Quality Investor

Escalade, Incorporated

Rank #249Hypergrowth

ESCA · Nasdaq · Consumer Cyclical

Escalade, Incorporated (ESCA) — Rank #249 by gross profitability (GP/assets 0.28) · ROE 7.5% · Piotroski F-Score 5 / 9.

As-of 2026-09-15 · CIK 0000033488 · all metrics point-in-time as of the filing date.

About

Escalade, Incorporated manufactures, distributes, imports, and sells sporting goods in North America, Europe, and internationally.

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The company provides various sporting goods brands in basketball goals, archery, indoor and outdoor game recreation, and fitness products. It offers archery products under the Bear Archery, Trophy Ridge, Cajun Bowfishing, SIK, and BearX brand names; table tennis products under the STIGA and Ping-Pong brands; basketball goals under the Goalrilla, Goaliath, Silverback, Hoopstar, and Goalsetter brand names; and pickleball under the Onix, and DURA brands. The company provides play systems under the Woodplay and Jack & June brands; fitness products under the STEP, Lifeline, Kettleworx, Natural Fitness, USW, adidas Fitness, and PER4M brand names; safety products under the US Weight brand; hockey and soccer game tables under the Triumph, Atomic, American Legend, Air Hockey, and HJ Scott brands; and billiard tables and accessories under the American Heritage Billiards, Brunswick Billiards, Cue&Case, Lucasi, Mizerak, PureX, Rage, Players, Minnesota Fats, and Mosconi brand names. In addition, it offers darting products under the Unicorn, DMI, Arachnid, and Accudart brands; water sports products under the RAVE Sports brand; and outdoor game products under the Victory Tailgate, Triumph, ACL, and Zume Games brand names. The company provides its products through sporting goods retailers, specialty dealers, online retailers, direct-to-consumer, e-commerce, traditional department stores, and mass merchants.

Escalade, Incorporated was founded in 1919 and is headquartered in Evansville, Indiana.

Industry
Leisure
Sector
Consumer Cyclical
State
IN
Filer Category
Accelerated filerSmaller reporting company
Fiscal Year End
December 31

Price History

ESCA+8.8% · +1.7% CAGRSPY+80.5% · +12.5% CAGR

Company Snapshot

P/S is the primary valuation lens — earnings are reinvested, not available for P/E.

Market Cap

$265.69M

P/E (annual)

19.5

P/S (annual)

1.1

P/B

1.5

P/OCF (annual)

8.6

Shareholder Yield

7.4%

Employees

437

Industry

Leisure

Exchange

Nasdaq

Signal Flags

2 green1 yellow2 red
Revenue growth acceleratingGrowth rate increasing year over year
Sequential beat (rev + EPS)Both revenue and EPS exceeded prior quarter — 2-quarter streak
Disclosure regressionA previously-disclosed line item is no longer reported — worth checking the filing for why
Operating margin decliningOperating margin lower than prior year
Balance sheet deterioratingNet cash collapsed with receivables or inventory outpacing revenue

Quality Profile

Profitability

1/1 pass
GP / assets
0.28
Return on equity
7.5%
Gross margin trend
PASS

Safety

1/1 pass
Balance-sheet safety
PASS
Debt / equity
0.28
Current ratio
3.21×
Net cash
-$9.80M

Cash Flow

3/3 pass
Positive FCF
PASS
Cash-backed earnings
PASS
Accruals healthy
PASS
SBC / revenue
0.7%

Growth

2/2 pass
Revenue growth
36.6%
Piotroski F-Score
5 / 9
Share dilution
-4.2%

Terry Smith quality gate

Passes 2/5 Terry Smith thresholds

What Growth Is Priced In

Implied revenue growth (10Y)

-2.8%

incredible deal

The annual FCF growth rate today's price requires over a 10-year horizon (discount rate 10%, terminal growth 2.5%).

Buyback tailwind: -4.2% — per-share value needs a total required return of -7.0% once share-count change is priced in.

vs. own 6-year median revenue growth: 0.9%

within its own history

Cost-of-equity sensitivity (implied growth at different discount rates)

r = 8%

-6.4%

r = 10% (base)

-2.8%

r = 12%

0.4%

Net debt / market cap: 3.7%

Base FCF: $28.5M3Y mean FCF: $9.4M

Valuation History

Current multiple vs historical range at each filing date. Band spans 25th-75th percentile.

P / E

Price / diluted EPS

17.9xFair
9.1xmed 16.3x21.7x

P / S

Price / revenue per share

0.7xCheap
0.7xmed 1.1x1.4x

P / B

Price / book value per share

1.0xCheap
1.0xmed 1.8x2.6x

P / GP

Price / gross profit per share

3.1xCheap
3.0xmed 3.8x4.2x

P / FCF

Price / free cash flow per share

9.3xCheap
9.3xmed 18.2x56.7x

Revenue growth and the path to profitability (margin trend) are the primary reads at this stage.

Profitability

Gross profitability (GP / assets)

0.28

Primary signal (Novy-Marx).

7th of 7 SIC 39 peers

Return on equity

7.5%

Gross margin

26.9%

7th of 7 SIC 39 peers

Revenue growth (YoY)

36.6%

Gross margin improving

Margin trend vs prior year.

PASS

Operating Leverage

2016201720182019
Revenue vs COGS
Revenue vs OpEx
Op. Income vs Revenue

Growth

Revenue CAGR (3Y)

Revenue CAGR (5Y)

Earnings CAGR (3Y)

-8.7%

FCF CAGR (3Y)

Anti-fragile safety

Balance-sheet safety

Composite anti-fragile check.

PASS

Debt / equity

0.28

1st of 6 SIC 39 peers (best = lowest)

Current ratio

3.21×

4th of 7 SIC 39 peers

Quick ratio

1.36×

Net cash

-$9.80M

Cash & equivalents minus total debt.

Cash-flow health

Free cash flow

$28.50M

Operating cash flow minus capex.

Positive free cash flow

PASS

FCF / net income

1.08

Cash-backing of earnings.

FCF/NI divergence

Unfavorable divergence (yellow flag).

PASS

Accruals healthy

Cash-backed earnings.

PASS

SBC / revenue

0.7%

Stock-based comp intensity.

Dividend safety

Composite score

3.0 / 5

Good
Payout ratio
60.4%2/5 Fair
FCF coverage
3.44×5/5 Strong
Dividend growth streak
0 yr0/5 Weak
Balance-sheet health
D/E 0.28 · IC 22.40×5/5 Strong

Piotroski F-Score

F-Score

5 / 9

Fundamental-strength score (0-9).

Lifecycle Phase History

20142019
Value
Capital Return