ACU

ACME United is a small, unglamorous but well-run maker of scissors, knives, sharpeners and — increasingly — first aid and medical products, which now make up ~66% of sales. FY2025 was quietly solid rather than exciting: revenue crept up 1.1% to $196.5M and net income rose 1.6% to $10.2M, held back explicitly by the cancellation of school/office orders in Q3–Q4 as customers balked at tariff uncertainty (U.S. segment sales fell 1%). The real story is beneath the flat top line. Operating cash flow jumped 52% to $18.2M, long-term debt was cut 33% to $11.9M, equity grew 10%, and liabilities/equity sits at a conservative 0.45x with ~$53M of untapped credit availability. This is a business de-levering and self-funding while investing (capex +49%, including robotics in three facilities) rather than one under stress.

The forward picture is better than the trailing numbers. The 10-K discloses the January 15, 2026 close of the My Medic acquisition — a tactical/trauma/emergency-response line with ~$19M annual revenue, roughly a 10% bolt-on to the base that is not yet in any reported figure — plus a smaller ~$2M German cutting/sharpening deal. On a rough $19M at the current ~5.2% net margin, that alone is ~$0.26 of incremental diluted EPS on top of the $2.49 base, and first aid/medical is the higher-growth, stickier part of the mix. Management cites an eleven-year average sales growth rate of 7%, so the flat 2025 reads more as a tariff-driven air pocket than structural decline.