NX (Quanex Building Products) Earnings Power Value (EPV): $2.30 (As of Apr26)


NX Quanex Building Products Corp NX
65 GF Score
Price $17.77
GF Value $29.22
Valuation Possible Value Trap
! 4 Warning Signs
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What is Quanex Building Products Earnings Power Value (EPV)?

Quanex Building Products NX +7.31% 65 Earnings Power Value (EPV) is $2.30 as of Apr26. GuruFocus rates NX with a GF Score™ of 65/100 and a GF Value™ of $29.22 (Possible Value Trap). The stock has 4 warning signs investors should review.

As of Apr26, Quanex Building Products's earnings power value is $2.30. *

* GuruFocus does not store EPV value into our database if Average Maintenance CAPEX is 0.

Margin of Safety is -673.31

The basic concept of EPV is that one should value a stock based on the current free cash flow of a company and not on future projections which may, or may not, come true. It is arguably a better way to analyze stocks than Discounted Cash Flow analysis that relies on highly speculative growth assumptions many years into the future. Assumption: Current profitability is sustainable.


Quanex Building Products  (NYSE:NX) Earnings Power Value (EPV) Explanation

Assumption: Current profitability is sustainable.

Earnings power value (EPV) uses a very basic equation which assumes no growth, although it does rely on an assumption about the cost of capital as well as the fact that current earnings are sustainable. It also involves several adjustments to clean up the underlying Earnings figures.


Be Aware

Though using today's earnings in calculating Earnings Power Value, GuruFocus is normalizing these earnings to the business cycle. This eliminates the effects on profitability of valuing the firm at different points in the business cycle. This means that we are considering the average earnings over 5 years.


Quanex Building Products Earnings Power Value (EPV) Related Terms


Quanex Building Products Earnings Power Value (EPV) Historical Data

* Premium members only.

The historical data trend for Quanex Building Products's Earnings Power Value (EPV) can be seen below:

* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD.
* For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.

Quanex Building Products Earnings Power Value (EPV) Chart

Quanex Building Products Annual Data
Trend Oct16 Oct17 Oct18 Oct19 Oct20 Oct21 Oct22 Oct23 Oct24 Oct25
Earnings Power Value (EPV)
Get a 7-Day Free Trial Premium Member Only Premium Member Only 10.32 14.49 18.32 -1.95 2.95

Quanex Building Products Quarterly Data
Jul21 Oct21 Jan22 Apr22 Jul22 Oct22 Jan23 Apr23 Jul23 Oct23 Jan24 Apr24 Jul24 Oct24 Jan25 Apr25 Jul25 Oct25 Jan26 Apr26
Earnings Power Value (EPV) Get a 7-Day Free Trial Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only -0.42 2.51 2.95 2.30 2.30

NX vs APOG, LMB, JBI: Earnings Power Value (EPV) Comparison

For the Building Products & Equipment subindustry, Quanex Building Products's Earnings Power Value (EPV), along with its competitors' market caps and Earnings Power Value (EPV) data, can be viewed below:

* Competitive companies are chosen from companies within the same industry, with headquarter located in same country, with closest market capitalization; x-axis shows the market cap, and y-axis shows the term value; the bigger the dot, the larger the market cap. Note that "N/A" values will not show up in the chart.


Quanex Building Products Earnings Power Value (EPV) vs Construction Industry

For the Construction industry and Industrials sector, Quanex Building Products's Earnings Power Value (EPV) distribution charts can be found below:

* The bar in red indicates where Quanex Building Products's Earnings Power Value (EPV) falls into.


NX
65GF Score
Quanex Building Products Corp NX
Earnings Power Value (EPV) is just one metric. See GF Score™, valuation, warning signs, and more.
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Quanex Building Products Earnings Power Value (EPV) Calculation

Earnings Power Value also known as just Earnings Power is a valuation technique popularised by Bruce Greenwald, an authority on value investing at Columbia University. It is arguably a better way to analyze stocks than Discounted Cash Flow analysis that relies on highly speculative growth assumptions many years into the future.

The basic concept of EPV is that one should value a stock based on the current free cash flow of a company and not on future projections which may, or may not, come true. This valuation tool excludes the potential growth that a company may have so that needs to be looked at separately. Since future growth is excluded from the analysis, only the maintenance capital expenditures are subtracted from after-tax EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) and growth capex is ignored.

