# Matthews International (MATW.US)

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

Analysis as of: 2026-10-16T07:30:05.008Z. Financial observations: FY1996–FY2025.

Listing currency: USD. Reporting currency: USD.

## Verdict

Not a wonderful business

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

Share price: $19.28 per share; close as of 2026-10-15.

Estimated value: low $3.46 per share, central $3.87 per share, high $4.42 per share. Buy at or below the central value $3.87 per share. Valuation as of 2026-10-16T07:30:05.008Z; scenarios are not confidence intervals.

Expected annual return: 4.2% at the stated quote. About 4.2% 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)

- more than 2 net loss years

- operating margin variation exceeds 0.35

- Financial history: 10 years

- Years with declining revenue: 4

- Years with a net loss: 5

- Operating margin variation: 1.23×

Chart: Operating margin; fiscal year observations.

- FY2016: 0.08×

- FY2017: 0.07×

- FY2018: 0.09×

- FY2019: 0.01×

- FY2020: -0.04×

- FY2021: 0.03×

- FY2022: 0.02×

- FY2023: 0.05×

- FY2024: 0.00×

- FY2025: 0.01×

### moat: fail

- ROIC median below threshold

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

- ROIC, median of available years: 4.6%

- ROIC, second-lowest year: 0.6%

- Typical minus recent gross margin: 2.8 pp

- Typical gross margin (annual median): 33.6%

- Recent gross margin (lower of latest and 3-year median): 30.7%

- Years with nonpositive capital: 0

- Capital spending / revenue: 2.6%

- ROIC including acquisitions, ten-year median: 3.4%

Chart: ROIC excluding acquisitions; fiscal year observations.

- FY2016: 12.2%

- FY2017: 11.6%

- FY2018: 16.5%

- FY2019: 1.0%

- FY2020: -7.1%

- FY2021: 4.1%

- FY2022: 5.0%

- FY2023: 13.0%

- FY2024: 0.6%

- FY2025: 1.8%

### economics: fail

- incremental invested capital return below threshold

- Cash conversion uses consolidated totals: No

- Owner earnings, five-year total: $132M

- Net income, five-year total: -$142M

- Return on incremental invested capital: 0.0%

- Working capital / revenue, annual change: -1.1 pp

- Working capital / revenue, change between three-year averages: -6.7 pp

- Working capital / revenue, final three-year average: 20.8%

Chart: Owner earnings · five years; fiscal year observations.

- FY2021: $102M

- FY2022: -$57M

- FY2023: $85M

- FY2024: -$10M

- FY2025: $11M

### management: fail

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

- buybacks unrelated to price (informational)

- ROIC first 3 years vs last 3 years: 12.2% vs 1.8%

- Per-share earnings: 2.03 to -0.79 (three-year endpoint medians)

- per-share value declined or ends nonpositive

- acquisition spending exceeds half of ten-year net income with low and deteriorating ROIC

- Management verdict uses per-share economic progress: Yes

- Ordinary dilution, 10-year annual growth: -0.7%

- Ordinary dilution, 5-year annual growth: -0.1%

- Market cap gain: -$1.3B

- Cumulative retained earnings: -$384M

- Diluted shares, 10-year annual growth: -0.7%

- Diluted shares, 5-year annual growth: -0.1%

- $1 test, starting fiscal year: FY2017

- $1 test, ending fiscal year: FY2025

- Per-share value change: -$2.82

- Per-share value, starting three-year median: $2.03

- Per-share value, ending three-year median: -$0.79

- Buybacks concentrated in cheaper years (correlation): -0.50

- Average buyback yield: 1.9%

- Buyback history: 9 years

- Debt-funded buybacks: No

- Acquisition spending: $376M

- Cumulative net income, 10 years: -$18M

- ROIC, first three-year median: 12.2%

- ROIC, last three-year median: 1.8%

Chart: Earnings per share; fiscal year observations.

- FY2016: $2.03

- FY2017: $2.28

- FY2018: $3.37

- FY2019: -$1.21

- FY2020: -$2.79

- FY2021: $0.09

- FY2022: -$3.18

- FY2023: $1.26

- FY2024: -$1.93

- FY2025: -$0.79

### accounting: pass

- Sloan accruals: -0.1%

- Receivables to sales index (DSRI): 0.53×

- Restructuring years, last five: 2

- Earnings backed by cash: Yes

- Accounting red flags: 0

- Goodwill and intangibles / equity: 1.23×

Chart: Sloan accruals; fiscal year observations.

