Stocks · Healthcare · Medical - Specialties
Mesa Laboratories, Inc. MLAB
$132.55 +2.51% Close, Oct 2, 2026 · NASDAQ · Market cap $741.7M
High qualityStrong trendInexpensive vs sector
Next earnings report: Nov 5, 2026
Scroll or pinch to zoom, drag to move. Daily prices adjusted for splits. Markers: E = earnings (green beat, red miss), S = split, D = dividend.
Three things to know
- Over the past year the stock returned +88.1%, ahead of the S&P 500 by 73.0 percentage points.
- The stock is in an uptrend: above its 200-day average for 139 trading days, with the 50-day average above the 200-day.
- Revenue over the last four quarters was $249.7M, up 3.0% from a year earlier.
PromtFinance scores
Each score is a percentile within the Healthcare sector (0–100). Under each score: how the stock ranks in its sector on every component. As of Oct 5, 2026.
How fast revenue, earnings and cash flow are growing.
- Revenue growth (TTM, YoY)Bottom 35%
- FCF growth (TTM, YoY)Top 22%
- Revenue growth, 3-year CAGRBottom 35%
- Revenue growth accelerationBottom 50%
Returns on capital, margins, earnings quality and balance-sheet strength.
- Return on invested capitalTop 27%
- Gross marginTop 48%
- Operating marginTop 29%
- Cash conversion (OCF / net income)Top 10%
- Accruals (lower is better)Top 28%
- Net debt / EBITDA (lower is better)Bottom 43%
- Interest coverTop 36%
How cheap the shares are relative to earnings, cash flow and their own history.
- Earnings yieldTop 29%
- Free-cash-flow yieldTop 11%
- EBITDA / enterprise valueTop 23%
- Sales / enterprise valueTop 42%
- P/E vs own 5-year history (lower is better)Top 37%
Strength and persistence of the price trend, including versus the S&P 500.
- 12-month return excluding last monthTop 21%
- 6-month returnTop 21%
- 1-year return vs S&P 500Top 17%
- Distance from 52-week highTop 4%
- Trend checklist (0–4)Top 7%
Earnings surprises and analyst sentiment (estimate-revision history is being collected).
- Average EPS surprise, last 4 quartersTop 18%
- Consecutive EPS beatsTop 25%
- Share of analysts rating BuyBottom 6%
- Upside to consensus price targetBottom 4%
Low volatility, shallow drawdowns, low market sensitivity and modest leverage.
- Volatility, 60 days (lower is better)Top 28%
- Maximum drawdown, 3 yearsTop 39%
- Beta vs S&P 500 (lower is better)Top 48%
- Net debt / EBITDA (lower is better)Bottom 43%
What changed
Latest four quarters versus the same period a year earlier (growth: versus one quarter earlier).
| Measure | Before | Now | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (YoY) | 3.4% | 3.0% | ↓ |
| Gross margin | 60.3% | 66.0% | ↑ |
| Operating margin | 5.7% | 9.0% | ↑ |
| FCF margin | 13.9% | 22.5% | ↑ |
Fundamental momentum
| Measure | Now (TTM) | Year / quarter before | Sector rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (TTM, YoY) | 3.0% | 3.4% | ↓ | Bottom 35% |
| Gross margin | 66.0% | 60.3% | ↑ | Top 48% |
| Operating margin | 9.0% | 5.7% | ↑ | Top 29% |
| Net margin | 1.9% | -0.3% | ↑ | — |
| Free-cash-flow margin | 22.5% | 13.9% | ↑ | — |
| Return on invested capital | 3.1% | — | Top 27% | |
| Revenue growth, 3-year CAGR | 4.4% | — | Bottom 35% |
Quality of earnings and balance sheet
- Cash conversion (OCF / net income)Above 1× means profits are backed by cash.
- 3.00×
- Accruals (net income − OCF) / assetsLower is better; high accruals can signal weaker earnings quality.
- -12.1%
- Stock-based compensation / revenueA cost to shareholders through dilution.
