# Cabot (CBT.US)

Canonical: https://gigainvestors.com/s/CBT

Analysis as of: 2026-10-16T07:27:16.809Z. Financial observations: FY1996–FY2026.

Listing currency: USD. Reporting currency: USD.

## Verdict

Not a wonderful business

Quality tests for Buy: not passed (profit record: pass; earnings resilience is evidence only). Published buy qualification: no.

Share price: $75.48 per share; close as of 2026-10-15.

Estimated value: low $59.85 per share, central $67.63 per share, high $77.99 per share. Buy at or below the central value $67.63 per share. Valuation as of 2026-10-16T07:27:16.809Z; scenarios are not confidence intervals.

Expected annual return: 9.2% at the stated quote. About 9.2% a year at today's price (required return 10.0%). required return 10.0% a year (10% floor; US 10-year bond 5.1% + 4 points).

## Checklist

### understandable: fail

- 4 revenue declines in the last 10 years (informational)

- operating margin variation exceeds 0.35

- Financial history: 10 years

- Years with declining revenue: 4

- Years with a net loss: 2

- Operating margin variation: 0.43×

Chart: Operating margin; fiscal year observations.

- FY2017: 0.12×

- FY2018: 0.05×

- FY2019: 0.09×

- FY2020: 0.01×

- FY2021: 0.13×

- FY2022: 0.09×

- FY2023: 0.13×

- FY2024: 0.15×

- FY2025: 0.17×

- LTM to Jun 2026: 0.14×

### moat: fail

- ROIC median below threshold

- ROIC worst years below threshold (more than 1 bad year allowed)

- ROIC, median of available years: 14.1%

- ROIC, second-lowest year: 5.4%

- Typical minus recent gross margin: -0.3 pp

- Typical gross margin (annual median): 23.7%

- Recent gross margin (lower of latest and 3-year median): 24.0%

- Years with nonpositive capital: 0

- Capital spending / revenue: 6.1%

- ROIC including acquisitions, ten-year median: 9.4%

Chart: ROIC excluding acquisitions; fiscal year observations.

- FY2016: 11.2%

- FY2017: 15.2%

- FY2018: 5.4%

- FY2019: 12.3%

- FY2020: 1.0%

- FY2021: 16.8%

- FY2022: 13.1%

- FY2023: 23.4%

- FY2024: 20.3%

- FY2025: 17.2%

### economics: pass

- Owner earnings / net income, 5-yr: 0.83×

- Cash conversion uses consolidated totals: No

- Owner earnings, five-year total: $1.3B

- Net income, five-year total: $1.6B

- Return on incremental invested capital: 48.3%

- Working capital / revenue, annual change: -0.2 pp

- Working capital / revenue, change between three-year averages: -1.8 pp

- Working capital / revenue, final three-year average: 20.2%

Chart: Annual owner cash / profit; fiscal year observations.

- FY2022: 1.00×

- FY2023: 0.79×

- FY2024: 0.85×

- FY2025: 0.64×

- LTM to Mar 2026: 0.85×

### management: pass

- Historical market-dollar context (not the management verdict): 2017 to 2025 (8 years)

- potential debt-funded buybacks (informational)

- buybacks unrelated to price (informational)

- ROIC first 3 years vs last 3 years: 11.2% vs 20.3%

- Per-share earnings: 2.37 to 6.82 (three-year endpoint medians)

- Management verdict uses per-share economic progress: Yes

- Ordinary dilution, 10-year annual growth: -1.6%

- Ordinary dilution, 5-year annual growth: -0.9%

- Market cap gain: $566M

- Cumulative retained earnings: $152M

- Diluted shares, 10-year annual growth: -1.6%

- Diluted shares, 5-year annual growth: -0.9%

- $1 test, starting fiscal year: FY2017

- $1 test, ending fiscal year: FY2025

- Per-share value growth: 14.1%

- Per-share value change: $4.45

- Per-share value, starting three-year median: $2.37

- Per-share value, ending three-year median: $6.82

- Buybacks concentrated in cheaper years (correlation): -0.13

- Average buyback yield: 2.8%

- Buyback history: 9 years

- Debt-funded buybacks: Yes

- Acquisition spending: $59M

- Cumulative net income, 10 years: $1.8B

- ROIC, first three-year median: 11.2%

- ROIC, last three-year median: 20.3%

Chart: Earnings per share; fiscal year observations.

