MLI · Materials(rolling drawing & extruding of nonferrous metals) · 10 years of annual accounts filed with the SEC · latest fiscal year ended 2025-12-27
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Mueller Industries Inc reported revenue of $4.2 billion in fiscal 2025, after growing 8.2% a year over the previous 9 years. Its operating margin widened from 7.5% in 2016 to 22.9%, and it earned 22.6% on its invested capital in the latest year. Of the $3.9 billion its operations generated over 10 years, 23.3% went to acquisitions and 12.0% back into the business; the share count fell 2.5%. On the accounting screens, it passes 5 of 8 Piotroski tests, its Altman Z'' of 15.36 is in the safe zone and its Beneish M-score is below the -1.78 line; none of the six cross-checks between its statements fires.
Revenue, fiscal 20254.2B+8.2% a year over 9 years
Operating margin22.9%gross margin —
Return on invested capital22.6%28.7% on average over 5 years
Free cash flow after stock pay659.9M15.8% of revenue
Net debt ÷ EBITDANet cash1.4B more cash than debt
Piotroski F-score5/8tests of improvement passed
Share counts are in today's shares. The SEC's filings restate only recent years after a split, so these jumps were read as splits and the older years scaled to match — otherwise per-share figures would compare different units:
2-for-1 before fiscal 2021.
Is it growing?
Revenue and the operating income it turns into. Growth that does not reach operating income is growth bought with margin.
RevenueOperating income
02.0B4.0B6.0B
2016Revenue 2.1BOperating income 154.4M
2017Revenue 2.3BOperating income 150.8M
2018Revenue 2.5BOperating income 173.0M
2019Revenue 2.4BOperating income 191.4M
2020Revenue 2.4BOperating income 245.8M
2021Revenue 3.8BOperating income 655.8M
2022Revenue 4.0BOperating income 877.1M
2023Revenue 3.4BOperating income 756.1M
2024Revenue 3.8BOperating income 770.4M
2025Revenue 4.2BOperating income 958.5M
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Compound growth a year
3 yrs
5 yrs
9 yrs
Revenue
+1.6%
+11.7%
+8.2%
Operating income
+3.0%
+31.3%
+22.5%
Net income
+5.1%
+40.6%
+25.4%
Earnings per share
+5.6%
+40.9%
+25.8%
Free cash flow per share
+0.5%
+28.1%
+21.7%
Dividend per share
+25.6%
+37.6%
+20.3%
Shares
-0.5%
-0.2%
-0.3%
Falling shares are buybacks: each remaining share owns more of the company.
Does it earn more than its capital costs?
Margins say how much of each sale is kept; return on invested capital says how much the business earns on the money it needs to operate. Growth only creates value when that return is above the cost of the capital.
Return on invested capitalCost of capital today · 10.2%
0.0%10.0%20.0%30.0%40.0%
2016Return on invested capital 9.2%
2017Return on invested capital 10.7%
2018Return on invested capital 13.1%
2019Return on invested capital 14.6%
2020Return on invested capital 16.4%
2021Return on invested capital 39.7%
2022Return on invested capital 36.5%
2023Return on invested capital 23.9%
2024Return on invested capital 20.8%
2025Return on invested capital 22.6%
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Economic profit
Economic profit
-200.0M0200.0M400.0M600.0M
2016Economic profit -11.0M
2017Economic profit 5.4M
2018Economic profit 31.1M
2019Economic profit 46.0M
2020Economic profit 68.5M
2021Economic profit 361.7M
2022Economic profit 471.2M
2023Economic profit 320.8M
2024Economic profit 295.7M
2025Economic profit 397.9M
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
(return on capital − cost of capital) × capital invested: the profit left after paying for the money used. Today's cost of capital is applied to every year, since a past one cannot be rebuilt honestly.
Return on equity
23.8%
Return on assets
20.5%
Asset turnover
1.12×
Overheads (SG&A)
6.0% of revenue
Is the profit cash, and where does the cash go?