- -0.6%
- Receivables growth vs revenue growthReceivables growing much faster than sales can be a warning.
- -15.0 pp
- Net debt / EBITDABelow 1× is conservative; above 3× is high leverage.
- 1.74×
- Interest cover (operating income / interest)How many times operating profit covers interest.
- 2.1×
Shareholder returns
- Dividend yield (dividends paid, TTM)
- 0.48%
- Net buyback yield (TTM)
- 0.00%
- Shareholder yield
- 0.48%
- Share count change, 1 year
- +3.7%
- Share count change, 3-year CAGR
- +2.3%
Shareholder yield = dividends + net buybacks over the last four quarters, divided by market cap.
Based on the four quarters through Jun 30, 2026 (filed Aug 10, 2026).
Earnings and expectations
Earnings momentum
- Consecutive EPS beats
- 3
- Beats in the last 8 reports
- 4 of 8
- Average EPS surprise, last 4
- +32.4%
- Average 2-day reaction, last 8
- -6.2%
- Positive 20 days after report
- 4 of 8
Analysts
- Consensus price target
- $110.00
- Target vs current price
- -17.0%
- Analysts with a rating
- 8
- Share rating Buy or Strong Buy
- 38%
- Consensus rating
- Hold
How the stock reacted to recent reports
| Report date | EPS surprise | 2 days | 5 days | 20 days | 60 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 10, 2026 | +1.9% | -1.0% | +3.3% | +24.5% | — |
| May 27, 2026 | +32.1% | -14.5% | +0.5% | -11.0% | +12.2% |
| Feb 3, 2026 | +119.3% | +8.7% | +12.8% | +13.5% | +19.0% |
| Nov 6, 2025 | -23.5% | +0.9% | +7.7% | +4.0% | +18.0% |
| Aug 5, 2025 | -5.7% | -24.9% | -20.9% | -16.1% | +1.8% |
| May 28, 2025 | -18.9% | -8.9% | -11.6% | -13.4% | -40.9% |
| Feb 4, 2025 | +89.4% | +2.5% | +15.6% | +1.7% | -13.9% |
| Nov 7, 2024 | -1.2% | -12.1% | -19.7% | -8.3% | +3.5% |
Returns from the close before each report. Past reactions do not determine future ones.
Earnings history
| Report date | EPS | Estimate | Surprise | Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 10, 2026 | $2.68 | $2.63 | +1.9% | $60.1M |
| May 27, 2026 | $2.76 | $2.09 | +32.1% | $63.7M |
| Feb 3, 2026 | $3.07 | $1.40 | +119.3% | $65.1M |
| Nov 6, 2025 | $1.76 | $2.30 | -23.5% | $60.7M |
| Aug 5, 2025 | $2.32 | $2.46 | -5.7% | $59.5M |
| May 28, 2025 | $2.23 | $2.75 | -18.9% | $62.1M |
| Feb 4, 2025 | $2.67 | $1.41 | +89.4% | $62.8M |
| Nov 7, 2024 | $2.45 | $2.48 | -1.2% | $57.8M |
Valuation in context
| Multiple | Now | 5-year median | 5-year percentile | Sector rank (cheapness) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P/E (trailing) | 157.8× | 364.0× | 30th | Top 29% |
| P/E (forward) | 13.0× | — | — | — |
| EV / EBITDA | 20.0× | — | — | Top 23% |
| EV / Sales | 3.25× | — | — | Top 42% |
| Free-cash-flow yield | 7.57% | — | — | Top 11% |
| Earnings yield | 0.63% | — | — | Top 29% |
P/E over the past five years
Range 87.0× – 397.0× since Jun 30, 2021. Each point: price on the filing date divided by trailing-twelve-month EPS known then.