- FY2016: $2.37

- FY2017: $3.84

- FY2018: -$1.83

- FY2019: $2.67

- FY2020: -$4.20

- FY2021: $4.40

- FY2022: $3.67

- FY2023: $7.88

- FY2024: $6.82

- FY2025: $6.11

### accounting: pass

- Sloan accruals: -8.8%

- Receivables to sales index (DSRI): 0.98×

- Restructuring years, last five: 1

- Stock compensation / operating cash flow: 3.6%

- Earnings backed by cash: Yes

- Operating cash / earnings: 2.01×

- Accounting red flags: 0

- Goodwill and intangibles / equity: 0.12×

Chart: Sloan accruals; fiscal year observations.

- FY2016: -7.5%

- FY2017: -3.0%

- FY2018: -12.7%

- FY2019: -6.8%

- FY2020: -22.1%

- FY2021: -0.2%

- FY2022: 3.1%

- FY2023: -4.2%

- FY2024: -8.4%

- FY2025: -8.8%

## Holders

- [Matthew McLennan](https://gigainvestors.com/FE): tracked 13F investor; follow the investor page for holding quarter and amounts.

## Price story

Down 32% since Sep 2024 · sales -2.1%

Story as of 2026-10-16T09:58:28.260Z; price observation 2026-10-15.

Price needs cash profits to grow 2.3% a year for ten years

- 2026-02-04: Cabot Q1 Earnings Beat Estimates, Sales Down Y/Y on Lower Volumes ([finance.yahoo.com](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/cabot-q1-earnings-beat-estimates-140700292.html))

- 2026-05-07: Cabot Q2 Earnings Beat Estimates on Battery Materials Strength ([finance.yahoo.com](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/cabot-q2-earnings-beat-estimates-133100264.html))

### Sales · FY2025–2026

sales -2.1%; source https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/16040/000119312525292412/cbt-20250930.htm; observed 2025-11-24.

- FY2017: $2.7B 

- FY2018: $3.2B 

- FY2019: $3.3B 

- FY2020: $2.6B 

- FY2021: $3.4B 

- FY2022: $4.3B 

- FY2023: $3.9B 

- FY2024: $4.0B 

- FY2025: $3.7B 

- FY2026: $3.6B 

### Gross margin · FY2025

gross margin 25.3%; source https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/16040/000119312525292412/cbt-20250930.htm; observed 2025-11-24.

- FY2016: 24.0% 

- FY2017: 24.0% 

- FY2018: 24.1% 

- FY2019: 20.5% 

- FY2020: 19.1% 

- FY2021: 23.4% 

- FY2022: 20.5% 

- FY2023: 21.3% 

- FY2024: 24.0% 

- FY2025: 25.3% 

## Owner memo

Memo as of 2026-10-16T08:06:05.509Z.

### How it makes money

Operates in specialty chemicals; annual sales are USD 3.7 billion.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/16040/000119312525292412/cbt-20250930.htm (filed 2025-11-24); FY2025: revenue 3713000000; grossProfit 940000000; margin = grossProfit / revenue.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16); CBT.US: Cabot Corporation operates as a specialty chemicals and performance materials company. It operates through two segments, Reinforcement Materials and Performance Chemicals. The company offers reinforcing carbons that are used in tires as a rubber reinforcing agent and performance additive, as well as in industrial products, such as hoses, belts, extruded profiles, and molded goods; and engineered elastomer composites solutions. It also provides specialty carbons for use in inks, coatings, plastics, adhesives, toners, batteries, and displays; conductive additives and fumed alumina used in lead acid and lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles; fumed silica used in adhesives, sealants, cosmetics, batteries, inks, toners, silicone elastomers, coatings, polishing slurries, and pharmaceuticals; and fumed alumina for use in various products, including inkjet media, lighting, coatings, cosmetics, and polishing slurries. In addition, it offers aerogel, a hydrophobic, silica-based particle to use in various thermal insulation and specialty chemical applications; masterbatch and conductive compound products that are used in automotive, industrial, packaging, infrastructure, agriculture, consumer products, and electronics industries; and inkjet colorants for inkjet printing applications, as well as carbon nanotubes and fumed metal oxides. The company sells its products through distributors and sales representatives in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. Cabot Corporation was founded in 1882 and is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.

