinking
It is 34% of sales and declined 6.0% last year. If that slide continues, the industrial side has to do all the lifting.
Analyst rankings
earnings predictability
30 / 100
in human-speak, analysts do not see this business as clean or easy to model
coverage depth
1 analyst
One analyst target means less debate, less pressure-testing, and more room for the stock to drift on sparse information.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
institutional ownership data for NTIC is being compiled.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
n/a
n/a
$9
current price
n/a
target midpoint · n/a from current
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