Kadant Inc
KAI Industrials Specialty Industrial Machinery
Kadant Inc’s revenue for fiscal 2025 (year ended December 2025) was $1.1 billion, roughly unchanged from fiscal 2024. In the quarter to June 2026, revenue grew 22.6%, EPS grew 23.9%, free cash flow grew 15.9% and total debt rose 105.1%, each against the same quarter a year earlier. Dividend growth for ten consecutive years.
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Kadant Inc (KAI) Altman Z-score
Kadant Inc's Altman Z-score for fiscal 2025 is 4.70, in the safe zone (above 2.99).
Altman Z-score, annual
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Annual newest first
| Period | Altman Z-score | Change (points) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | 4.70 | (1.73) |
| FY2024 | 6.43 | (0.92) |
| FY2023 | 7.35 | 2.54 |
| FY2022 | 4.81 | 0.09 |
| FY2021 | 4.72 | 0.56 |
| FY2020 | 4.15 | 0.87 |
| FY2019 | 3.29 | (0.50) |
| FY2018 | 3.78 | 0.45 |
| FY2017 | 3.33 | (1.27) |
| FY2016 | 4.60 | 0.16 |
How fiscal 2025’s score is made up
| Component | This year | Year before | Result | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Working capital / total assets | 0.18 | — | 0.22 | |
| Retained earnings / total assets | 0.55 | — | 0.77 | |
| EBIT / total assets | 0.09 | — | 0.30 | |
| Market value of equity / total liabilities | 4.65 | — | 2.79 | |
| Sales / total assets | 0.61 | — | 0.61 | |
| Altman Z-score | Safe zone | 4.70 | ||
| Z″ Variant for non-manufacturing and asset-light companies (drops the sales/assets term, uses book equity) | Safe zone | 5.06 | ||
How the Altman Z-score works
Z = 1.2 × working capital ÷ total assets + 1.4 × retained earnings ÷ total assets + 3.3 × EBIT ÷ total assets + 0.6 × market value of equity ÷ total liabilities + 1.0 × revenue ÷ total assets (Altman, 1968). The market value of equity is the close on the last trading day of the fiscal year times weighted basic shares.
Z″ = 6.56 × working capital ÷ total assets + 3.26 × retained earnings ÷ total assets + 6.72 × EBIT ÷ total assets + 1.05 × book equity ÷ total liabilities (Altman, Hartzell and Peck, 1995), the variant for non-manufacturing and asset-light companies.
| Zone | Z | Z″ |
|---|---|---|
| Safe zone | above 2.99 | above 2.60 |
| Grey zone | 1.81–2.99 | 1.10–2.60 |
| Distress zone | below 1.81 | below 1.10 |
Not worked out for banks, insurers and REITs, whose balance sheets the model does not describe, nor when a figure is missing or there is no share price in the week to the fiscal year end.
Altman Z-score against peers
| Company | Altman Z-score |
|---|---|
| FELE Franklin Electric Co., Inc. compare | 6.9× |
| SXI Standex International Corporation compare | 5.4× |
| KAI Kadant Inc | 4.7× |
| MWA MUELLER WATER PRODUCTS compare | 4.4× |
| CSW CSW Industrials, Inc. compare | 3.4× |
| HLIO Helios Technologies, Inc compare | 3.2× |
| SMR NuScale Power Corporation compare | 3.2× |
| MIR Mirion Technologies, Inc. compare | 2.2× |
| CXT Crane NXT, Co. compare | 1.9× |
What Altman Z-score is
The Altman Z-Score weighs working capital, retained earnings, operating profit, market value and sales against assets and debts to gauge the risk of distress.
1.2 × working capital ÷ total assets + 1.4 × retained earnings ÷ total assets + 3.3 × EBIT ÷ total assets + 0.6 × market value of equity ÷ total liabilities + 1.0 × revenue ÷ total assets