Quanex Building Products's "Earning Power" Calculation:

Average of Last 20 Quarters Last Quarter
Revenue 1,382
DDA 63
Operating Margin % 7.03
SGA * 25% 46
Tax Rate % 21.51
Maintenance Capex 35
Cash and Cash Equivalents 64
Short-Term Debt 45
Long-Term Debt 844
Shares Outstanding (Diluted) 46

1. Start with "Earnings" not including accounting adjustments (one-time charges not excluded unless policy has changed). "Earnings" are "Operating Income.

2. Look at average margins over a business/Industry cycle: Average Operating Margin = 7.03%

To normalize margins and eliminate the effects on profitability of valuing the firm at different points in the business cycle, it is usually best to take a long-term average of operating margins. Ideally this would be as long as 10 years and include at least one economic downturn. However, since most of companies do not have as long as 10-year history, here GuruFocus uses the latest 5 years data to do the calculation. To smooth out unusual years but reflect recent developments, we take an average of the 5 year margin.

3. Multiply average margins by sustainable revenues and then adjust for maintenance SGA. This yields "normalized" EBIT:

To be conservative, GuruFocus uses an average of the 5 year revenues as the sustainable revenue.
EPV analysis recognises that part of SG&A expenditure is made to maintain and replace the existing assets, while part is made to grow sales. Since EPV is only interested in what it costs a going concern to maintain its existing asset base, it adds back a percentage of SG&A (between 15% and 50% - this is a matter of judgment and industry knowledge) to make up for the fact that some of this expenditure went to fund growth and shouldn't be accounted for. To start off, we assume 25% for the sake of prudence.
Sustainable Revenue = $1,382 Mil, Average Operating Margin = 7.03%, Average Adjusted SGA = 46,
therefore "Normalized" EBIT = Sustainable Revenue * Average Operating Margin + Average Adjusted SGA = 1,382 * 7.03% +46 = $142.710151474 Mil.

4. Multiply by one minus Average Tax Rate (NOPAT):

Same as average operating margin calculation, GuruFocus takes an average of the 5 years tax rates.
Average Tax Rate = 21.51%, and "Normalized" EBIT = $142.710151474 Mil,
therefore After-tax "Normalized" EBIT = "Normalized" EBIT * ( 1 - Average Tax Rate ) = 142.710151474 * ( 1 - 21.51% ) = $112.01319789194 Mil.

5. Add back Excess Depreciation (after tax at 1/2 average tax rate). This yields "normalized" Earnings:

Excess Depreciation = Average DDA * % of Excess Depreciation (after tax at 1/2 average tax rate) = 63 * 0.5 * 21.51% = $6.80830218 Mil.
"Normalized" Earnings = After-tax "Normalized" EBIT + Excess Depreciation = 112.01319789194 + 6.80830218 = $118.82150007194 Mil.

6. Adjusted for Maintenance Capital Expenditure:

First, calculate the revenue change regarding to the previous year. If the revenue decreased from the previous year, then the Maintenance Capital Expenditure = Capital Expenditure (positive).
Second, if the revenue increased from the previous year, then calculate the percentage of Net PPE as of corresponding Revenue.
Third, calculate Capital Expenditure (positive) - percentage of Net PPE as of corresponding Revenue * revenue increase.
If [Capital Expenditure (positive) - percentage of Net PPE as of corresponding Revenue * revenue increase] was negative, then the Maintenance Capital Expenditure = Capital Expenditure (positive).
If [Capital Expenditure (positive) - percentage of Net PPE as of corresponding Revenue * revenue increase] was positive, then the Maintenance Capital Expenditure = Capital Expenditure (positive) - percentage of Net PPE as of corresponding Revenue * revenue increase.
Fourth, GuruFocus uses an average of the 5 year maintenance capital expenditures as maintenance CAPEX.
Quanex Building Products's Average Maintenance CAPEX = $35 Mil *.
* GuruFocus does not store EPV value into our database if Average Maintenance CAPEX is 0.

7. Investors require a return of "WACC" for the risk they are taking: WACC = 9%

8. Quanex Building Products's current cash and cash equivalent = $64 Mil.
Quanex Building Products's current interest bearing debt = Long-Term Debt & Capital Lease Obligation + Short-Term Debt & Capital Lease Obligation = 844 + 45 = $889.346 Mil.
Quanex Building Products's current Shares Outstanding (Diluted Average) = 46 Mil.

