Research Frontiers Incorporated, together with other subsidiary, engages in the development and marketing of technology and devices to control the flow of light worldwide. It develops and licenses suspended particle device (SPD-Smart) light-control technology to companies that manufacture and market the SPD-Smart chemical emulsion, light-control film made from the chemical emulsion, the light-control panels made by laminating the film, and …
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Competitive advantage assessment
Key strengths
Operating Leverage in EffectOperating leverage is evident (score 0.82), with margins expanding over time.
Strong Liquidity BufferLiquidity position is strong (score 0.69), providing operational cushion.
Key risks
ROIC Below WACC or PeersROIC at 0th percentile suggests inefficient capital deployment.
Below-Peer Operating EfficiencyOperating margin at 4.1th percentile indicates below-peer efficiency.
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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Research Frontiers Incorporated ranks #46 of 52
scored companies in Electronic Components by moat score — the top 88%.
The widest moat in the group is Universal Display Corporation (OLED)
at 82/100.
Moat scores for companies ranked near REFR in Electronic Components
Pricing power is the ability to raise prices without losing volume.
Cost Advantage
Score 4
· 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 11
· 15% of the moat score
Stickiness is what makes revenue repeat without being re-won every year.
Capital Efficiency
Score 10
· 18% of the moat score
Capital efficiency asks what the company earns on the money tied up in the business.
Resilience
Score 29
· 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 63
· 15% of the moat score
Scale matters only when it converts into economics.
What is Research Frontiers Incorporated's moat score?
Research Frontiers Incorporated (REFR) scores 24 out of 100 on the StatsAlpha Moat Map, which rates its competitive advantage as weak. It ranks #46 of 52 scored companies in Electronic Components, the top 88%. The score is a weighted composite of 6 competitive defenses, each measured against industry peers of 51 companies in Electronic Components. Its strongest defense is Scale & Market Position (63/100) and its weakest is Cost Advantage (4/100).
How does Research Frontiers Incorporated compare with other Electronic Components companies?
Research Frontiers Incorporated ranks #46 of 52 scored companies in Electronic Components by moat score. The widest moat in Electronic Components is Universal Display Corporation (OLED) at 82/100. The companies ranked closest are Integrated Media Technology Lim (IMTE) at 24 just above it and Gauzy Ltd. (GAUZ) at 23 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 51 companies in Electronic Components. The defenses are then weighted to produce the overall score out of 100.
Why is Research Frontiers Incorporated 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 Research Frontiers Incorporated?
The Corporate Default template measures 6 defenses, and REFR scores: Pricing Power (21), Cost Advantage (4), Customer Stickiness (11), Capital Efficiency (10), Resilience (29), Scale & Market Position (63). 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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