Net income is an accounting opinion; free cash flow is what was left in the bank after investing. Stock-based pay does not leave the bank — shareholders pay it through dilution — so it is shown taken off as well.
Net incomeFree cash flowAfter stock-based pay
-200.0M0200.0M400.0M600.0M800.0M
2016Net income 99.7MFree cash flow 120.3MAfter stock-based pay 113.9M
2017Net income 85.6MFree cash flow -2.1MAfter stock-based pay -9.6M
2018Net income 104.5MFree cash flow 129.4MAfter stock-based pay 121.4M
2019Net income 101.0MFree cash flow 169.4MAfter stock-based pay 160.6M
2020Net income 139.5MFree cash flow 201.2MAfter stock-based pay 192.6M
2021Net income 468.5MFree cash flow 279.9MAfter stock-based pay 270.0M
2022Net income 658.3MFree cash flow 686.3MAfter stock-based pay 668.5M
2023Net income 602.9MFree cash flow 618.7MAfter stock-based pay 595.6M
2024Net income 604.9MFree cash flow 565.7MAfter stock-based pay 538.9M
2025Net income 765.2MFree cash flow 686.6MAfter stock-based pay 659.9M
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Where 10 years of operating cash went, 2016–2025
3.9B generated by the business. Each band is its share of that total.
Reinvested in the business 12%469.7M
Acquisitions 23%915.6M
Dividends 11%441.5M
Share buybacks 10%395.4M
Kept, or used to pay down debt 43%1.7B
Over the same years it paid 143.5M in stock. The share count fell 2.5%. 251.9M of the buybacks went beyond offsetting that dilution.
Per share
Earnings per shareFree cash flow per shareDividend per share
$-2.00$0.00$2.00$4.00$6.00$8.00
2016Earnings per share $0.87Free cash flow per share $1.05Dividend per share $0.19
2017Earnings per share $0.74Free cash flow per share $-0.02Dividend per share $0.03
2018Earnings per share $0.91Free cash flow per share $1.13Dividend per share $0.20
2019Earnings per share $0.90Free cash flow per share $1.50Dividend per share $0.20
2020Earnings per share $1.24Free cash flow per share $1.78Dividend per share $0.20
2021Earnings per share $4.12Free cash flow per share $2.46Dividend per share $0.26
2022Earnings per share $5.82Free cash flow per share $6.07Dividend per share $0.49
2023Earnings per share $5.30Free cash flow per share $5.44Dividend per share $0.59
2024Earnings per share $5.31Free cash flow per share $4.96Dividend per share $0.78
2025Earnings per share $6.86Free cash flow per share $6.16Dividend per share $0.98
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Shares outstanding
Diluted shares
111.0M112.0M113.0M114.0M115.0M
2016Diluted shares 114.3M
2017Diluted shares 115.0M
2018Diluted shares 114.5M
2019Diluted shares 112.7M
2020Diluted shares 112.8M
2021Diluted shares 113.6M
2022Diluted shares 113.1M
2023Diluted shares 113.7M
2024Diluted shares 114.0M
2025Diluted shares 111.5M
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
How strong is the balance sheet?
Debt is not bad in itself; debt the business cannot service in a bad year is. Net debt is debt minus cash, and below zero the company holds more cash than it owes.
Net debt
-1.5B-1.0B-500.0M0500.0M
2016Net debt -124.0M
2017Net debt 344.8M
2018Net debt 424.1M
2019Net debt 288.3M
2020Net debt 208.8M
2021Net debt -86.0M
2022Net debt -459.0M
2023Net debt -1.2B
2024Net debt -1.0B
2025Net debt -1.4B
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Net debt ÷ EBITDA
-1.3×
Interest coverage
8875× operating income ÷ interest
Current ratio
5.92 current assets ÷ current liabilities
Cash conversion cycle
— collects in 42d
Three classic screens of the accounts
Each asks a different question of the same statements — is it improving, does it look like a company heading for distress, do the accounts resemble ones that were manipulated. None is a verdict; each shows what moves it.
