Quality Investor

Mesa Laboratories, Inc.

Rank #145Capital ReturnWatchlistCompare with other stocks

MLAB · Nasdaq · Technology

Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (MLAB) — Rank #145 by gross profitability (GP/assets 0.38) · ROE 3.6% · Piotroski F-Score 8 / 9.

As-of 2026-10-30 · 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.

Show more

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

Company Snapshot

P/E and reverse DCF are the primary valuation lenses at this stage.

Market Cap

—

P/E (annual)

—

P/S (annual)

—

P/B

—

P/OCF (annual)

—

Shareholder Yield

—

Employees

717

Industry

Scientific & Technical Instruments

Exchange

Nasdaq

11/12

Flags passed

MLAB passes 11/12 quality flags

1 caution to review

  • CAUTION
    Dilution above 2%

    Annual share count increase exceeds 2%. May be acceptable for high-growth companies funding talent via stock compensation

  • PASS
    Gross margin holding
  • PASS
    FCF not negative from investment
  • PASS
    Disclosure consistent
  • PASS
    Revenue not declining
  • PASS
    Operating margin holding
  • PASS
    Free cash flow intact
  • PASS
    Passes safety gate
  • PASS
    Balance sheet stable
  • PASS
    No competitive retreat
  • PASS
    SBC not compressing margin
  • PASS
    No valuation convergence

Strengths Operating leverage expanding · Deferred revenue growing

A count of the 12 warning flags that could be evaluated. Unweighted: colour follows the worst flag.

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
3.4%
Piotroski F-Score
8 / 9
Share dilution
2.7%

FCF yield, shareholder yield, and buyback activity are the primary reads at this stage.

Profitability

Does it make money well?

No warning flags · GP/assets 57th percentile of 41 SIC 38 peers

Gross profitability (GP / assets)

0.38

Primary signal (Novy-Marx).

57th pctl of 41 SIC 38 peers

Return on equity

3.6%

Gross margin

63.5%

68th pctl of 41 SIC 38 peers

Revenue growth (YoY)

3.4%

Gross margin improving

Margin trend vs prior year.

PASS

Operating Leverage

2023202420252026
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%

Cash Flow Health

Is the cash real?

No warning flags · FCF 490% above net income

Free cash flow

$39.58M

Operating cash flow minus capex.

Positive free cash flow

PASS

FCF vs net income

489.7%

(FCF − net income) ÷ |net income|. Positive: cash above earnings. Negative: below.

FCF not below net income

Fails when free cash flow is below net income (yellow flag).

PASS

Accruals healthy

Cash-backed earnings.

PASS

SBC / revenue

7.2%

Stock-based comp intensity.

Balance Sheet Strength

Can it survive a storm?

Caution: Dilution above 2% · net debt $35.40M, F-Score 8/9

Balance-sheet safety

Composite anti-fragile check.

PASS

Debt / equity

1.22

28th pctl of 40 SIC 38 peers (best = lowest)

Current ratio

1.79×

10th pctl of 40 SIC 38 peers

Quick ratio

1.14×

Net cash

-$35.40M

Cash & equivalents minus total debt.

Piotroski F-Score

8 / 9

Fundamental-strength score (0-9).

Valuation

Is the price reasonable?

No warning flags

Dividend safety

Composite score

3.5 / 5

Good
Payout ratio
52.5%3/5 Good
FCF coverage
11.24×5/5 Strong
Dividend growth streak
10 yr5/5 Strong
Balance-sheet health
D/E 1.22 · IC N/A1/5 Weak

Capital allocation quality

Composite score

3.3 / 5

Good
Share count trend
2.7%2/5 Fair
Buyback timing
N/AN/A
Dividend growth consistency
10 yr5/5 Strong
Net debt trajectory(deleveraging)
0.8%3/5 Good

Lifecycle Phase History

20212026
Capital Return
Hypergrowth
Startup

Price History

MLAB-53.6% · -14.2% CAGRSPY+82.9% · +12.8% CAGR