Quality Investor

Mesa Laboratories, Inc.

Rank #150Hypergrowth

MLAB · Nasdaq · Technology

Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (MLAB) — Rank #150 by gross profitability (GP/assets 0.38) · ROE 3.6% · Piotroski F-Score 6 / 9.

As-of 2026-09-15 · CIK 0000724004 · all metrics point-in-time as of the filing date.

About

Mesa Laboratories, Inc. develops, designs, manufactures, sells, and services life sciences tools and quality control products and services in North America, Europe, the Asia Pacific, and internationally.

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The Sterilization and Disinfection Control segment offers biological, chemical, and cleaning indicators, used to assess the effectiveness of sterilization, decontamination, disinfection, and cleaning processes in the pharmaceutical, medical device, and healthcare industries. This segment also provides sterility assurance testing and laboratory services to the dental and pharmaceutical industries. The Biopharmaceutical Development segment develops, manufactures, sells, and services automated systems for protein analysis (immunoassays) and peptide synthesis solutions. Its Clinical Genomics segment offers MassARRAY, a genetic analysis tool system, and related consumables, including chips, panels, and chemical reagent solutions used by clinical labs to analyze DNA samples for hereditary disease screenings, pharmacogenetics, oncology related applications, and toxicology research. The Biopharmaceutical Development segment provides automated systems, such as Gyrolab xPand and Gyrolab xPlore hardware and software, Gyrolab Bioaffy consumable microfluidic disks, Gyrolab kits and Rexxip buffers for protein analysis; and PurePep Symphony and Chorus instruments for peptide synthesis. Its Calibration Solutions segment offers quality control products to measure and calibrate critical parameters in applications, such as renal care, gas flow, environmental and process monitoring, and torque testing in pharmaceutical, laboratory, medical device, manufacturing, industrial, and environmental applications. This segment's products include continuous monitoring systems, data loggers, and torque testing systems under the DialyGuard, DryCal, DataTrace, and ViewPoint brands. Mesa Laboratories, Inc.

was incorporated in 1982 and is headquartered in Lakewood, Colorado.

Industry
Scientific & Technical Instruments
Sector
Technology
State
CO
Filer Category
Accelerated filer
Fiscal Year End
March 31

Price History

MLAB-54.8% · -14.7% 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

$695.12M

P/E (annual)

102.7

P/S (annual)

2.8

P/B

3.7

P/OCF (annual)

16.2

Shareholder Yield

-44.3%

Employees

717

Industry

Scientific & Technical Instruments

Exchange

Nasdaq

Signal Flags

2 green1 yellow1 red
Revenue growth acceleratingGrowth rate increasing year over year
Deferred revenue growingRevenue and deferred revenue both growing — retention signal
Dilution above 2%Annual share count increase exceeds 2%. May be acceptable for high-growth companies funding talent via stock compensation
Operating margin decliningOperating margin lower than prior year

Quality Profile

Profitability

1/1 pass
GP / assets
0.38
Return on equity
3.6%
Gross margin trend
PASS

Safety

1/1 pass
Balance-sheet safety
PASS
Debt / equity
1.22
Current ratio
1.79×
Net cash
-$35.40M

Cash Flow

3/3 pass
Positive FCF
PASS
Cash-backed earnings
PASS
Accruals healthy
PASS
SBC / revenue
7.2%

Growth

1/2 pass
Revenue growth
166.0%
Piotroski F-Score
6 / 9
Share dilution
44.8%

Terry Smith quality gate

Passes 2/5 Terry Smith thresholds

1 of 5 threshold not computable from filed data.

What Growth Is Priced In

Implied revenue growth (10Y)

5.9%

incredible deal

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

Dilution drag: 44.8% — per-share value needs a total required return of 50.6% once share-count change is priced in.

vs. own 6-year median revenue growth: 22.8%

within its own history

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

r = 8%

1.7%

r = 10% (base)

5.9%

r = 12%

9.5%

Net debt / market cap: 5.1%

Base FCF: $39.6M

Valuation History

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

P / E

Price / diluted EPS

781.5xExpensive
65.0xmed 396.4x833.6x

P / S

Price / revenue per share

3.3xCheap
3.3xmed 7.7x9.7x

P / B

Price / book value per share

1.8xCheap
1.8xmed 5.9x8.6x

P / GP

Price / gross profit per share

5.3xCheap
5.3xmed 13.6x17.4x

P / FCF

Price / free cash flow per share

30.4xCheap
30.4xmed 34.6x45.1x

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

Profitability

Gross profitability (GP / assets)

0.38

Primary signal (Novy-Marx).

61st pctl of 37 SIC 38 peers

Return on equity

3.6%

Gross margin

63.5%

67th pctl of 37 SIC 38 peers

Revenue growth (YoY)

166.0%

Gross margin improving

Margin trend vs prior year.

PASS

Operating Leverage

2018202120222023
Revenue vs COGS
Revenue vs OpEx
Op. Income vs Revenue

Growth

Revenue CAGR (3Y)

4.4%

Revenue CAGR (5Y)

13.2%

Earnings CAGR (3Y)

93.3%

FCF CAGR (3Y)

19.1%

Anti-fragile safety

Balance-sheet safety

Composite anti-fragile check.

PASS

Debt / equity

1.22

35th pctl of 35 SIC 38 peers (best = lowest)

Current ratio

1.79×

17th pctl of 36 SIC 38 peers

Quick ratio

1.14×

Net cash

-$35.40M

Cash & equivalents minus total debt.

Cash-flow health

Free cash flow

$39.58M

Operating cash flow minus capex.

Positive free cash flow

PASS

FCF / net income

4.90

Cash-backing of earnings.

FCF/NI divergence

Unfavorable divergence (yellow flag).

PASS

Accruals healthy

Cash-backed earnings.

PASS

SBC / revenue

7.2%

Stock-based comp intensity.

Dividend safety

Composite score

2.2 / 5

Fair
Payout ratio
52.5%3/5 Good
FCF coverage
11.24×5/5 Strong
Dividend growth streak
0 yr0/5 Weak
Balance-sheet health
D/E 1.22 · IC N/A1/5 Weak

Piotroski F-Score

F-Score

6 / 9

Fundamental-strength score (0-9).

Lifecycle Phase History

20162023
Startup
Hypergrowth