- FY2016: -3.5%

- FY2017: -3.3%

- FY2018: -1.7%

- FY2019: -7.7%

- FY2020: -12.9%

- FY2021: -7.9%

- FY2022: -12.0%

- FY2023: -2.1%

- FY2024: -7.6%

- FY2025: -0.1%

## Holders

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

## Price story

Down 58% since Jul 2023 · "Matthews International (MATW) Cuts Its Outlook While Chasing A Battery Future" (finance.yahoo.com, Sep 2026) · sales -16.6%

Story as of 2026-10-16T09:59:07.845Z; price observation 2026-10-15.

Price needs cash profits to grow 22.9% a year for ten years

- 2025-11-21: Matthews International outlines $180M adjusted EBITDA outlook and debt reduction targets amid strategic divestitures ([seekingalpha.com](https://seekingalpha.com/news/4525026-matthews-international-outlines-180m-adjusted-ebitda-outlook-and-debt-reduction-targets-amid?utm_source=feed_news_all&utm_medium=referral&feed_item_type=news))

- 2026-09-08: Matthews International (MATW) Cuts Its Outlook While Chasing A Battery Future ([finance.yahoo.com](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/matthews-international-matw-cuts-outlook-023300306.html))

### Sales · FY2024–2025

sales -16.6%; source https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/63296/000006329625000070/matw-20250930.htm; observed 2025-11-21.

- FY2016: $1.5B 

- FY2017: $1.5B 

- FY2018: $1.6B 

- FY2019: $1.5B 

- FY2020: $1.5B 

- FY2021: $1.7B 

- FY2022: $1.8B 

- FY2023: $1.9B 

- FY2024: $1.8B 

- FY2025: $1.5B 

### Gross margin · FY2025

gross margin 33.9%; source https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/63296/000006329625000070/matw-20250930.htm; observed 2025-11-21.

- FY2016: 37.6% 

- FY2017: 37.2% 

- FY2018: 36.5% 

- FY2019: 35.3% 

- FY2020: 33.2% 

- FY2021: 32.4% 

- FY2022: 29.6% 

- FY2023: 30.7% 

- FY2024: 29.5% 

- FY2025: 33.9% 

## Owner memo

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

### How it makes money

Operates in conglomerates; annual sales are USD 1.5 billion.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/63296/000006329625000070/matw-20250930.htm (filed 2025-11-21); FY2025: revenue 1497689000; grossProfit 507593000; margin = grossProfit / revenue.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-05); MATW.US: Matthews International Corporation provides brand solutions, memorialization products, and industrial technologies worldwide. It operates through three segments: Memorialization, Industrial Technologies, and Brand Solutions. The Memorialization segment provides bronze and granite memorials, upright granite memorials and monuments, concrete burial vaults, cremation memorialization products, granite benches, flower vases, crypt plates and letters, cremation urns, niche units, cemetery features, and statues, as well as bronze plaques, letters, emblems, vases, lights and photo ceramics, granite monuments, mausoleums, crypts, and flush memorials. The Industrial Technologies segment designs, manufactures, services, and distributes high-tech custom energy storage solutions, and product identification and warehouse automation technologies and solutions, including order fulfillment systems for identifying, tracking, picking, and conveying consumer and industrial products. This segment also provides engineered calendaring, laminating, and coating equipment; stand-alone marking products; laser and ink-jet printing systems; and spare parts, calendar, and coating-roller refurbishing and retrofits. The Brand solutions segment provides brand management, pre-media services, printing plates and cylinders, imaging services, digital asset management, merchandising display systems, and marketing and design services for the consumer goods and retail industries. The company was founded in 1850 and is based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

