News · MSA Safety Incorporated (MSA) · Industrials

MSA Safety rises 1.9% after scheduling its third-quarter earnings call

Session of October 20, 2026 · Published October 21, 2026 · 3 min read

What happened

MSA Safety (MSA) rose 1.9% on October 20, 2026, after the company said it would hold its third-quarter 2026 earnings conference call on November 3, 2026. The session came against a modest market rise; the S&P 500 rose 0.3% on the day. Trading volume was 0.9 times its 20-day average, and the stock opened 0.1% below the previous close.

Closing price over the last 30 trading sessions. On October 20, 2026, MSA closed at $182.21, up 1.9% on the day and 1.4% lower than 30 sessions earlier.

How big was the move

The change equaled 1.3 times a typical daily move for the stock, making it a large, mostly company-specific move that followed the conference-call announcement. It outperformed the Industrials sector median by 1.4 percentage points on the day. Over the last five sessions the stock rose 0.2% while the S&P 500 over five sessions fell 1.2%, a contrast that reinforced the company-specific character of the move. The stock's market sensitivity is a beta of 0.84, indicating it tends to move less than the market.

Each bar is one day's price change; the outlined bar is October 20, 2026. A typical daily move over the past year was 1.6%, so the latest move equals 1.2 times that. Moves outside the dashed lines (about 3.2%) are unusual.

The technical picture

On the technical front, the stock traded 0.7% above its 20-day moving average and 1.1% below its 50-day moving average, while remaining 2.5% above its 200-day moving average. The 50-day average sits above the 200-day average, a sign of an established uptrend, and the stock has spent 64 consecutive trading days above the 200-day average. The Relative Strength Index (14 days) is 52, squarely in a neutral range between 30 and 70. The stock finished the session 12.8% below its 52-week high.

Closing price over the past year. MSA ends the period 10.3% below its 52-week high, below its 50-day average ($184.16) and above its 200-day average ($177.69).

Momentum over shorter horizons shows the stock rose 2.8% over one month and rose 6.0% over three months. Over one year it rose 10.4%, which is 5.4 percentage points behind the S&P 500 for the same period. Volatility is 24% annualized over 60 days, a level that is lower than 51% of its own readings over five years.

Fundamentals and valuation

For the four quarters through June 30, 2026, revenue was $1.95 billion, up 6.5% from a year earlier and showing growth of 5.6% versus one quarter earlier. Diluted earnings per share for that period were $8.04, a rise of 14.7% from a year earlier. Gross margin was 47.6% versus 46.8% a year earlier, and operating margin was 23.3% versus 20.4% a year earlier.

Quarterly revenue by period end. The latest quarter brought $503M, 6.2% more than the same quarter a year earlier.

Free-cash-flow margin was 18.2%, and return on invested capital stood at 15.0%. The balance sheet showed net debt of 0.9 times EBITDA, and share count over one year decreased by 0.9%. Market value was $6.91 billion.

On valuation, the stock trades at 22.7 times trailing earnings and 20.1 times expected earnings. Price to trailing earnings is lower than 90% of its own readings over the past five years, with a five-year median of 29.6 times earnings. Free-cash-flow yield is 5.1%.

PromtFinance scores rank the company highly on Quality at 92 (Exceptional) and on Stability at 89 (Strong). Scores for Value and Momentum are 71 (Positive) each, with Growth at 60 (Neutral) and Revisions at 64 (Neutral).

Taken together, the company presents a mix of steady fundamentals and an unusually low valuation relative to its recent history. Its high quality and strong margins support the case for longer-term investors, while the lower price-to-earnings reading suggests the market is pricing in more modest near-term upside compared with prior years.

Earnings and analyst expectations

MSA Safety's next report is scheduled for October 27, 2026. The company's last report, on July 30, 2026, delivered earnings per share of $2.40 against $2.14 expected, 12.1% above estimates. The company has reported 14 consecutive quarters beating estimates, with an average surprise over the last four reports of 6.8% above estimates. The typical two-day reaction after recent reports was that the stock fell 0.4%.

Diluted earnings per share by quarter. The latest quarter shows $2.23, against $1.59 in the same quarter a year earlier.

Analysts covering the stock number 12, with 58% of those ratings classed as Buy or Strong Buy and a consensus rating of Buy. The consensus price target is $210.00, which is 15.3% above the closing price on October 20, 2026.

What to watch

October 27, 2026: next earnings report date listed.
November 3, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time: third quarter 2026 earnings conference call.
Consensus price target of $210.00 from 12 analysts, 15.3% above the October 20 closing price.
Last reported EPS on July 30, 2026, of $2.40 against $2.14 expected, 12.1% above estimates.

Full MSA analysis: scores, chart and financials →