Northern Technologies International Corp key statistics and ratios

In fiscal 2025, Northern Technologies International Corp had return on equity of 0.0%, an operating margin of 3.1%, debt equal to 13.6% of equity and a current ratio of 1.85. Each ratio below is calculated from the figures on its income statement, balance sheet and cash flow pages.

Financial ratios

US$ thousands unless shown otherwise. Fiscal years, plus the last twelve months (LTM) when newer.

Northern Technologies International Corp: financial ratios, annual
Fiscal year	2011Aug 2011	2012Aug 2012	2013Aug 2013	2014Aug 2014	2015Aug 2015	2016Aug 2016	2017Aug 2017	2018Aug 2018	2019Aug 2019	2020Aug 2020	2021Aug 2021	2022Aug 2022	2023Aug 2023	2024Aug 2024	2025Aug 2025	LTMMay 2026
Gross margin	34.6%	36.2%	31.2%	33.6%	32.2%	32.2%	33.5%	—	31.9%	33.6%	34.6%	31.1%	34.8%	39.7%	37.6%	35.8%
Operating margin	23.7%	20.1%	22.1%	25.0%	10.4%	3.9%	11.6%	56.9%	11.8%	3.3%	14.7%	6.9%	7.5%	9.3%	3.1%	3.0%
Net margin	20.0%	15.1%	15.0%	15.3%	5.9%	−2.6%	8.6%	47.5%	9.3%	−2.8%	11.1%	8.5%	3.6%	6.4%	0.0%	−1.3%
Free-cash-flow margin	−8.7%	−6.3%	−12.1%	−6.0%	−7.2%	4.3%	12.2%	−0.5%	8.1%	8.8%	−4.7%	−0.5%	2.9%	4.7%	1.1%	−3.5%
Return on equity	11.3%	9.7%	8.7%	9.5%	3.9%	−1.9%	7.3%	13.1%	9.5%	−2.4%	10.6%	10.0%	4.5%	7.9%	0.0%	−1.6%
Return on assets	9.7%	8.4%	7.4%	8.0%	3.4%	−1.7%	6.4%	11.2%	8.0%	−2.0%	8.9%	7.9%	3.3%	5.9%	0.0%	−1.1%
Asset turnover	0.49	0.56	0.49	0.52	0.57	0.64	0.73	0.23	0.85	0.71	0.80	0.92	0.91	0.92	0.85	0.88
Current ratio	3.06	3.52	4.62	5.00	5.25	5.24	5.33	3.95	4.25	5.45	3.96	2.36	2.37	2.32	1.85	1.72
Debt to equity	3.1%	2.7%	2.3%	—	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	9.3%	5.4%	6.0%	13.6%	16.7%
Interest cover (operating income ÷ interest)	77.7x	155.5x	95.1x	141.5x	150.4x	96.7x	—	—	—	99.1x	—	57.8x	13.0x	23.1x	4.3x	3.5x
R&D as % of revenue	22.3%	17.0%	17.0%	16.3%	13.3%	14.3%	7.4%	25.0%	6.9%	8.4%	7.8%	6.4%	6.2%	5.6%	6.0%	5.3%
Capital spending as % of revenue	2.9%	4.6%	6.6%	6.0%	4.7%	2.0%	2.3%	4.8%	1.7%	1.5%	9.8%	2.0%	4.1%	2.3%	1.8%	1.2%
Free cash flow ÷ net income	−43.7%	−41.4%	−81.2%	−39.2%	−122.6%	—	140.7%	−1.1%	86.7%	—	−42.0%	−5.5%	78.8%	73.3%	>999%	—
Dividends ÷ net income	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	27.1%	41.9%	—	28.4%	40.8%	90.1%	48.8%	>999%	—
Dividends and buybacks ÷ free cash flow	—	—	—	—	—	9.8%	4.1%	—	48.3%	28.1%	—	—	114.4%	66.6%	165.3%	—

US$ thousands unless shown otherwise. Fiscal quarters.

Northern Technologies International Corp: financial ratios, quarterly
Quarter	2024 Q4Aug 2024	2025 Q1Nov 2024	2025 Q2Feb 2025	2025 Q3May 2025	2025 Q4Aug 2025	2026 Q1Nov 2025	2026 Q2Feb 2026	2026 Q3May 2026
Gross margin	43.8%	38.3%	35.6%	38.4%	37.9%	36.0%	35.7%	33.6%
Operating margin	11.8%	5.2%	−1.7%	4.0%	4.2%	4.0%	1.7%	2.1%
Net margin	7.9%	2.6%	2.3%	0.6%	−4.9%	1.0%	−0.2%	−1.1%
Free-cash-flow margin	−4.7%	5.5%	6.9%	−0.8%	−6.3%	−2.1%	−8.7%	2.4%
Current ratio	2.32	2.22	2.18	2.03	1.85	1.77	1.81	1.72
R&D as % of revenue	5.2%	6.3%	6.8%	5.3%	5.7%	5.2%	5.3%	5.0%

Returns use average equity or assets over the year. Return on equity is left blank when equity is negative or so small that the ratio says nothing (above ±200%); interest cover is left blank above 200 times. Price-based ratios such as P/E are on the valuation page.

Financial health

1 of 2 checks passed · May 31, 2026

What it owns · $107m

Short-term assets $48mLonger-term assets $59m

What it owes, and who funded it · $101m

Short-term liabilities $28mShareholders' equity $73m

Short-term assets cover short-term liabilities $48m of assets due within a year against $28m of liabilities due within a year.
Short-term assets cover long-term liabilities Not assessable from the reported split. Not assessable.
More cash than debt Cash or debt not separately reported. Not assessable.
Debt below 40% of shareholders' equity Equity or debt not reported. Not assessable.
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 Cash flow or debt not reported. Not assessable.
Operating profit covers interest at least five times over Operating income of $3m against $778,945 of interest.

From Northern Technologies International Corp's latest balance sheet as filed. Checks are fixed, documented rules (methodology), counted only where the company reports the figures — a dot means the filing doesn't break the item out. Descriptions of reported data, not advice.

Moat

39 /100

Weak moat

How hard Northern Technologies International'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 3 / 20

Net income has been a median 3.5% of total assets over 10 years.
Pricing power 4 / 20

Gross margin has been a median 33.8%, moving by 17.9 percentage points (standard deviation) across 10 years.
Durability 7 / 20

Operating margin has been a median 8.2%; its worst year was 3.0%.
Cash conversion 9 / 20

Free cash flow was positive in 7 of 10 years, at a median 3.1% of revenue.
Discipline 17 / 20

The diluted share count rose 0.2% over five years; stock-based pay has been a median 1.5% of revenue.

AI disruption exposure: Low. In this industry, the business rests on physical assets, regulated networks or products AI itself depends on.

A rules-based reading of reported figures, not a forecast and not investment advice. How the score is built: methodology.

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Figures from Northern Technologies International Corp's SEC filings (10-K and 10-Q), retrieved October 29, 2026. How we read and check them: methodology and data sources. Not investment advice. Back to Northern Technologies International Corp.