### Why customers stay

Margins ranged from 29.5% to 33.9% during 2023–25; it earns 4.6% on its capital.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2025-11-21); FY2023: grossProfit / revenue = 30.7%.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2025-11-21); FY2024: grossProfit / revenue = 29.5%.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/63296/000006329625000070/matw-20250930.htm (filed 2025-11-21); FY2025: grossProfit / revenue = 33.9%.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2025-11-21); 10-year return on capital observations [[2016,0.12246420518583],[2017,0.11597294230656183],[2018,0.16524644985551357],[2019,0.010479506729806076],[2020,-0.07123958710866493],[2021,0.041414816633773825],[2022,0.04960625954721152],[2023,0.12972398110421468],[2024,0.006462323729140972],[2025,0.018210919021053287]]; median 0.04551053809049267. 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 12.2 million of shares.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2025-11-21); FY2016: growth capex 0; upkeep 41682000; cash acquisitions 6937000; owner earnings 90547000. Growth capex plus acquisitions / owner earnings = 0.07661214617822788.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2025-11-21); FY2017: growth capex 0; upkeep 44935000; cash acquisitions 98235000; owner earnings 97414000. Growth capex plus acquisitions / owner earnings = 1.008427946701706.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2025-11-21); FY2018: growth capex 0; upkeep 43200000; cash acquisitions 121065000; owner earnings 141145000. Growth capex plus acquisitions / owner earnings = 0.8577349534166991.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2025-11-21); FY2019: growth capex 0; upkeep 37688000; cash acquisitions 11504000; owner earnings 15117000. Growth capex plus acquisitions / owner earnings = 0.7609975524244228.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2025-11-21); FY2021: growth capex 0; upkeep 34313000; cash acquisitions 15623000; owner earnings 102109000. Growth capex plus acquisitions / owner earnings = 0.1530031632862921.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2025-11-21); FY2023: growth capex 0; upkeep 50598000; cash acquisitions 15341000; owner earnings 85223000. Growth capex plus acquisitions / owner earnings = 0.18001009117257077.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/63296/000006329625000070/matw-20250930.htm (filed 2025-11-21); FY2025: growth capex 0; upkeep 35818000; cash acquisitions 55832000; owner earnings 11457000. Growth capex plus acquisitions / owner earnings = 4.873177969800122.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2025-11-21); Dividend observations: [[2016,19413000],[2017,21762000],[2018,24637000],[2019,25620000],[2020,26437000],[2021,27704000],[2022,27685000],[2023,28202000],[2024,31409000],[2025,32759000]]. Zero only counted when supported by a complete cash-flow statement.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/63296/000006329625000070/matw-20250930.htm (filed 2025-11-21); FY2025: cash repurchases 12228000 USD.

### Are managers owners

Insiders own 4.9% of the company.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-05); MATW.US SharesStats.PercentInsiders = 4.852 percentage points; cache date 2026-10-05.

### What the price says

The price assumes cash profits grow 22.9% yearly over ten years; actual decline was 16.9%.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2025-11-21); Ten-year compound average after fade. Initial solved rate 0.3211636184168535. Price 19.28; FX 1; discount 0.1; same standard ten-year fade to terminal 0.03. FY2015 owner earnings/share 2.3441980961561635 → FY2025 0.36841597530387804. Closing-price date 2026-10-15.

