American Vanguard Corp. (AVD) Slid Despite Clear Operational Improvement

2 weeks ago 9

Soumya Eswaran

Mon, January 19, 2026 astatine 7:47 AM CST 3 min read

Riverwater Partners, an concern absorption company, released its “Micro Opportunities Strategy” Q4 2025 capitalist letter. A transcript of the missive tin beryllium downloaded here. Both Q4 and the afloat twelvemonth 2025 were challenging for the strategy, which struggled to lucifer the benchmark show successful Q4 and FY2025. The underweight vulnerability successful speculative areas of the marketplace led to the underperformance successful the 2nd fractional of the year. Low-quality stocks with mediocre fundamentals outperformed the marketplace successful the year. The strategy’s accent connected high-quality stocks lagged down the broader marketplace trends. Heading to 2026, the Strategy focuses connected micro-cap companies with broader income and maturation trajectories and believes that the low-quality banal marketplace rallies volition beryllium short-lived. In addition, you tin cheque the fund’s apical 5 holdings to find its champion picks for 2025.

In its fourth-quarter 2025 capitalist letter, Riverwater Partners Micro Opportunities Strategy highlighted American Vanguard Corporation (NYSE:AVD) arsenic 1 of the show detractors. American Vanguard Corporation (NYSE:AVD) is simply a chemical, biological, and biorational products shaper for agricultural, commercial, and user uses. The one-month instrumentality for American Vanguard Corporation (NYSE:AVD) was 10.82%, and its shares mislaid 15.35% implicit the past 52 weeks. On January 16, 2026, American Vanguard Corporation (NYSE:AVD) banal closed astatine $4.3 per share, with a marketplace capitalization of $122.413 million.

Riverwater Partners Micro Opportunities Strategy stated the pursuing regarding American Vanguard Corporation (NYSE:AVD) successful its 4th fourth 2025 capitalist letter:

"American Vanguard Corporation (NYSE:AVD), a developer and marketer of cultivation products, underperformed during the 4th contempt wide grounds of operational improvement. Since the assignment of a caller CEO, absorption has executed connected a turnaround program that has meaningfully strengthened the business, though the banal terms has moved successful the other direction—an illustration of the inefficiencies often contiguous successful micro-cap equities. Inventory levels person been materially reduced and are present much manageable, declining astir 20% twelvemonth implicit year, portion gross margins expanded sharply to 29% from 15%. Adjusted EBITDA improved to $8 cardinal from $2 cardinal successful the anterior year, reflecting amended execution, outgo discipline, and pricing. While we stay cognizant of the risks inherent successful the cultivation extremity markets, we judge AVD is intelligibly connected a way toward a importantly stronger and much durable operating illustration than the marketplace presently reflects."