Acacia Research Corp key statistics and ratios
In fiscal 2025, Acacia Research Corp had return on equity of 4.1%, an operating margin of 2.2%, debt equal to 16.9% of equity and a current ratio of 9.18. Each ratio below is calculated from the figures on its income statement, balance sheet and cash flow pages.
Financial ratios
| Fiscal year | 2017Dec 2017 | 2018Dec 2018 | 2019Dec 2019 | 2020Dec 2020 | 2021Dec 2021 | 2022Dec 2022 | 2023Dec 2023 | 2024Dec 2024 | 2025Dec 2025 | LTMJun 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gross margin | — | 16.9% | −62.6% | 16.6% | 59.0% | 36.9% | 57.8% | 24.2% | 29.6% | 22.2% |
| Operating margin | −41.7% | −18.8% | −208.2% | −65.5% | 16.5% | −67.7% | 16.7% | −26.9% | 2.2% | −7.0% |
| Net margin | 33.9% | −79.9% | −152.2% | 366.8% | 169.5% | −211.2% | 53.6% | −29.5% | 7.6% | −5.4% |
| Free-cash-flow margin | 19.8% | 15.8% | −22.2% | −66.5% | 15.0% | −64.3% | −18.1% | −80.6% | 21.4% | 2.1% |
| Return on equity | 7.5% | −43.4% | −9.4% | 48.5% | 42.8% | −36.9% | 16.2% | −6.7% | 4.1% | −2.8% |
| Return on assets | 7.2% | −39.4% | −7.7% | 29.9% | 22.8% | −19.5% | 12.0% | −5.2% | 2.8% | −1.9% |
| Asset turnover | 0.21 | 0.49 | 0.05 | 0.08 | 0.13 | 0.09 | 0.22 | 0.18 | 0.37 | 0.36 |
| Current ratio | 14.62 | 6.49 | 14.79 | 3.67 | 3.65 | 4.91 | 20.06 | 8.46 | 9.18 | 4.76 |
| Debt to equity | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 8.8% | 16.9% | 17.3% |
| Interest cover (operating income ÷ interest) | — | — | — | n/m | 1.8x | n/m | 10.1x | n/m | 0.7x | n/m |
| Effective tax rate | 12.0% | — | — | −1.1% | 13.9% | — | −2.2% | — | 21.8% | — |
| R&D as % of revenue | — | — | — | 0.0% | 0.2% | 1.1% | 0.6% | — | — | — |
| Capital spending as % of revenue | 0.0% | 0.0% | 1.6% | 0.7% | 0.1% | 1.2% | 0.2% | 121.5% | 5.0% | 8.7% |
| Free cash flow ÷ net income | 58.4% | — | — | −18.1% | 8.9% | — | −33.8% | — | 281.7% | — |
| Dividends ÷ net income | 0.0% | — | — | 1.3% | 1.0% | — | 2.1% | — | — | — |
| Dividends and buybacks ÷ free cash flow | 0.0% | 22.2% | — | — | 41.3% | — | — | — | 0.0% | — |
| Quarter | 2024 Q3Sept 2024 | 2024 Q4Dec 2024 | 2025 Q1Mar 2025 | 2025 Q2Jun 2025 | 2025 Q3Sept 2025 | 2025 Q4Dec 2025 | 2026 Q1Mar 2026 | 2026 Q2Jun 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gross margin | 10.1% | 17.6% | 47.4% | 12.8% | 21.2% | 12.8% | 22.2% | 26.8% |
| Operating margin | −44.1% | −32.4% | 30.8% | −24.2% | −10.8% | −26.1% | −15.4% | 7.4% |
| Net margin | −60.0% | −27.5% | 19.5% | −6.4% | −4.6% | 6.8% | −29.0% | 0.0% |
| Free-cash-flow margin | −12.1% | −48.2% | 0.3% | 95.3% | 6.6% | 15.8% | −9.3% | −0.8% |
| Current ratio | 16.39 | 8.46 | 6.16 | 8.80 | 8.63 | 9.18 | 8.56 | 4.76 |
| Debt to equity | — | 0.5% | 0.4% | 0.4% | 0.0% | 16.9% | 17.2% | 17.3% |
| R&D as % of revenue | 0.5% | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Financial health
- Short-term assets cover short-term liabilities $466m of assets due within a year against $98m of liabilities due within a year.
- Short-term assets cover long-term liabilities $466m short-term assets against $137m of longer-dated liabilities.
- More cash than debt $308m of cash against $91m of debt.
- Debt below 40% of shareholders' equity Debt is 17% of equity.
- Debt burden no higher than five years ago Five-year comparison not available. Not assessable.
- A year's operating cash flow covers at least 20% of debt $30m of operating cash flow against $91m of debt.
- Operating profit covers interest at least five times over Operating income of −$19m against $8m of interest.
Moat
Weak moat
How hard Acacia Research's competitive advantage looks for rivals to wear away, judged from 10 years of its own filings: returns on capital, pricing power, profit durability, cash conversion and discipline.
- Returns on capital 0 / 20
Net income has been a median -2.5% of total assets over 10 years.
- Durability 10 / 20
Operating margin has been a median -12.7%; its worst year was -274.3%.
- Cash conversion 7 / 20
Free cash flow was positive in 6 of 10 years, at a median 2.8% of revenue.
- Discipline 8 / 20
The diluted share count rose 96.4% over five years; stock-based pay has been a median 3.8% of revenue.
AI disruption exposure: High. In this industry, the core product is information work that AI systems increasingly perform. The score above includes a 15-point deduction for that exposure (32 before it).
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