Mesa Laboratories, Inc.
- Open
- 97.10
- Day high
- 100.87
- Day low
- 96.38
- Prev close
- 99.44
- Volume
- 189K
- Mkt cap
- $541M
- P/E (TTM)
- 79.6
- EPS (TTM)
- $1.23
- P/B
- 2.9
- P/S
- 2.2
- Yield
- 0.65%
- Per share
- $0.64
- ▼Insiders net selling -$770K over the last 3 months (0 open-market buys, 6 sales)
- 🏛Institutions accumulating (13F)
Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (MLAB) is a Technology company listed on NASDAQ. The stock is up 40% over the past year. Over the trailing 3 months, insiders filed 0 open-market buys and 6 sales (SEC Form 4).
Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (MLAB) financials & analyst ratings
Fundamentals (TTM)
Source: exchange market data + company filings. Figures are trailing-twelve-month or as most recently reported. For informational purposes only — not investment advice.
MLAB earnings date, history & EPS estimates
| Report date | EPS est | EPS actual | Surprise | Revenue | Rev. surprise |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 27, 2026 | $2.09 | $2.76 | +32.1% | $64M | -2.3% |
| Feb 3, 2026 | $2.41 | $3.07 | +27.4% | $65M | -0.1% |
| Nov 6, 2025 | $1.56 | $1.76 | +12.8% | $61M | -0.5% |
| May 28, 2025 | $2.75 | $2.23 | -18.9% | $62M | +0.4% |
| Feb 4, 2025 | $1.41 | $2.67 | +89.4% | $63M | +2.1% |
| Nov 7, 2024 | $2.48 | $2.45 | -1.2% | $58M | -0.1% |
| Jun 5, 2024 | $-0.11 | $2.77 | +2618.2% | $59M | +6.6% |
| Aug 3, 2023 | $1.67 | $1.77 | +6.0% | $51M | -2.3% |
| May 25, 2023 | $1.98 | $1.94 | -2.0% | $56M | -3.2% |
| Feb 6, 2023 | $2.10 | $2.35 | +11.9% | $54M | -4.8% |
| Nov 3, 2022 | $1.39 | $2.88 | +107.2% | $59M | +10.3% |
| Aug 4, 2022 | $1.95 | $1.17 | -40.0% | $50M | -3.3% |
MLAB insider trading activity (SEC Form 4)
| Date | Insider | Type | Shares | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 23, 2026 | Archbold Brian Davidofficer: SVP Operations | Option | 2,480 | $95.10 |
| Jun 23, 2026 | Sakys Johnofficer: CFO | Option | 1,036 | $95.10 |
| Jun 23, 2026 | Crennen Lyndsey Elizabethofficer: CAO | Sell | 442 | $89.50 |
| Jun 23, 2026 | Sakys Johnofficer: CFO | Option | 2,756 | $95.10 |
| Jun 23, 2026 | Archbold Brian Davidofficer: SVP Operations | Sell | 2,516 | $89.50 |
| Jun 23, 2026 | Sakys Johnofficer: CFO | Sell | 2,827 | $89.50 |
| Jun 23, 2026 | Crennen Lyndsey Elizabethofficer: CAO | Option | 368 | $95.10 |
| Jun 23, 2026 | Archbold Brian Davidofficer: SVP Operations | Option | 844 | $95.10 |
| Jun 23, 2026 | Crennen Lyndsey Elizabethofficer: CAO | Option | 233 | $95.10 |
| Jun 23, 2026 | Crennen Lyndsey Elizabethofficer: CAO | Grant | 263 | $95.10 |
| Jun 23, 2026 | Crennen Lyndsey Elizabethofficer: CAO | Option | 125 | $95.10 |
| Jun 23, 2026 | Archbold Brian Davidofficer: SVP Operations | Grant | 1,859 | $95.10 |
| Jun 23, 2026 | Sakys Johnofficer: CFO | Grant | 2,282 | $95.10 |
| Jun 17, 2026 | Sakys Johnofficer: CFO | Sell | 1,223 | $101.27 |
| Jun 17, 2026 | Crennen Lyndsey Elizabethofficer: CAO | Sell | 118 | $101.27 |
Source: MLAB SEC Form 4 filings, latest Jun 23, 2026. For informational purposes only — not investment advice.
See the full MLAB insider & 13F page →Mesa Laboratories, Inc. company profile
Overview
Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB) is a specialized life sciences company founded in 1982 and headquartered in Lakewood, Colorado. The company went public in 1984 and has evolved into a diversified provider of quality control products, testing services, and analytical instruments primarily serving healthcare, pharmaceutical, and laboratory markets. Mesa operates through four distinct business segments, offering critical tools and services that ensure safety, compliance, and quality across various life sciences applications.
Business
Mesa Laboratories operates in the life sciences tools and quality control industry, providing specialized products and services that help ensure safety and compliance in healthcare and pharmaceutical environments. The company's offerings span four main business segments: Sterilization and Disinfection Control represents the company's core heritage business, manufacturing biological indicators, cleaning indicators, and chemical indicators. These products are essentially test systems that verify whether sterilization processes in hospitals, dental offices, medical device manufacturing, and pharmaceutical facilities are working properly. For example, biological indicators contain living microorganisms that should be killed during proper sterilization - if they survive, it indicates the sterilization process failed. This segment also provides testing and laboratory services primarily to dental practices. Biopharmaceutical Development focuses on automated laboratory systems for protein analysis and peptide synthesis. The protein analysis equipment helps researchers and pharmaceutical companies analyze immunoassays (tests that detect specific proteins or antibodies), while peptide synthesizers automate the chemical creation of peptides used in drug development, biomaterials, and cosmetics research. Calibration Solutions designs and manufactures instruments that measure and calibrate critical environmental parameters like temperature, pressure, pH, and humidity. These products include continuous monitoring systems for hospitals and laboratories, dialysate meters for kidney dialysis centers, data loggers that record environmental conditions over time, and gas flow calibration equipment used in various healthcare and laboratory settings. Clinical Genomics develops genetic analysis tools, primarily the MassARRAY system and associated consumables. This technology enables clinical laboratories to perform genetic testing for applications such as newborn screening (testing babies for genetic disorders), pharmacogenetics (determining how patients will respond to medications based on their genes), and oncology (cancer-related genetic testing). Revenue distribution across segments varies, but Sterilization and Disinfection Control historically represents the largest portion of the business, with the other segments contributing smaller but growing shares of total revenue.
