NL

NL is not an operating chemicals business despite its SIC code — the MD&A is explicit that it is 'primarily a holding company' whose value is a stack of assets: its majority stake in CompX (CIX), a 31% equity-method interest in Kronos Worldwide (KRO, TiO2 pigments), $111M of cash, and marketable securities. That framing reframes the ugly headline: the FY2025 net loss of -$37.8M (-$0.77 EPS) is dominated by non-operating and non-cash items — $33.9M of equity losses from Kronos (versus +$26.4M of earnings in 2024), a $19.7M non-cash pension-plan buyout loss, and a $13.6M unrealized markdown on marketable securities. Meanwhile the operating businesses held up: MD&A notes CompX segment profit actually rose to $22.6M from $17.0M, revenue grew 8.5% to $158M, and gross profit expanded 16.5%. So the loss is more a swing in Kronos's cyclical TiO2 earnings and one-time charges than structural deterioration.

The balance sheet is a genuine strength and the core of the value case. Stockholders' equity is $359M — roughly $7.34/share against a $6.28 price, so the stock trades at ~0.86x book. There is no meaningful debt, current assets ($160M) dwarf current liabilities ($20.6M), and $249M of retained earnings underpins a long dividend history. The declared dividend of $27.9M works out to ~$0.57/share, a ~9% trailing yield. For a value-oriented owner, this is a cheap, debt-free, dividend-paying claim on CompX plus a cyclical option on a Kronos/TiO2 recovery off what looks like a trough year.