Caesarstone
Through the investors’ lenses
Each of these investors has said in public what they look at before buying. Click a name to see how this company measures up — a tick where it passes one of their tests, a cross where it does not.
Warren Buffett 1/4
| Measure | CSTE | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Owner earnings | $-38.51m | positive | ✗ |
| Return on equity | -13.6% | median 11.7% | ✗ |
| Debt to equity | 0.36x | median 0.79x | ✓ |
| Operating margin | -8.5% | median 15.0% | ✗ |
Passes 1 of 4. To be clear: Warren Buffett has never said anything about Caesarstone. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
Terry Smith 1/3
| Measure | CSTE | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Return on capital employed | -10.3% | median 10.1% | ✗ |
| Cash conversion | — | median 1.78x | — |
| Operating margin | -8.5% | median 15.0% | ✗ |
| Debt to equity | 0.36x | median 0.79x | ✓ |
Passes 1 of 3. To be clear: Terry Smith has never said anything about Caesarstone. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
Charlie Munger 0/3
| Measure | CSTE | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Return on capital employed | -10.3% | median 10.1% | ✗ |
| Return on equity | -13.6% | median 11.7% | ✗ |
| Operating margin | -8.5% | median 15.0% | ✗ |
Passes 0 of 3. To be clear: Charlie Munger has never said anything about Caesarstone. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
Chuck Akre 1/3
| Measure | CSTE | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Return on equity | -13.6% | median 11.7% | ✗ |
| Debt to equity | 0.36x | median 0.79x | ✓ |
| Cash conversion | — | median 1.78x | — |
| Return on equity, sustained | 1 of 10 | 8 of 10 above median | ✗ |
Passes 1 of 3. To be clear: Chuck Akre has never said anything about Caesarstone. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
Philip Fisher 0/4
| Measure | CSTE | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Operating margin | -8.5% | median 15.0% | ✗ |
| Net margin | -8.3% | median 10.2% | ✗ |
| Return on capital employed | -10.3% | median 10.1% | ✗ |
| Operating margin, held or improving | -31.6% | 10-yr median 4.3% | ✗ |
Passes 0 of 4. To be clear: Philip Fisher has never said anything about Caesarstone. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
Walter Schloss 2/2
| Measure | CSTE | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current ratio | 2.47x | median 1.25x | ✓ |
| Debt to equity | 0.36x | median 0.79x | ✓ |
Passes 2 of 2. To be clear: Walter Schloss has never said anything about Caesarstone. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
Benjamin Graham 2/3
| Measure | CSTE | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current ratio | 2.47x | 2.00x published | ✓ |
| Long-term debt to working capital | 0.51x | 1.00x published | ✓ |
| Positive earnings, ten years running | 0 yrs | 10 published | ✗ |
Passes 2 of 3. To be clear: Benjamin Graham has never said anything about Caesarstone. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
Joel Greenblatt 0/1
| Measure | CSTE | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Return on capital employed | -10.3% | median 10.1% | ✗ |
Passes 0 of 1. To be clear: Joel Greenblatt has never said anything about Caesarstone. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
Peter Lynch 1/2
| Measure | CSTE | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debt to equity | 0.36x | median 0.79x | ✓ |
| Net margin | -8.3% | median 10.2% | ✗ |
Passes 1 of 2. To be clear: Peter Lynch has never said anything about Caesarstone. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
Last usable year: 2022-12-31 — 44 months ago. Nothing filed since gives the figures a payout ratio needs. For a company that once paid, that usually means it stopped.
| Basis | Payout | Why |
|---|---|---|
| GAAP earnings | negative | whyLost $1.66 per share — no earnings to pay from. |
| Operating cash flow | negative | whyOperations consumed $23.3m of cash. |
| Free cash flow | negative | whyOCF fell $41.1m short of capex — the dividend was not funded from free cash flow. |
Nothing is marked as applying, deliberately — no basis produces a ratio. Earnings, operating cash flow and free cash flow are all negative, so there is no denominator to divide the dividend by. That is not a gap in the data; it is the answer. The dividend was funded from something other than the money the business made this year — borrowing, cash on hand, or asset sales — and the filing will say which.
Coverage rating 73 / 100 — Adequate. ? Peer standing 43/50Direction 30/30Stability 0/20
Free cash flow payout, last 6 years
| Fiscal year | Payout |
|---|---|
| 2020-12-31 | 17.3% |
| 2019-12-31 | 8.7% |
| 2016-12-31 | 0.3% |
| 2013-12-31 | 41.7% |
| 2012-12-31 | 124.8% |
| 2011-12-31 | 35.7% |
Coverage worsened sharply this year, 8.7% to 17.3%, after no clear trend before it. One year is not a trend, but it is worth knowing which direction the last one moved.
86% of the 36 materials here pay out more — comfortable for the sector.
The arithmetic
- GAAP earnings — dividends declared per share $0.250 ÷ diluted EPS $-1.66
- Operating cash flow — dividends paid $8.62m ÷ operating cash flow $-23.3m
- Free cash flow — dividends paid $8.62m ÷ (operating cash flow $-23.3m − capex $17.8m)
Where the figures came from
- 20-F filed 2025-03-05 · accession 0001178913-25-000706
- 20-F filed 2024-03-06 · accession
0001178913-24-000849 - 20-F filed 2023-03-15 · accession
0001178913-23-001005
All public at sec.gov — you should not have to take our word for it.
Caveats on this company
- DPS derived from dividends paid ($0.25); no per-share tag filed
Computed straight from SEC XBRL. A number that looks wrong to you is more useful to us than agreement — tell us.
Also on: rated adequate · when it files.
When this changes
Every figure above is recomputed whenever Caesarstone files. The monthly letter carries what filed, what moved, and one finding computed across every company here.