Quanex Building Products's Earnings Power Value (EPV) for Apr26 is calculated as:

EPV = ( ( Norm. Earnings-Maint. CAPEX *) / WACC + CashandEquiv - Int. Bearing Debt ) / Shares Outstanding (Diluted Average)
= ( ( 118.82150007194 - 35)/ 9%+64-889.346 )/46
=2.30

Margin of Safety (EPV)=( Earnings Power Value (EPV)-Current Price )/Earnings Power Value (EPV)
=( 2.2979178705308-17.77 )/2.2979178705308
= -673.31%

* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD.
* For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.

* GuruFocus does not store EPV value into our database if Average Maintenance CAPEX is 0.

What does a Earnings Power Value (EPV) of $2.30 mean?
Quanex Building Products (NX) has a Earnings Power Value (EPV) of $2.30 as of Apr26. Bruce Greenwald's earnings power value focuses on current earnings without factoring in future growth. View historical data on Quanex Building Products and its competitors.
Is Quanex Building Products' Earnings Power Value (EPV) too high?
Quanex Building Products' current Earnings Power Value (EPV) is $2.30. Overall, Quanex Building Products has a GF Score™ of 65/100 and is considered Possible Value Trap, reflecting its overall financial health beyond just this single metric.
How does Quanex Building Products' Earnings Power Value (EPV) compare to APOG and LMB?
Quanex Building Products' Earnings Power Value (EPV) of $2.30 can be compared against companies in the Construction industry. See the competitive comparison table and distribution chart on this page for a detailed peer-by-peer breakdown.
What is a good Earnings Power Value (EPV) for a Construction company?
A good Earnings Power Value (EPV) depends on the Construction industry context. However, Earnings Power Value (EPV) should not be evaluated in isolation — investors should consider it alongside profitability, growth, and financial strength metrics. Use the industry distribution chart on this page to see where any company falls relative to its peers.
What does a high Earnings Power Value (EPV) mean?
A high Earnings Power Value (EPV) can signal that a stock is expensive relative to its fundamentals. Bruce Greenwald's earnings power value focuses on current earnings without factoring in future growth. View historical data on Quanex Building Products and its competitors. Quanex Building Products's current Earnings Power Value (EPV) is $2.30. However, context matters — high-growth companies often justify higher valuations. Always evaluate alongside other metrics like GF Score™ and GF Value™.
Is Quanex Building Products stock overvalued right now?
Based on GuruFocus' analysis, Quanex Building Products (NX) is currently considered Possible Value Trap. The stock's GF Value™ is $29.22, compared to a current price of $17.77 — trading 39.2% below its estimated fair value. The current Earnings Power Value (EPV) is $2.30. Quanex Building Products' overall GF Score™ is 65/100 with 4 warning signs to review. Investors should evaluate multiple metrics — including profitability, growth, and financial strength — before making a decision.
How is Earnings Power Value (EPV) calculated?
Earnings Power Value (EPV) is calculated from a company's financial statements. For Quanex Building Products (NX), the current Earnings Power Value (EPV) is $2.30 as of Apr26. GuruFocus calculates this using data sourced from SEC filings and annual reports. See the calculation section and 30-year financial data on this page for the full breakdown.

Is Quanex Building Products (NX) Overvalued in 2026?

Based on GuruFocus' analysis, Quanex Building Products stock appears to be undervalued. The current stock price of $17.77 is trading 39.2% below its estimated GF Value™ of $29.22. GuruFocus considers Quanex Building Products to be Possible Value Trap.

Key valuation signals for NX:

  • Earnings Power Value (EPV): $2.30
  • GF Value™: $29.22 vs. price of $17.77 (39.2% below fair value)
  • GF Score™: 65/100 with 4 warning signs

No single metric tells the full story. See the NX stock analysis page for a complete view including 30-year financials, guru trades, and insider activity.


Quanex Building Products Business Description

Address 945 Bunker Hill Road, Suite 900, Houston, TX, USA, 77024
Quanex Building Products Corp is a manufacturer of components sold to original equipment manufacturers in the building products industry. It manufactures engineered products like window and door components that include flexible insulating glass spacers, extruded vinyl profiles, window and door screens, solar panel sealants and precision-formed metal and wood products among others. Its four operating segments are North American Fenestration being the key revenue driver, European Fenestration, North American Cabinet Components, and Tyman. Geographically, it derives a majority of revenue from the United States.
65GF Score

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Earnings Power Value (EPV) is just one metric. See GF Value™, 30-year financials, guru trades, warning signs, and more.

$17.77
Price
$29.22
GF Value