Piotroski F-score
Is the business improving? Nine yes-or-no tests, this year against last.
5of 8 tests passed
✓ProfitableReturn on assets above zeropassed
✓Cash from operationsOperating cash flow above zeropassed
✓Profitability improvedReturn on assets higher than a year beforepassed
✕Profit backed by cashOperating cash flow above net income (low accruals)failed
✕Less long-term debtLong-term debt as a share of assets fellfailed
✓More liquidCurrent ratio higher than a year beforepassed
✓No new sharesShare count did not growpassed
–Better gross marginGross margin higher than a year before — not reportedno data
✕Sells more per assetAsset turnover higher than a year beforefailed
Where it misleads: it measures change, not level. An excellent business that stood still for a year scores low; a poor one recovering from a disaster scores high.
Altman Z''-score
Does the balance sheet look like those of companies that went bankrupt?
15.36safe zone
1.12.6
Working capital ÷ assets 0.54 × 6.56+3.57
Retained earnings ÷ assets 1.01 × 3.26+3.28
Operating income ÷ assets 0.26 × 6.72+1.73
Equity ÷ liabilities 6.46 × 1.05+6.78
Where it misleads: buybacks. A company that returns so much cash that its equity turns small or negative sinks the last two ratios without being anywhere near bankruptcy. Banks and insurers do not fit the model at all.
Beneish M-score
Do the accounts resemble those of companies that manipulated their earnings?
-2.46below the -1.78 line
-1.78
Receivables vs sales 0.95+0.88
Gross margin slipping 1.00 (not reported, set to 1)+0.53
Soft assets 0.87+0.35
Sales growth 1.11+0.99
Slower depreciation 0.83+0.09
Overheads vs sales 0.99-0.17
Profit not in cash 0.00+0.01
Leverage rising 0.92-0.30
Where it misleads: fast growth and acquisitions. Sales growth carries a heavy weight, so a company growing 50% a year scores like a suspect without having done anything. It is a screen from a 1999 study, not an accusation.
Where the statements disagree
Cross-checks between the income statement, the balance sheet and the cash flow for the latest year, each with the benign reading and the worrying one.
None of the six cross-checks fires for the latest year: receivables and inventory move with revenue, profit turns into cash, investment keeps up with depreciation, the tax rate is ordinary and debt is moderate.
What is it worth, under which assumptions?
A company is worth the cash it will generate, brought back to today. This model projects revenue with growth that fades over the years, applies a free cash flow margin, and discounts the result at the cost of capital. Every assumption says where it came from, and all of them can be changed.
Value per share, with these assumptions$115.84discounted at 10.2% a year · 52% of it from after year 10
Type a share price on the left to ask the reverse questions: what growth, what margin or what discount rate that price implies.
What the value implies, in the usual multiples
At this model's value
Price ÷ earnings
16.9×
Enterprise value ÷ EBITDA
11.2×
Enterprise value ÷ revenue
2.8×
Free cash flow yield
5.1%
From cash flows to a value per share
10 years of cash flow, today5.6B
Everything after, today6.0B
The whole business11.5B
Plus net cash1.4B
What belongs to shareholders12.9B
Divided among 111.5M shares: <strong>$115.84</strong> each.
The projection next to its history
Reported free cash flow after stock pay, then the model's. A projection that looks nothing like the past needs a reason.