### Why customers stay

Margins ranged from 21.3% to 25.3% during 2023–25; it earns 14.1% on its capital.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2025-11-24); FY2023: grossProfit / revenue = 21.3%.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2025-11-24); FY2024: grossProfit / revenue = 24%.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/16040/000119312525292412/cbt-20250930.htm (filed 2025-11-24); FY2025: grossProfit / revenue = 25.3%.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2025-11-24); 10-year return on capital observations [[2016,0.11157227652073012],[2017,0.1515379471748579],[2018,0.053679195341450506],[2019,0.1233101081530782],[2020,0.010304347826086956],[2021,0.1684175027400725],[2022,0.1311590734072887],[2023,0.23357015985790408],[2024,0.20283841008519904],[2025,0.1720226675978888]]; median 0.14134851029107331. ROIC follows the displayed moat series; financial companies use return on tangible equity.

### Where the cash goes

Paid dividends in 10 of 10 years; bought back USD 168 million of shares.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2025-11-24); FY2016: growth capex 0; upkeep 112000000; owner earnings 198000000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2025-11-24); FY2017: growth capex 0; upkeep 147000000; owner earnings 249000000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2025-11-24); FY2019: growth capex 43711622.51091766; upkeep 180288377.48908234; owner earnings 124711622.51091766. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.3505015942446824.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2025-11-24); FY2021: growth capex 35000000; upkeep 160000000; owner earnings 250000000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.14.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2025-11-24); FY2022: growth capex 65000000; upkeep 146000000; owner earnings 209000000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.31100478468899523.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2025-11-24); FY2023: growth capex 0; upkeep 244000000; owner earnings 353057851.23966944. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2025-11-24); FY2024: growth capex 24488112.751924902; upkeep 216511887.2480751; owner earnings 321286516.14559305. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.07621892460879982.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/16040/000119312525292412/cbt-20250930.htm (filed 2025-11-24); FY2025: growth capex 0; upkeep 274000000; owner earnings 211000000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2025-11-24); Dividend observations: [[2016,65000000],[2017,77000000],[2018,80000000],[2019,80000000],[2020,80000000],[2021,80000000],[2022,84000000],[2023,88000000],[2024,93000000],[2025,96000000]]. Zero only counted when supported by a complete cash-flow statement.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/16040/000119312525292412/cbt-20250930.htm (filed 2025-11-24); FY2025: cash repurchases 168000000 USD.

### Are managers owners

Insiders own 1.4% of the company.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16); CBT.US SharesStats.PercentInsiders = 1.355 percentage points; cache date 2026-10-16.

### What the price says

The price assumes cash profits grow 2.3% yearly over ten years.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2025-11-24); Ten-year compound average after fade. Initial solved rate 0.020562985495186648. Price 75.48; FX 1; discount 0.1; same standard ten-year fade to terminal 0.03. FY2015 owner earnings/share -4.558359621451104 → FY2025 3.892988929889299. Closing-price date 2026-10-15.

