NRC NATIONAL RESEARCH CORP

Nasdaq Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research DE CIK: 0000070487
AI RATING
SELL
78% Confidence

Investment Thesis

NRC Health exhibits severe financial distress with a critically weak balance sheet (0.52x current ratio, 5.48x debt/equity) that poses imminent solvency risk despite modest profitability. Declining revenue (-4.0% YoY) and deteriorating earnings combined with insufficient liquidity and excessive leverage create an unsustainable capital structure vulnerable to economic shocks.

Strengths

  • + Positive free cash flow generation of $5.3M with strong 15.4% FCF margin
  • + Maintains profitability with 16.0% operating margin and 8.9% net margin
  • + Strong ROE of 22.9% indicates efficient equity utilization despite high leverage

Risks

  • ! Critical liquidity crisis: current ratio of 0.52x indicates inability to cover short-term obligations; severe default risk
  • ! Unsustainable capital structure: debt-to-equity of 5.48x with only $2.5M cash against $74M long-term debt
  • ! Deteriorating fundamentals: revenue declining 4.0% YoY with net income down 2.7% YoY; low 1.6x interest coverage leaves no margin for error
  • ! Asset-heavy model with only $2.5M liquidity cushion against $121.1M total liabilities

Key Metrics to Watch

Financial Metrics

Revenue
34.8M
Net Income
3.1M
EPS (Diluted)
$0.14
Free Cash Flow
5.3M
Total Assets
134.6M
Cash
2.5M

Profitability Ratios

Gross Margin N/A
Operating Margin 16.0%
Net Margin 8.9%
ROE 22.9%
ROA 2.3%
FCF Margin 15.4%

Balance Sheet & Liquidity

Current Ratio
0.52x
Quick Ratio
0.52x
Debt/Equity
5.48x
Debt/Assets
90.0%
Interest Coverage
1.64x
Long-term Debt
74.0M
Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI based on publicly available SEC EDGAR filings. It does not include stock price data and should not be considered financial advice. All fundamental data is sourced from SEC public domain filings. Always conduct your own research before making investment decisions.
Data Source: SEC EDGAR | Analysis Date: 2026-05-07T06:41:24.264177 | Data as of: 2026-03-31 | Powered by Claude AI