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

- 2016-10: $59.90 per share

- 2016-11: $72.75 per share

- 2016-12: $76.85 per share

- 2017-01: $67.45 per share

- 2017-02: $65.85 per share

- 2017-03: $67.65 per share

- 2017-04: $68.55 per share

- 2017-05: $63.75 per share

- 2017-06: $61.25 per share

- 2017-07: $65.55 per share

- 2017-08: $60.25 per share

- 2017-09: $62.25 per share

- 2017-10: $62.85 per share

- 2017-11: $56.65 per share

- 2017-12: $52.80 per share

- 2018-01: $56.00 per share

- 2018-02: $51.25 per share

- 2018-03: $50.60 per share

- 2018-04: $49.15 per share

- 2018-05: $55.00 per share

- 2018-06: $58.80 per share

- 2018-07: $52.55 per share

- 2018-08: $51.90 per share

- 2018-09: $50.15 per share

- 2018-10: $41.62 per share

- 2018-11: $42.13 per share

- 2018-12: $40.62 per share

- 2019-01: $44.49 per share

- 2019-02: $39.77 per share

- 2019-03: $36.95 per share

- 2019-04: $40.06 per share

- 2019-05: $34.03 per share

- 2019-06: $34.85 per share

- 2019-07: $34.15 per share

- 2019-08: $29.31 per share

- 2019-09: $35.39 per share

- 2019-10: $36.98 per share

- 2019-11: $38.35 per share

- 2019-12: $38.17 per share

- 2020-01: $37.32 per share

- 2020-02: $29.56 per share

- 2020-03: $24.19 per share

- 2020-04: $23.94 per share

- 2020-05: $20.70 per share

- 2020-06: $19.10 per share

- 2020-07: $21.60 per share

- 2020-08: $21.90 per share

- 2020-09: $22.36 per share

- 2020-10: $21.83 per share

- 2020-11: $26.73 per share

- 2020-12: $29.40 per share

- 2021-01: $30.53 per share

- 2021-02: $35.70 per share

- 2021-03: $39.55 per share

- 2021-04: $41.38 per share

- 2021-05: $39.07 per share

- 2021-06: $35.96 per share

- 2021-07: $34.60 per share

- 2021-08: $37.03 per share

- 2021-09: $34.69 per share

- 2021-10: $34.37 per share

- 2021-11: $34.67 per share

- 2021-12: $36.67 per share

- 2022-01: $35.12 per share

- 2022-02: $33.18 per share

- 2022-03: $32.36 per share

- 2022-04: $29.81 per share

- 2022-05: $32.36 per share

- 2022-06: $28.67 per share

- 2022-07: $27.95 per share

- 2022-08: $25.01 per share

- 2022-09: $22.41 per share

- 2022-10: $26.88 per share

- 2022-11: $31.66 per share

- 2022-12: $30.44 per share

- 2023-01: $37.04 per share

- 2023-02: $38.16 per share

- 2023-03: $36.06 per share

- 2023-04: $37.87 per share

- 2023-05: $38.50 per share

- 2023-06: $42.62 per share

- 2023-07: $45.90 per share

- 2023-08: $42.18 per share

- 2023-09: $38.91 per share

- 2023-10: $35.44 per share

- 2023-11: $34.15 per share

- 2023-12: $36.65 per share

- 2024-01: $32.90 per share

- 2024-02: $28.94 per share

- 2024-03: $31.08 per share

- 2024-04: $26.98 per share

- 2024-05: $28.33 per share

- 2024-06: $25.05 per share

- 2024-07: $28.95 per share

- 2024-08: $25.33 per share

- 2024-09: $23.20 per share

- 2024-10: $23.29 per share

- 2024-11: $30.16 per share

- 2024-12: $27.68 per share

- 2025-01: $27.99 per share

- 2025-02: $24.92 per share

- 2025-03: $22.24 per share

- 2025-04: $20.45 per share

- 2025-05: $21.45 per share

- 2025-06: $23.91 per share

- 2025-07: $23.49 per share

- 2025-08: $24.57 per share

- 2025-09: $24.28 per share

- 2025-10: $23.42 per share

- 2025-11: $24.54 per share

- 2025-12: $26.12 per share

- 2026-01: $26.29 per share

- 2026-02: $26.43 per share

- 2026-03: $25.82 per share

- 2026-04: $28.54 per share

- 2026-05: $26.54 per share

- 2026-06: $26.92 per share

- 2026-07: $27.75 per share

- 2026-08: $20.77 per share

- 2026-09: $19.19 per share

- 2026-10: $19.28 per share

## Annual estimated value (USD per share)

- FY2016: low $29.95 per share, central $35.13 per share, high $40.74 per share

- FY2017: low $33.59 per share, central $40.18 per share, high $46.66 per share

- FY2018: low $35.92 per share, central $43.36 per share, high $50.47 per share

- FY2019: low $32.86 per share, central $37.37 per share, high $43.37 per share

- FY2020: low $32.48 per share, central $36.91 per share, high $42.80 per share

- FY2021: low $35.38 per share, central $40.19 per share, high $46.60 per share

- FY2022: low $7.19 per share, central $8.02 per share, high $9.13 per share

- FY2023: low $6.60 per share, central $7.50 per share, high $8.68 per share

- FY2025: low $4.11 per share, central $4.66 per share, high $5.40 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

## Sources

[Original 10-K filing](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/63296/000006329625000070/matw-20250930.htm); period 2025-09-30, filed 2025-11-21.

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.