## Monthly share-price history (USD per share)

- 2016-10: $52.14 per share

- 2016-11: $50.93 per share

- 2016-12: $50.54 per share

- 2017-01: $55.37 per share

- 2017-02: $57.98 per share

- 2017-03: $59.91 per share

- 2017-04: $60.19 per share

- 2017-05: $52.23 per share

- 2017-06: $53.43 per share

- 2017-07: $54.33 per share

- 2017-08: $52.68 per share

- 2017-09: $55.80 per share

- 2017-10: $60.96 per share

- 2017-11: $61.24 per share

- 2017-12: $61.59 per share

- 2018-01: $67.64 per share

- 2018-02: $60.18 per share

- 2018-03: $55.72 per share

- 2018-04: $55.86 per share

- 2018-05: $60.25 per share

- 2018-06: $61.77 per share

- 2018-07: $66.10 per share

- 2018-08: $64.92 per share

- 2018-09: $62.72 per share

- 2018-10: $48.68 per share

- 2018-11: $49.20 per share

- 2018-12: $42.94 per share

- 2019-01: $46.89 per share

- 2019-02: $46.88 per share

- 2019-03: $41.63 per share

- 2019-04: $45.38 per share

- 2019-05: $39.94 per share

- 2019-06: $47.71 per share

- 2019-07: $44.72 per share

- 2019-08: $40.00 per share

- 2019-09: $45.32 per share

- 2019-10: $43.59 per share

- 2019-11: $46.99 per share

- 2019-12: $47.52 per share

- 2020-01: $39.85 per share

- 2020-02: $37.38 per share

- 2020-03: $26.12 per share

- 2020-04: $33.89 per share

- 2020-05: $35.72 per share

- 2020-06: $37.05 per share

- 2020-07: $36.48 per share

- 2020-08: $37.01 per share

- 2020-09: $36.03 per share

- 2020-10: $38.01 per share

- 2020-11: $41.41 per share

- 2020-12: $44.88 per share

- 2021-01: $43.91 per share

- 2021-02: $49.23 per share

- 2021-03: $52.44 per share

- 2021-04: $54.88 per share

- 2021-05: $63.58 per share

- 2021-06: $56.93 per share

- 2021-07: $55.06 per share

- 2021-08: $53.40 per share

- 2021-09: $50.12 per share

- 2021-10: $53.35 per share

- 2021-11: $52.48 per share

- 2021-12: $56.20 per share

- 2022-01: $54.99 per share

- 2022-02: $73.16 per share

- 2022-03: $68.41 per share

- 2022-04: $65.85 per share

- 2022-05: $75.61 per share

- 2022-06: $63.79 per share

- 2022-07: $74.26 per share

- 2022-08: $71.97 per share

- 2022-09: $63.89 per share

- 2022-10: $73.48 per share

- 2022-11: $73.62 per share

- 2022-12: $66.84 per share

- 2023-01: $75.33 per share

- 2023-02: $79.53 per share

- 2023-03: $76.64 per share

- 2023-04: $71.76 per share

- 2023-05: $68.48 per share

- 2023-06: $66.89 per share

- 2023-07: $71.00 per share

- 2023-08: $72.46 per share

- 2023-09: $69.27 per share

- 2023-10: $66.48 per share

- 2023-11: $75.90 per share

- 2023-12: $83.50 per share

- 2024-01: $72.10 per share

- 2024-02: $84.95 per share

- 2024-03: $92.20 per share

- 2024-04: $91.23 per share

- 2024-05: $102.30 per share

- 2024-06: $91.89 per share

- 2024-07: $100.29 per share

- 2024-08: $105.11 per share

- 2024-09: $111.77 per share

- 2024-10: $107.83 per share

- 2024-11: $109.62 per share

- 2024-12: $91.31 per share

- 2025-01: $86.47 per share

- 2025-02: $86.00 per share

- 2025-03: $83.14 per share

- 2025-04: $78.54 per share

- 2025-05: $74.69 per share

- 2025-06: $75.00 per share

- 2025-07: $72.18 per share

- 2025-08: $81.56 per share

- 2025-09: $76.05 per share

- 2025-10: $67.48 per share

- 2025-11: $62.57 per share

- 2025-12: $66.28 per share

- 2026-01: $72.19 per share

- 2026-02: $76.14 per share

- 2026-03: $75.31 per share

- 2026-04: $76.96 per share

- 2026-05: $87.51 per share

- 2026-06: $90.82 per share

- 2026-07: $88.02 per share

- 2026-08: $82.71 per share

- 2026-09: $76.91 per share

- 2026-10: $75.48 per share

## Annual estimated value (USD per share)

- FY2016: low $28.84 per share, central $32.48 per share, high $37.33 per share

- FY2017: low $33.47 per share, central $37.59 per share, high $43.07 per share

- FY2018: low $38.01 per share, central $43.00 per share, high $49.65 per share

- FY2019: low $26.66 per share, central $32.34 per share, high $37.42 per share

- FY2020: low $20.35 per share, central $22.95 per share, high $26.41 per share

- FY2021: low $26.94 per share, central $31.54 per share, high $36.46 per share

- FY2022: low $32.83 per share, central $37.11 per share, high $42.80 per share

- FY2023: low $41.77 per share, central $50.23 per share, high $58.11 per share

- FY2024: low $63.65 per share, central $77.05 per share, high $89.43 per share

- FY2025: low $58.30 per share, central $65.87 per share, high $75.95 per share

Historical values use today's bond yield for every fiscal year

Historical values use today's FX rate into trading currency for every fiscal year

Historical values use current restated fundamentals and current commodity classification; they are not point-in-time estimates

Prior published observations retained from 2026-10-15T06:32:56.299Z where newer inputs omit a numeric field or fiscal period.

## Sources

[Original 10-K filing](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/16040/000119312525292412/cbt-20250930.htm); period 2025-09-30, filed 2025-11-24.

Estimates depend on assumptions and are not guarantees or investment advice. Underlying data remains subject to its source licenses; public reading does not grant bulk redistribution rights.