S&W Seed Company SANW

Competitive advantage analysis · consumer-defensive

Corporate Default
Overall moat score
38/100
Developing

About S&W Seed Company

S&W Seed Company, an agricultural company, engages in breeding, growing, processing, and sale of alfalfa and sorghum seeds in North and South America, Australia, and internationally. The company also offers sunflower, stevia, camelina, forage cereals, wheat, and pasture seeds. It sells its seeds to distributors and dealers in 30 countries. The company was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in … Full SANW analysis →

Competitive advantage assessment

Key strengths

  • Revenue Growth Consistent Revenue growth volatility is low (stability score 0.85), suggesting sticky customer base.
  • Operating Leverage in Effect Operating leverage is evident (score 0.70), with margins expanding over time.

Key risks

  • ROIC Below WACC or Peers ROIC at 27.3th percentile suggests inefficient capital deployment.
  • Liquidity Concerns Liquidity is concerning (score 0.26), raising questions about short-term obligations.

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

Developing
34

Where SANW ranks in Farm Products

S&W Seed Company ranks #19 of 29 scored companies in Farm Products by moat score — the top 66%. The widest moat in the group is Smithfield Foods, Inc. (SFD) at 80/100.

Moat scores for companies ranked near SANW in Farm Products
# Company Moat score Rating
15 Tyson Foods, Inc. TSN 58/100 Moderate
16 Brasilagro Brazilian Agric Real LND 42/100 Developing
17 Forafric Global PLC AFRI 39/100 Developing
18 Forafric Global PLC Warrants AFRIW 39/100 Developing
19 S&W Seed Company SANW 38/100 Developing
20 Sadot Group Inc. SDOT 36/100 Developing
21 Limoneira Co LMNR 36/100 Developing
22 Davis Commodities Limited DTCK 35/100 Developing
23 Alico, Inc. ALCO 29/100 Developing

See every General Corporate company ranked by moat score →

How SANW scores on the Corporate Default defenses

Pricing Power

Score 34 · 20% of the moat score

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

Cost Advantage

Score 26 · 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 50 · 15% of the moat score

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

Capital Efficiency

Score 20 · 18% of the moat score

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

Resilience

Score 35 · 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 64 · 15% of the moat score

Scale matters only when it converts into economics.

How each Corporate Default defense is measured, in full →

Understanding SANW's moat

What is S&W Seed Company's moat score?

S&W Seed Company (SANW) scores 38 out of 100 on the StatsAlpha Moat Map, which rates its competitive advantage as developing. It ranks #19 of 29 scored companies in Farm Products, the top 66%. The score is a weighted composite of 6 competitive defenses, each measured against industry peers of 28 companies in Farm Products. Its strongest defense is Scale & Market Position (64/100) and its weakest is Capital Efficiency (20/100).

How does S&W Seed Company compare with other Farm Products companies?

S&W Seed Company ranks #19 of 29 scored companies in Farm Products by moat score. The widest moat in Farm Products is Smithfield Foods, Inc. (SFD) at 80/100. The companies ranked closest are Forafric Global PLC Warrants (AFRIW) at 39 just above it and Sadot Group Inc. (SDOT) at 36 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 28 companies in Farm Products. The defenses are then weighted to produce the overall score out of 100.

Why is S&W Seed Company 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 S&W Seed Company?

The Corporate Default template measures 6 defenses, and SANW scores: Pricing Power (34), Cost Advantage (26), Customer Stickiness (50), Capital Efficiency (20), Resilience (35), Scale & Market Position (64). 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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