FRIEDMAN INDUSTRIES INC
FRD · Steel Works, Blast Furnaces & Rolling & Finishing Mills · 7.1M shares · +1%/yr ↑ shares · EDGAR filings ↗
Net buyback after stock comp: $5M (gross $5M)
Reference price $16.94 · est. market cap ~$120M — last insider purchase, 2026-03-18 (estimated from the dated SEC Form 4 price × shares outstanding — not a live quote)
Grade
C57Small steel processor with thin profitability, weak cash position and barely-covered interest.
Strengths
- High current ratio (4.3, 78th pct) and positive ROA (2.7%, 69th pct)
- Positive net income with manageable headline returns
Risks
- Interest coverage of just 1.03x and only ~1.8 quarters of cash runway (21st pct) with negative FCF
- Earnings down 65% and very low cash ($3.7M); no filing detail to corroborate, lowering confidence
Notable findings
- Cash burnNegative free cash flow (-8.4M)
- Insider buyingInsider buying — 6 open-market buy(s) by 2 insider(s) (cluster of 2 insiders, last 6mo) Form 4 ↗
Key metrics
Return on equity
4.6%
Return on assets
2.7%
Net-income growth
-64.9%
Interest coverage
1.0×
Current ratio
4.3×
Free cash flow
-$8M
EBITDA
$6M
Tangible book value
$132M
Cash & investments
$4M
Cash runway
2q
Insider transactions · last 18 months
| Date | Insider | Type | Shares | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-06-03 | Taylor Mike J | Grant | 30K | — |
| 2026-06-03 | Chhibbar Gaurav | Grant | 15K | — |
| 2026-06-03 | LaRue Alex | Grant | 10K | — |
| 2026-03-18 | Chhibbar Gaurav | Buy | 400 | $16.94 |
| 2026-03-09 | Taylor Mike J | Buy | 500 | $18.00 |
| 2026-03-03 | Taylor Mike J | Buy | 400 | $18.00 |
| 2026-02-23 | Taylor Mike J | Buy | 100 | $18.00 |
| 2026-02-19 | Chhibbar Gaurav | Buy | 1.0K | $18.35 |
| 2026-02-18 | Taylor Mike J | Buy | 600 | $18.75 |
| 2025-12-02 | Taylor Mike J | Buy | 500 | $18.74 |
| 2025-12-01 | Scott Sandra Kay | Buy | 500 | $20.27 |
| 2025-11-28 | Scott Sandra Kay | Buy | 500 | $20.05 |
| 2025-11-24 | Taylor Mike J | Buy | 1.0K | $19.47 |
| 2025-11-21 | Taylor Mike J | Buy | 1.0K | $19.28 |
| 2025-11-01 | Chhibbar Gaurav | Grant | 50K | — |
| 2025-10-01 | Scott Sandra Kay | Grant | 457 | $21.90 |
| 2025-10-01 | Hanson Michael Donn | Grant | 457 | $21.90 |
| 2025-10-01 | WILLIAMS JOE L | Grant | 457 | $21.90 |
| 2025-10-01 | Reichenthal Max Alan | Grant | 457 | $21.90 |
| 2025-10-01 | Taylor Sharon L | Grant | 457 | $21.90 |
| 2025-10-01 | Stevenson Tim Scott | Grant | 457 | $21.90 |
| 2025-04-01 | Taylor Mike J | Grant | 50K | — |
| 2025-04-01 | LaRue Alex | Tax withheld | 296 | $14.89 |
| 2025-04-01 | LaRue Alex | Grant | 9.3K | — |
| 2025-02-11 | Stevenson Tim Scott | Buy | 1.5K | $17.23 |
| 2025-01-29 | Scott Sandra Kay | Buy | 500 | $14.34 |
| 2025-01-28 | Scott Sandra Kay | Buy | 500 | $14.23 |
| 2025-01-27 | Scott Sandra Kay | Buy | 700 | $14.21 |
| 2025-01-15 | Taylor Mike J | Buy | 2.5K | $14.10 |
| 2025-01-14 | Taylor Mike J | Buy | 520 | $14.50 |
| 2025-01-13 | Taylor Mike J | Buy | 2.0K | $14.50 |
| 2025-01-02 | Agrawal Durga D | Grant | 671 | — |
| 2025-01-02 | WILLIAMS JOE L | Grant | 671 | — |
| 2025-01-02 | Reichenthal Max Alan | Grant | 671 | — |
| 2025-01-02 | Scott Sandra Kay | Grant | 671 | — |
| 2025-01-02 | Taylor Sharon L | Grant | 671 | — |
| 2025-01-02 | Stevenson Tim Scott | Grant | 671 | — |
All non-derivative Form 4 activity (SEC), newest first.
Notable events (8-K)
| Date | Items | |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-06-11 | ResultsExhibits | filing ↗ |
| 2026-03-17 | Reg FDExhibits | filing ↗ |
| 2026-02-09 | ResultsExhibits | filing ↗ |
| 2025-12-15 | Material agreementDebt obligationExhibits | filing ↗ |
| 2025-11-10 | ResultsExhibits | filing ↗ |
| 2025-11-10 | Exhibits | filing ↗ |
| 2025-09-23 | Shareholder vote | filing ↗ |
| 2025-09-03 | Material agreementAcquisition/dispositionDebt obligationExhibits | filing ↗ |
Recent filings
| Form | Filed | Period | Accession |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8-K | 2026-06-11 | 2026-06-11 | 0001437749-26-020332 ↗ |
| 10-K | 2026-06-11 | 2026-03-31 | 0001437749-26-020323 ↗ |
| 8-K | 2026-03-17 | 2026-03-17 | 0001437749-26-008573 ↗ |
| 10-Q | 2026-02-09 | 2025-12-31 | 0001437749-26-003530 ↗ |
| 8-K | 2026-02-09 | 2026-02-09 | 0001437749-26-003541 ↗ |
| 8-K | 2025-12-15 | 2025-12-09 | 0001437749-25-037861 ↗ |
| 10-Q | 2025-11-10 | 2025-09-30 | 0001437749-25-034118 ↗ |
| 8-K | 2025-11-10 | 2025-11-10 | 0001437749-25-034129 ↗ |
| 8-K/A | 2025-11-10 | 2025-08-29 | 0001437749-25-034049 ↗ |
| 8-K | 2025-09-23 | 2025-09-18 | 0001437749-25-029681 ↗ |
| 8-K | 2025-09-03 | 2025-08-29 | 0001437749-25-028241 ↗ |
| 10-Q | 2025-08-07 | 2025-06-30 | 0001437749-25-025433 ↗ |