ReportedProjected
-500.0M0500.0M1.0B1.5B
2016Reported 113.9M
2017Reported -9.6M
2018Reported 121.4M
2019Reported 160.6M
2020Reported 192.6M
2021Reported 270.0M
2022Reported 668.5M
2023Reported 595.6M
2024Reported 538.9M
2025Reported 659.9M
2026Projected 671.5M
2027Projected 742.1M
2028Projected 812.6M
2029Projected 881.6M
2030Projected 947.7M
2031Projected 1.0B
2032Projected 1.1B
2033Projected 1.1B
2034Projected 1.2B
2035Projected 1.2B
2016201820202022202420262028203020322034
Year by year
2026
2027
2028
2029
2030
2031
2032
2033
2034
2035
Revenue
4.7B
5.1B
5.6B
6.1B
6.6B
7.0B
7.4B
7.7B
8.0B
8.2B
Growth
11.5%
10.5%
9.5%
8.5%
7.5%
6.5%
5.5%
4.5%
3.5%
2.5%
Cash margin
14.4%
14.4%
14.4%
14.4%
14.4%
14.4%
14.4%
14.4%
14.4%
14.4%
Free cash flow
671.5M
742.1M
812.6M
881.6M
947.7M
1.0B
1.1B
1.1B
1.2B
1.2B
Worth today
609.6M
611.4M
607.7M
598.5M
583.9M
564.5M
540.6M
512.7M
481.7M
448.2M
If the least-known inputs move
Value per share as two inputs change at a time. Neighbouring cells that differ a lot are the conclusion: the value depends on numbers nobody knows to a point.
The discount rate and growth forever
discount ↓ · forever →
1.5%
2.0%
2.5%
3.0%
3.5%
9.2%
119
125
132
140
150
9.7%
112
118
123
130
138
10.2%
106
111
116
122
128
10.7%
101
105
109
114
120
11.2%
96
99
103
108
113
Year-one growth and the final margin
margin ↓ · growth →
7.5%
9.5%
11.5%
13.5%
15.5%
11.5%
87
93
100
107
114
13.0%
94
101
108
116
124
14.4%
101
108
116
124
133
15.9%
107
115
124
133
143
17.3%
114
123
132
142
152
All the inputs moving at once
5,000 valuations, each with growth, final margin, discount rate and growth forever drawn at random around the values on the left (spreads of 3.0%, 2.2%, 1.0% and 0.5%). Not a probability — the spreads are assumptions too — but an honest picture of how wide the answer is.
10th percentile$91.29
Median$116.07
90th percentile$151.89
$100.00$150.00
Half of the simulations land between <b>$101.80</b> and <b>$132.59</b>; one in ten below $91.29, one in ten above $151.89.
Does the long run make sense?
7.8×The terminal value prices the business in year 10 at 7.8 times that year's EBITDA.
15%To grow 2.5% forever while reinvesting 17% of its after-tax operating profit, the business must earn 15% on the new capital — it has earned 29% on average over the last five years.
52%of the value comes from after year 10. The more of it, the more the answer depends on the part nobody can see.
What lenders charge, after the tax saving on interest: 6.67% × (1 − 24.4%) = <strong>5.04%</strong>.
Weighted by how much of each the company uses (book value (no price given)): <strong>10.17%</strong>, the rate every future cash flow is discounted at.
What it has filed lately
The last twelve months at the SEC, most important first: annual and quarterly reports, events, large holders and insiders.
Every Form 4 filed in the last twelve months, read line by line: 6 filings by 4 people. Open-market purchases and sales are counted apart from awards, option exercises and shares withheld for taxes.
Bought on the open market—none in the period
Sold on the open market$29.3M5 sale(s) by 3 insider(s)
Under pre-arranged plans0%of the sales followed a 10b5-1 plan set months earlier
A Form 4 says what happened, when, how many shares and at what price. It does not say why: a sale can be diversification, a tax bill or a plan fixed months earlier, and an award is pay, not a purchase. Nothing here is a reason to buy or sell anything.
Which large funds report holding it
From the Form 13F of the 28 institutions followed on this site, as of the end of their last reported quarter. A 13F is filed up to 45 days later and shows only long positions in US-listed shares.
Accounts from the company's own SEC filings; lines some companies do not report are shown as a dash rather than estimated. The risk-free rate is the 10-year US Treasury yield. A DCF is a way of making assumptions explicit, not a forecast: it states what the company would be worth if the assumptions held. The scores are screens that point where to look, not verdicts. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell.