Kewaunee Scientific Corporation (KEQU): BCG Matrix [Dec-2025 Updated]

You're looking for a clear-eyed assessment of Kewaunee Scientific Corporation's product portfolio using the BCG Matrix, and honestly, the recent $240.5 million fiscal year 2025 revenue tells a story of domestic strength masking international headwinds. We see clear Stars driving future growth, like the domestic segment's 30.7% surge to $179.4 million and the new Nu Aire line, while established furniture lines act as reliable Cash Cows generating the bulk of the $11.4 million net earnings. Still, the 8.2% sales drop in the International Segment to $61.1 million highlights significant Dogs and Question Marks needing immediate strategic focus, especially with that massive $214.6 million backlog waiting to be recognized. Dive in below to see exactly where Kewaunee Scientific Corporation needs to invest, hold, or divest its resources right now.

Background of Kewaunee Scientific Corporation (KEQU)

You're looking at Kewaunee Scientific Corporation, a company that's been around since 1906, designing, making, and installing technical furniture for labs, healthcare settings, and other technical environments. Honestly, they're a key player in outfitting the spaces where a lot of important research and development happens.

Kewaunee Scientific Corporation operates primarily through two segments: the Domestic Segment and the International Segment. They've got their corporate headquarters right in Statesville, North Carolina, and they run manufacturing facilities there, plus one in Bangalore, India, which serves the local Asian and African markets. You'll also find their sales offices spread across the United States, India, Saudi Arabia, and Singapore.

Their product mix is pretty comprehensive for a lab outfitter. It includes things like steel and wood casework (that's the built-in furniture), fume hoods for safely handling chemicals, and technical equipment for controlled areas. A big recent move was acquiring Nu Aire, Inc. on November 1, 2024, for $55 million. That acquisition brought in complementary products like biological safety cabinets, $\text{CO_2$ incubators, and ultralow freezers, definitely beefing up their offerings.

Let's look at the numbers for the last full fiscal year ending April 30, 2025. Kewaunee Scientific Corporation posted total sales of $240.5 million, which was a solid 18% jump from the $203.8 million they brought in during fiscal year 2024. That growth was heavily weighted toward the Domestic Segment, which saw sales hit $179.4 million, a 30.7% increase, partly thanks to incorporating Nu Aire's results. The International Segment, however, saw sales dip by 8.2% to $61.1 million, largely because of those persistent customer construction site delays they mentioned in India.

To give you a more current snapshot, the first quarter of fiscal year 2026, which ended July 31, 2025, showed sales climbing to $71.104 million, a 46.9% increase year-over-year. That quarter's performance suggested the international delivery delays were starting to ease up, which is defintely good news for their project-based revenue flow. The order backlog was sitting at a high level of $205.0 million as of July 31, 2025, indicating strong future demand for their specialized products.

Kewaunee Scientific Corporation (KEQU) - BCG Matrix: Stars

You're looking at the core growth engine for Kewaunee Scientific Corporation, the segment that defines high market share in a rapidly expanding environment. These are the units that demand significant cash for promotion and placement to maintain their leadership position, but they are the future Cash Cows if market growth stabilizes.

The Domestic Segment is clearly positioned as a Star, showing explosive growth fueled by the life science sector. For the full fiscal year 2025, which ended April 30, 2025, the Domestic Segment sales surged by 30.7%, reaching $179.4 million. This performance is set against the backdrop of the full fiscal year 2025 total sales reaching $240.5 million, up from $203.8 million in fiscal year 2024.

This domestic strength is directly linked to strategic moves, most notably the acquisition of Nu Aire, Inc., which closed on November 1, 2024. This acquisition immediately targets the high-growth biopharma market with specialized containment solutions.

The demand underpinning this Star status is evident in the order book. The substantial order backlog as of April 30, 2025, stood at $214.6 million, which fuels future high-growth revenue recognition. To give you a sense of the momentum leading into the next period, the backlog was $221.6 million as of January 31, 2025, before slightly decreasing to $205.0 million by July 31, 2025, still representing a historically strong position.

The high-growth nature of the Star category is also visible in the quarterly figures preceding the fiscal year-end. For the third quarter of fiscal year 2025, ending January 31, 2025, the Domestic Segment sales hit $52.0 million, a massive 63.6% increase from the prior year's $31.8 million for that quarter. This indicates that the market for Kewaunee Scientific Corporation's core and acquired products is definitely expanding rapidly.

The key drivers supporting the Star classification for Kewaunee Scientific Corporation's domestic operations include:

• Domestic Segment sales for FY2025: $179.4 million.
• Domestic Segment growth rate for FY2025: 30.7%.
• Order backlog as of April 30, 2025: $214.6 million.
• Nu Aire acquisition date: November 1, 2024.
• Q3 FY2025 Domestic sales growth: 63.6%.

Sustaining this success means Kewaunee Scientific Corporation must continue to invest heavily to maintain that high market share against competitors entering this lucrative, growing space. Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.

Kewaunee Scientific Corporation (KEQU) - BCG Matrix: Cash Cows

The established, traditional laboratory furniture and steel casework product lines, predominantly serving the US education and government markets, represent the core Cash Cows for Kewaunee Scientific Corporation. These offerings operate within a mature market environment; for instance, the United States Laboratory Furniture Market size was valued at approximately $624.73 million in 2025, with a projected Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of only 2.8% through 2033.

These core manufacturing operations consistently generate stable, positive cash flow, largely due to high-volume, repeat institutional customers. This segment is the primary engine of profitability, generating the bulk of Kewaunee Scientific Corporation's total fiscal year 2025 net earnings of $11.4 million, even when factoring in acquisition-related costs incurred during the year. The segment's high market share and operational maturity allow for lower relative investment in promotion and placement.

The financial performance clearly illustrates the dominance of this segment, which is the source of the company's reliable cash surplus. Consider the full fiscal year 2025 results:

The Domestic Segment's sales of $179.4 million represented a 30.7% increase year-over-year, contrasting with the International Segment's sales decline to $61.1 million. Furthermore, the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2025 showed the Domestic Segment's net earnings at $5,099,000, demonstrating strong underlying profitability before considering the full year's impact.

The company relies on its long-standing dealer and distribution networks to maintain this reliable sales channel with relatively low incremental investment. These channel partners, including two domestic dealers and a national stocking distributor, accounted for approximately 42% of the company's total sales in fiscal year 2024. Investments here are focused on maintaining efficiency rather than aggressive expansion, which is typical for a Cash Cow strategy. You can see this focus in management's stated emphasis on strengthening these relationships.

The strategic focus for this business unit involves maintaining current productivity levels and maximizing cash extraction. Key operational characteristics supporting this include:

• Focus on high-volume, repeat orders from established institutional clients.
• Sales primarily through established dealer and national distributor channels.
• The segment's sales volume is $179.4 million for FY2025, the majority of total revenue.
• EBITDA for the segment reached $25,580,000 for the full fiscal year 2025.

Supporting infrastructure investments are aimed at efficiency, such as the reported focus on improving manufacturing productivity within the Domestic Segment. This contrasts with the higher investment required for the Nu Aire acquisition, which is likely categorized elsewhere in the matrix.

Kewaunee Scientific Corporation (KEQU) - BCG Matrix: Dogs

Dogs, in the Boston Consulting Group Matrix framework, represent business units or product lines characterized by a low market share in a low-growth market. These units typically neither generate significant cash nor consume excessive amounts, but they can act as cash traps by tying up resources that could be better deployed elsewhere. For Kewaunee Scientific Corporation, the International Segment appears to fit this profile, especially when contrasted with the growth seen in the Domestic Segment post-acquisition.

The performance of the International Segment in fiscal year 2025 clearly signals a unit that should be minimized or divested, as it is not benefiting from the strategic Nu Aire acquisition, which was integrated into the Domestic Segment after its closing on November 1, 2024.

Key Financials and Performance Indicators for the International Segment (FY2025):

The International Segment's results demonstrate low growth and market share challenges, particularly when weighed against the competitive environment. The company has stated that principal deciding factors in its industries include price, product performance, and customer service, suggesting that in the international markets where the company operates, Kewaunee Scientific Corporation may be facing intense price competition, especially for legacy, non-specialized products.

