One-glance verdict
Within fair range
$77.65 our estimate vs market $67.71
Wall Street consensus: $84.00 (8.2% higher than our fair-value estimate)
13% below our estimate
Fundamentals snapshot
Exponent, Inc.
EXPO · NMS · Industrials · Engineering & Construction
Current price
$67.71
52-week range
$51.91 - $81.95
Market cap
$3.22B
Balance sheet
Healthy
12.87x Strong cushion
Net debt $14.09M. Interest coverage shows how many times profit covers the interest bill.
What stands out
3 Rewards
1 Risk
3 rewards · 1 risks
- Reward Revenue grew 8.7% last year.
- Reward Returns 31.2% on equity, ahead of 75% of its peers.
- Reward Free cash flow was positive in 10/10 years.
- Risk Operating margin compressed from 27.4% to 18.8% over 3 years.
What this company does
Exponent, Inc.
Exponent is a company of science and engineering experts that other businesses hire to figure out why things failed, from a collapsed structure to an environmental issue. It makes money by charging for this highly specialized investigation work, often during urgent situations like product recalls or legal battles. This matters because the need for expert analysis on complex failures is often independent of the broader economy, creating a steady demand for its services.
How the company got here
Exponent started in 1967 when a group of Stanford professors and engineers created a new field: figuring out the root causes of accidents and failures. Originally called Failure Analysis Associates, they became known for investigating high-profile events like the Space Shuttle Challenger and Columbia disasters. The company went public in 1990 and changed its name to Exponent in 1998 to show it did more than just analyze failures. Over the years, it has grown from a small lab into a global firm that helps companies both react to problems and prevent them from happening in the first place.
What it actually does
Think of Exponent as a team of scientific and engineering detectives for hire. When a bridge collapses, a new phone catches fire, or a medical device fails, companies, lawyers, and governments pay Exponent to figure out exactly what went wrong and why. They also use this expertise proactively, helping companies test new products and design safer systems before they ever reach the public. Their team includes experts in over 90 fields, from vehicle engineering to health sciences, who provide objective, data-driven answers to complex problems.
Engineering and Other Scientific
This is Exponent's largest business, making up the vast majority of its sales. This group investigates physical failures — things like vehicle crashes, building collapses, or consumer product malfunctions. For example, a car manufacturer might hire them to understand why an airbag didn't deploy, or a tech company might need them to find the flaw in an overheating battery. They are paid for their deep technical expertise in figuring out the 'how' and 'why' behind complex accidents, often in high-stakes situations involving lawsuits or product recalls (when a company asks customers to return a product due to a safety issue).
Environmental and Health
This is a smaller but important part of the company that focuses on how products and chemicals affect people and the natural world. Companies pay this group to help them navigate complex government rules, like those for chemical safety or environmental protection. For instance, a food company might hire them to ensure a new ingredient is safe, or an energy company might need help assessing the environmental impact of a project. This segment helps clients manage risks to human health and the environment, from product creation to disposal.
What management is betting on now
Exponent's leadership is focused on growing both its reactive work (investigating failures) and its proactive services (helping clients prevent problems before they start). They see big opportunities in complex and fast-growing areas like the safety of artificial intelligence (AI), renewable energy systems, and advanced medical devices. The strategy is to be the go-to firm for premium advice when the consequences of getting it wrong are very high. Management believes that as technology becomes more complex and regulations get stricter, the need for their expert scientific and engineering advice will continue to grow.
Price history
How the share price has moved
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Earnings history
Last 8 quarters — what happened
Click any quarter to read the call summary and what the numbers say.
FY2025 Q3
$28.00M
FY2025 Q4
$53.45M
FY2026 Q1
$5.52M
FY2026 Q2
$33.95M
FY2026 Q3
$29.98M
FY2026 Q4
$52.90M
FY2027 Q1
$-3.43M
FY2027 Q2
$29.11M
Revenue
$171.61M
Net income
$29.39M
Diluted EPS
0.60
Operating cash flow
$30.89M
Free cash flow
$29.11M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$166.30M
Net income
$29.57M
Diluted EPS
0.59
Operating cash flow
$-975.00K
Free cash flow
$-3.43M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$147.43M
Net income
$24.76M
Diluted EPS
0.48
Operating cash flow
$55.58M
Free cash flow
$52.90M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$147.12M
Net income
$28.04M
Diluted EPS
0.55
Operating cash flow
$32.65M
Free cash flow
$29.98M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$141.96M
Net income
$26.55M
Diluted EPS
0.52
Operating cash flow
$36.22M
Free cash flow
$33.95M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$145.51M
Net income
$26.65M
Diluted EPS
0.52
Operating cash flow
$7.27M
Free cash flow
$5.52M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$136.77M
Net income
$23.59M
Diluted EPS
0.45
Operating cash flow
$56.05M
Free cash flow
$53.45M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$136.28M
Net income
$26.04M
Diluted EPS
0.50
Operating cash flow
$29.71M
Free cash flow
$28.00M
Fetching…
Sources
Is it cheap or expensive?
Fair value $77.65 vs current price $67.71
Wall Street consensus is the average analyst price target: $84.00 (8.2% higher than our fair-value estimate).
Our most-likely fair value is $77.65 a share — about 14.7% away from today's price of $67.71, so the stock currently looks fairly priced.
Is it drowning in debt?
Healthy
Net debt $14.1M. Interest coverage 12.9x.
Net debt
$14.09M
Interest coverage
12.87x
Exponent, Inc.'s profit covers its interest bill about 12.9 times over. which is stronger than most peers shown here.
Healthy
Worse cushion
Baseline
Better cushion
EXPO
BASELINE
Exponent, Inc.
Total debt $80.72M Interest coverage 12.87x This is the baseline the peer rows are being compared against.
Total debt $1.27B Interest coverage 19.37x +50% vs EXPO Carries about 1.5x more debt cushion than EXPO.
Total debt $1.02B Interest coverage 14.85x +15% vs EXPO Carries about 1.2x more debt cushion than EXPO.
Total debt $4.05B Interest coverage 5.92x -54% vs EXPO Carries about 2.2x less debt cushion than EXPO.
What you should know
The case for and against EXPO
3 Rewards
1 Risk
Rewards
-
Revenue grew 8.7% last year.
-
Returns 31.2% on equity, ahead of 75% of its peers.
-
Free cash flow was positive in 10/10 years.
Risks
-
Operating margin compressed from 27.4% to 18.8% over 3 years.
The numbers
All the key metrics, grouped by purpose
Tap any ? icon to learn what it means.
Valuation
How expensive the stock looks
P/E (TTM)
30.36x
Forward P/E
24.89x
P/B
11.15x
P/S
5.68x
EV/EBITDA
24.21x
PEG ratio
2.03x
Profitability
How much profit each dollar creates
Gross margin
36.4%
Operating margin
18.8%
Net margin
19.7%
ROE
31.2%
ROA
11.3%
Health
Liquidity and balance-sheet strength
Debt / equity
0.28x
Current ratio
1.98x
Quick ratio
1.81x
Total debt
$80.72M
Total cash
$66.63M
Growth
How the business has been compounding
Revenue TTM
$632.46M
Revenue 5Y CAGR
5.7%
EPS TTM
2.23
EPS 5Y CAGR
1.8%
Cash flow
How much cash the business throws off
Operating CF TTM
$118.15M
Free CF TTM
$122.34M
FCF margin
19.3%
Dividend
Shareholder payout
Yield
1.8%
Payout ratio
54.7%
Last ex-div date
2026-09-04