NL Industries, Inc. NL

Competitive advantage analysis · industrials

Corporate Default
Overall moat score
49/100
Developing

Ranked against 26 peers in Security & Protection Services

About NL Industries, Inc.

NL Industries, Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates in the component products industry in Europe, North America, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. The company manufactures and sells mechanical and electronic cabinet locks and other locking mechanisms, including disc tumbler locks; pin tumbler locking mechanisms under KeSet, System 64, TuBar, and Turbine brands; and electronic locks under CompX eLock and StealthLock brands … Full NL analysis →

Key strengths

  • Strong Liquidity Buffer Liquidity position is strong (score 0.96), providing operational cushion.

Key risks

  • Weak or Negative Cash Flow Cash generation is weak (score 0.25), limiting financial flexibility.
  • Inconsistent Cash Generation Cash generation is inconsistent (score 0.25), indicating operational challenges.

The dashed ring is the peer median. Defense scores are percentile ranks against peers, so 50 is roughly the typical company in this group.

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Pricing Power

Moderate
53
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Signals, strengths and risks for Pricing Power

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Signals, strengths and risks for Cost Advantage

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Signals, strengths and risks for Customer Stickiness

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Signals, strengths and risks for Capital Efficiency

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Signals, strengths and risks for Resilience

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Signals, strengths and risks for Scale & Market Position

Where NL ranks in Security & Protection Services

NL Industries, Inc. ranks #13 of 27 scored companies in Security & Protection Services by moat score — the top 48%. The widest moat in the group is NAPCO Security Technologies, In (NSSC) at 84/100.

# Company Moat score Rating
9 CoreCivic, Inc. CXW 60/100 Moderate
10 Geo Group Inc (The) REIT GEO 59/100 Moderate
11 Mistras Group Inc MG 58/100 Moderate
12 SU Group Holdings Limited SUGP 58/100 Moderate
13 NL Industries, Inc. NL 49/100 Developing
14 Bridger Aerospace Group Holding BAERW 47/100 Developing
15 Bridger Aerospace Group Holding BAER 44/100 Developing
16 SuperCom, Ltd. SPCB 43/100 Developing
17 VerifyMe, Inc. VRME 39/100 Developing

See every General Corporate company ranked by moat score →

How NL scores on the Corporate Default defenses

Pricing Power

Score 53 · 20% of the moat score

Pricing power is the ability to raise prices without losing volume.

Cost Advantage

Score 69 · 15% of the moat score

A cost advantage means delivering the same product for structurally less — better purchasing, denser distribution, a more automated process.

Customer Stickiness

Score 38 · 15% of the moat score

Stickiness is what makes revenue repeat without being re-won every year.

Capital Efficiency

Score 36 · 18% of the moat score

Capital efficiency asks what the company earns on the money tied up in the business.

Resilience

Score 59 · 17% of the moat score

Resilience is the capacity to get through a bad year on its own terms — enough liquidity, enough interest cover, and enough cash generation to avoid a rescue financing or a forced sale.

Scale & Market Position

Score 43 · 15% of the moat score

Scale matters only when it converts into economics.

How each Corporate Default defense is measured, in full →

Understanding NL's moat

What is NL Industries, Inc.'s moat score?

NL Industries, Inc. (NL) scores 49 out of 100 on the StatsAlpha Moat Map, which rates its competitive advantage as developing. It ranks #13 of 27 scored companies in Security & Protection Services, the top 48%. The score is a weighted composite of 6 competitive defenses, each measured against industry peers of 26 companies in Security & Protection Services. Its strongest defense is Cost Advantage (69/100) and its weakest is Capital Efficiency (36/100).

How does NL Industries, Inc. compare with other Security & Protection Services companies?

NL Industries, Inc. ranks #13 of 27 scored companies in Security & Protection Services by moat score. The widest moat in Security & Protection Services is NAPCO Security Technologies, In (NSSC) at 84/100. The companies ranked closest are SU Group Holdings Limited (SUGP) at 58 just above it and Bridger Aerospace Group Holding (BAERW) at 47 just below it.

How is the moat score calculated?

Each company is scored with an industry-specific template — Corporate Default in this case, chosen because the defenses that matter to a bank are not the ones that matter to a software company. Every defense combines several financial signals, and each signal is measured as a percentile against a peer group of 26 companies in Security & Protection Services. The defenses are then weighted to produce the overall score out of 100.

Why is NL Industries, Inc. scored with the Corporate Default template?

Most public companies sell a product or a service at a margin, so the moat question is whether that margin survives contact with competitors. The Corporate template scores the six defenses that show up in a general operating company's financial signature: whether it can hold price, produce more cheaply than rivals, keep its customers, earn a return above its cost of capital, withstand a downturn, and turn size into economics.

Which competitive defenses are measured for NL Industries, Inc.?

The Corporate Default template measures 6 defenses, and NL scores: Pricing Power (53), Cost Advantage (69), Customer Stickiness (38), Capital Efficiency (36), Resilience (59), Scale & Market Position (43). Each is scored independently as a percentile against peers, so a company can be strong on one and weak on another — the overall score reflects how those defenses are weighted for this industry.

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