Revenue model
Mesa Laboratories generates revenue through multiple business models across its four segments. The primary revenue streams include direct product sales of instruments, consumables, and testing kits, along with ongoing service contracts and laboratory testing services. The Sterilization and Disinfection Control segment operates on a recurring consumables model, where customers purchase biological and chemical indicators on an ongoing basis to test their sterilization processes. This creates predictable, repeat revenue as these indicators are single-use products that must be regularly replenished. The segment also generates service revenue from laboratory testing services provided to dental practices. The Biopharmaceutical Development and Clinical Genomics segments follow a capital equipment plus consumables model. Customers make initial investments in expensive analytical instruments (protein analyzers, peptide synthesizers, MassARRAY systems), then generate ongoing revenue through the sale of consumables like reagents, chips, panels, and chemical solutions required to operate the equipment. The Calibration Solutions segment primarily sells calibration instruments and monitoring systems, with some recurring revenue from replacement parts and calibration services. Key factors that can impact margins include raw material costs for consumables manufacturing, competition from larger life sciences companies, regulatory changes affecting testing requirements, healthcare spending patterns, and the company's ability to maintain pricing power in specialized niche markets. The company benefits from serving regulated industries where quality and compliance are critical, which can provide some protection against price competition. However, consolidation among healthcare customers and pressure to reduce costs can negatively impact pricing and demand.
Competitive moat
Mesa Laboratories operates in specialized niche markets within the life sciences industry, which provides some competitive advantages but faces limitations due to the company's relatively small size. The company's primary moat comes from its established relationships in regulated industries where switching costs can be meaningful due to validation requirements and regulatory compliance needs. In the sterilization control business, Mesa benefits from the critical nature of its products - hospitals and medical device manufacturers cannot afford sterilization failures, creating demand for reliable, proven solutions. The biological indicators market requires specialized expertise in microbiology and regulatory knowledge, creating some barriers to entry for new competitors. However, Mesa's moat is not particularly strong compared to larger life sciences companies. The company faces competition from much larger players like 3M, Getinge, and other established medical device manufacturers who have greater resources for research and development, broader product portfolios, and stronger customer relationships. In the genomics and protein analysis segments, Mesa competes against well-funded companies with more advanced technologies and greater market presence. The company's small size limits its ability to invest heavily in new product development or compete aggressively on pricing. Additionally, many of Mesa's markets are relatively mature with limited growth prospects, and the company lacks the scale advantages of larger competitors. While Mesa has carved out profitable niches, its competitive position is vulnerable to technological disruption or aggressive competition from larger players seeking to expand their market share in these specialized areas.
Risks & safety
Mesa Laboratories presents a mixed margin of safety profile with some concerning financial metrics alongside positive cash flow generation. • Liquidity and Solvency: Current ratio of 0.71 indicates potential short-term liquidity pressure, with current liabilities exceeding current assets. However, the company maintains $31 million in cash and generates positive operating cash flow of $18.4 million in the most recent quarter. • Debt Position: Debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36 indicates significant leverage, which could constrain financial flexibility during economic downturns or operational challenges. • Valuation Metrics: EV/EBITDA of 36.6x appears quite expensive, suggesting limited margin of safety from a valuation perspective. Price-to-book ratio of 4.6x also indicates premium valuation. • Profitability Concerns: Recent quarterly net loss of $1.7 million and negative return on equity of -1.1%, though the company showed positive EBITDA of $6.1 million and strong free cash flow of $17.6 million. • Historical Volatility: FY 2024 showed massive losses of $254 million, likely due to one-time charges or write-downs, indicating potential operational or strategic challenges. The positive free cash flow generation provides some cushion, but the high valuation metrics and leverage levels suggest limited margin of safety for investors.
Recent development
Based on the available financial data, Mesa Laboratories has experienced significant volatility in recent years, particularly evident in fiscal 2024 when the company reported substantial losses of $254 million, likely related to asset write-downs or restructuring charges. This suggests the company may have undergone strategic repositioning or faced operational challenges that required significant one-time adjustments. The company has shown recovery in fiscal 2025, returning to profitability in the first two quarters before experiencing a loss in the most recent quarter. Revenue has remained relatively stable in the $57-63 million quarterly range, indicating consistent demand for the company's core products and services despite broader market challenges. The fluctuation in current ratios from over 2.4 in early 2024 to 0.71 in the most recent quarter, along with changes in debt levels, suggests Mesa has been actively managing its capital structure and potentially making strategic investments or acquisitions. The company's ability to maintain positive operating cash flow and free cash flow generation throughout this period demonstrates the underlying strength of its business model, even during periods of reported losses. Without access to detailed earnings call transcripts, the specific strategic initiatives and new product developments remain unclear, but the financial patterns suggest Mesa has been navigating a period of transition while maintaining its core revenue streams and cash generation capabilities.
MLAB company profile · for informational purposes only — not investment advice.
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