Deep Value: cash covers more than 100% of the stock price

This company holds roughly $8M in cash and investments — more than its entire stock-market value, based on its latest quarterly filing. You're paying very little for the actual business. Sometimes that's a genuine bargain or a takeover target, sometimes it's cheap for a reason. Not a buy signal on its own — always ask why it's this cheap.

ZK International Group Co.

ZKIN

Steel · Basic Materials

Price

$1.09

+0.02 (+1.74%)

pre-market:$1.01-7.22%

Market Cap

$6.2M

Exchange

NASDAQ

Winston Score

Winston is worried

Weak fundamentals across most pillars.

Data as of Aug 13, 2026 · filings through Sep 30, 2025

Share count rising — dilution

+81.7% over 4y

The company has issued more shares over this period, which dilutes each existing shareholder’s stake.

Diluted shares outstanding: 3.1M (2021) → 5.7M (2025)

ZK International Group is a Chinese company that makes steel pipes and fittings used in water and gas distribution systems. Its main customers are municipal governments, construction companies, and utilities that need piping infrastructure for cities and towns. The company focuses on stainless steel and other specialty pipe products designed to meet China's water safety standards.

ZK International earns money by selling its pipe products directly to project developers and government-backed infrastructure projects, primarily in China. It is a small company with a market cap under $100 million, and it faces intense competition from much larger Chinese steel manufacturers. The company's thin gross margin of around 5.7% and negative operating margin signal that it struggles to cover its costs, which is a significant financial risk. Growth depends heavily on Chinese government spending on water infrastructure upgrades, but rising raw material costs and pricing pressure from competitors remain the key challenges the business must navigate.

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

-43.5% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

Revenue declining

EPS Growth

-19.7% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

Earnings declining

R&D Spend

$859,697/ year

↓ Declining (-28% vs prior year)

1.2% of revenue

Below sector average (3%)

R&D spend declining — could signal cost-cutting or efficiency

Insider Activity

19.7%ownership

Insiders own a meaningful stake in the company

Cash Position

Cash flow positive

$12M cash & investments

Quarterly Free Cash Flow

↑ Burn rate improving

Company generates more cash than it spends — no dilution risk from fundraising

Revenue declining

ZK International Group Co.'s revenue is actually shrinking. In a growth stock, that removes the core investment thesis. The low Winston Score here may be warranted — unless there's a turnaround story.

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.

Score breakdown

Every number that matters to educated investors.

Each metric is explained in plain language so you know exactly what you're looking at. Start your free trial now.

Quality

Gross Margin

5.9%

Thin — 5.9% gross margin

Operating Margin

-6.4%

Losing money on operations — -6.4%

ROCE

-4.2%

Weak — -4.2% return on capital

Negative ROIC means the business is losing money on every dollar invested in it.

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Growth

Sales YoY

-34.2%

Shrinking sales (-34.2% YoY)

EPS YoY

N/A

—

Data not available

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

0.3%

Thin free cash flow (0.3%)

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

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Stability

Debt / Equity

0.95

Moderate — manageable debt (0.95)

Interest Cover

N/A

Data not available

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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

Not applicable for this business.

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