Technical state
Trend checklist
- ✓ Price above 20-day average
- ✓ Price above 50-day average
- ✓ Price above 200-day average
- ✓ 50-day average above 200-day
- ✗ MACD histogram positive
Trend quality
- Days above the 50-day average
- 46
- Days above the 200-day average
- 139
- 50-day average slope (20 days)
- +11.3%
- 200-day average slope (20 days)
- +5.5%
- Distance from 50-day average
- +11.3%
- Distance from 200-day average
- +33.2%
- RSI (14)
- 59.2
- Relative volume
- 0.61×
Risk and drawdowns
- Volatility, 60 days (annualized)
- 44.2%
- Volatility vs own 5-year history
- 33th percentile · Normal for this stock
- Beta vs S&P 500 (2 years, weekly)
- 1.07
- Correlation with S&P 500
- 0.30
- Current drawdown from 1-year high
- -3.6%
- Maximum drawdown, 3 years
- -62.9%
Largest declines in the past six years
| From peak | To low | Decline | Length | Recovery |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 27, 2021 | Aug 5, 2025 | -82.7% | 904 days | Not yet recovered |
| Jan 14, 2021 | Apr 8, 2021 | -20.9% | 57 days | 110 days (Sep 14, 2021) |
Declines of 10% or more from a closing high, measured on daily closes.
Financial statements
- Market cap
- $741.7M
- P/E (TTM)
- 157.8
- EPS, diluted (TTM)
- $0.84
- Revenue (TTM)
- $249.7M
- Dividend yield
- 0.48%
- 52-week range
- $66.56 – $138.66
| FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | FY 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $184.3M | $219.1M | $216.2M | $241.0M | $249.1M |
| Gross profit | $109.1M | $133.7M | $133.3M | $150.9M | $158.3M |
| Operating income | $4.7M | $3.3M | -$272.1M | $16.3M | $18.5M |
| Net income | $1.9M | $930,000 | -$254.2M | -$2.0M | $6.7M |
| EPS (diluted) | $0.35 | $0.17 | -$47.20 | -$0.36 | $1.21 |
| Q2 2025 | Q3 2025 | Q4 2025 | Q1 2026 | Q2 2026 | Q3 2026 | Q4 2026 | Q1 2027 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $57.8M | $62.8M | $62.1M | $59.5M | $60.7M | $65.1M | $63.7M | $60.1M |
| Net income | $3.4M | -$1.7M | -$7.1M | $4.7M | $2.5M | $3.6M | -$4.1M | $2.8M |
| EPS (diluted) | $0.63 | -$0.31 | -$1.31 | $0.85 | $0.45 | $0.65 | -$0.75 | $0.49 |
| FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | FY 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating cash flow | $39.2M | $28.0M | $44.1M | $46.8M | $42.8M |
| Capital expenditure | -$4.4M | -$4.5M | -$2.6M | -$4.5M | -$3.3M |
| Free cash flow | $34.8M | $23.4M | $41.6M | $42.3M | $39.6M |
| Dividends paid | -$3.3M | -$3.4M | -$3.4M | -$3.5M | -$3.5M |
| Net share buybacks | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Cash outflows are shown as negative numbers.
- Cash and short-term investments
- $30.7M
- Total assets
- $419.2M
- Total liabilities
- $230.5M
- Total debt
- $101.4M
- Net debt
- $70.7M
- Shareholders’ equity
- $188.8M
As of Jun 30, 2026 (filed Aug 10, 2026).
Dividends
| Ex-date | Amount | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Aug 31, 2026 | $0.16 | Sep 15, 2026 |
| May 29, 2026 | $0.16 | Jun 15, 2026 |
| Feb 27, 2026 | $0.16 | Mar 16, 2026 |
| Nov 28, 2025 | $0.16 | Dec 15, 2025 |
| Aug 29, 2025 | $0.16 | Sep 15, 2025 |
| May 30, 2025 | $0.16 | Jun 16, 2025 |
| Feb 28, 2025 | $0.16 | Mar 17, 2025 |
| Nov 29, 2024 | $0.16 | Dec 16, 2024 |
Short interest
- Shares sold short
- 403,559
- Days to cover
- 3.02
- Change vs previous report
- -7.0%
FINRA short interest, settlement date Sep 15, 2026.