The operational drag from project delays directly impacts cash flow management, a key characteristic of a Dog unit that consumes cash through working capital requirements without commensurate returns. You can see this cash being held up in working capital:

• Working capital at April 30, 2024, was $56,037,000.
• Working capital increased to $59,965,000 by October 31, 2024 (end of Q2 FY2025).
• Working capital remained elevated at $58,441,000 as of January 31, 2025 (end of Q3 FY2025).

These figures reflect money tied up in inventory and receivables related to projects where billing is pushed out. The primary cause cited for this is customer site delays in India, which pushed out the timing of deliveries across multiple quarters in fiscal year 2025. This situation perfectly illustrates how projects perpetually delayed by customer site issues tie up working capital and drag down overall profitability metrics like segment net earnings and EBITDA.

The following points summarize the characteristics aligning the International Segment with the Dogs quadrant:

• The International Segment's sales decreased by 8.2% in FY2025 to $61.1 million.
• Performance is challenged by customer site delays in India, impacting billings.
• This segment is not directly benefiting from the strategic Nu Aire acquisition, which bolstered the Domestic Segment.
• The unit operates in an environment where price is a principal deciding factor, suggesting commoditization pressure.

Kewaunee Scientific Corporation (KEQU) - BCG Matrix: Question Marks

The Question Marks quadrant for Kewaunee Scientific Corporation, representing business units in high-growth markets but with low current market share, is primarily represented by the International Segment facing execution hurdles and the significant cash consumption of the Corporate Segment supporting strategic investments.

The International Segment itself shows the classic Question Mark tension: a market with high potential that is currently underperforming due to operational friction. For the full fiscal year ending April 30, 2025, this segment generated sales of \$61.1 million, representing a year-over-year decrease of 8.2% from the prior year's sales of \$66.517 million. This decline was explicitly linked to customer site delays in India, which pushed out the timing of deliveries and billings. However, the segment shows signs of rapid market adoption recovery, as evidenced by the first quarter of fiscal year 2026 (ended July 31, 2025) sales reaching \$16.8 million, a year-over-year increase of 30.2%. This recent acceleration suggests the market is there, but the segment needs quick investment to secure dominant share and avoid becoming a Dog.

The need for heavy investment to scale and prove market viability is also seen in the integration of new, high-tech offerings, such as those from the Nu Aire acquisition completed on November 1, 2024, for a purchase price of \$55.0 million. While Nu Aire's results are now consolidated into the Domestic Segment, the associated integration costs and the need to scale these advanced products require significant cash deployment.

The increased Corporate platform investment costs are a clear cash drain for future growth, fitting the profile of a Question Mark consuming cash with little immediate return. These costs include readiness for Sarbanes-Oxley 404(b) compliance and strategic technology upgrades. The Corporate Segment reported a pre-tax net loss of (\$6.867 million) for fiscal year 2025, with an EBITDA loss of (\$8.442 million) for the same period. Costs related to Sarbanes-Oxley 404(b) compliance readiness specifically impacted the Corporate segment EBITDA in the third quarter of fiscal year 2025. The cash burn continued into the first quarter of fiscal year 2026, with the Corporate segment recording a pre-tax loss of \$3.1 million for the quarter ended July 31, 2025.

The company is actively deploying capital, using net cash of \$771,000 in investing activities related to capital expenditures during the three months ended July 31, 2025. This investment is necessary to support the infrastructure required for future growth, including compliance and technology platforms.

Here is a comparison of the segments and costs that currently fit the Question Mark profile:

The key financial indicators highlighting the Question Mark nature of these areas include:

• The International Segment's sales decline of 8.2% in FY 2025, despite high market potential.
• The Corporate Segment's negative EBITDA of (\$8.442 million) for FY 2025, representing a cash drain.
• The \$55.0 million purchase price for Nu Aire, requiring significant capital to integrate and scale.
• The explicit mention of costs related to Sarbanes-Oxley 404(b) compliance readiness impacting EBITDA.
• The Q1 FY2026 International Segment sales growth of 30.2%, showing high growth potential if execution issues are resolved.