NLI Holdings (NL) Stock Analysis & Winston Score

NL Industries is a holding company based in Dallas, Texas. Its main business comes through its majority stake in CompX International, which makes security products like locks and cabinets used in medical equipment, recreational vehicles, and office furniture. CompX is one of the larger makers of specialty security components in North America.

NL Industries earns money through CompX's product sales to manufacturers in industries like healthcare, marine, and transportation. The company operates mostly in the United States and generates a few hundred million dollars in annual revenue. Its competitive position relies on long-standing customer relationships and specialized product designs that are not easy to copy quickly. The main risk is that NL's financial performance is closely tied to how well CompX does, and CompX depends heavily on demand from industrial customers, which tends to slow down when the broader economy weakens.

Winston Score History

Growth Profile

For growth stock investors

When traditional metrics don't capture the full picture, these are the signals growth stock investors use instead.

Revenue Growth

+0.7% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

Slow revenue growth

EPS Growth

+789.0% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

Strong earnings growth

R&D Spend

$0/ year

0.0% of revenue

Below sector average (4%)

Research and development spending

Insider Activity

83.1%ownership

→ Flat

Insiders holding steady — not selling despite ability to

Cash Runway

~7 years

$105M cash & investments

Quarterly Free Cash Flow

↓ Burn rate worsening

$105M cash & investments at current burn rate

Growth context

NLI Holdings is growing revenue at 1% year-over-year. The Winston Score measures business quality today — these growth metrics show what could matter tomorrow.

The Winston Score above measures business quality today. Growth stocks often score lower because they invest in the future rather than maximising current profits. These metrics show what matters most for evaluating that future.

Share count broadly stable

+0.1% over 4y

The share count has stayed roughly flat over this period — little dilution or buyback activity.

Diluted shares outstanding: 48.8M (2021) → 48.9M (2025)

Score breakdown

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Quality

Gross Margin

32.7%

Modest — 32.7% gross margin

Operating Margin

11.6%

Modest — 11.6% operating margin

ROCE

1.3%

Weak — 1.3% return on capital

ROIC between 0% and 5%. They earn a few cents back per dollar invested in the business.

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Growth

Sales YoY

+7.0%

Slow sales growth (7.0% YoY)

EPS YoY

-155.5%

Earnings shrinking (-155.5% YoY)

Earnings per share down more than 10%. Either a bad year, or a real decline.

EPS Consistency

2/8 quarters

Earnings rarely grow — volatile business

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Cash Flow

Cash Conversion

N/A

Data not available

FCF Margin

2.6%

Thin free cash flow (2.6%)

FCF margin between 0% and 10%. Some cash from sales, but not a lot.

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Stability

Debt / Equity

0.00

Conservative — low debt load (0.00)

Interest Cover

54.92x

Comfortably covers interest (54.9x)

Interest coverage above 8. Profits cover interest many times over.

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Valuation

P/E Ratio (TTM)

N/M

Negative earnings — P/E not meaningful

P/E vs Forward

N/A

not available

Data not available

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Dividends

Dividend Yield

9.80%

Healthy income — 9.80% yield

Yield above 6% — often a flag the market is pricing in a cut.

Dividend Growth

-19.1%

Dividend cut (-19.1% YoY) — warning sign

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