Martin Marietta Materials Inc (MLM) stock analysis
Martin Marietta Materials Inc (MLM) clears 4 of this site's 8 mechanical value filters, 5 of 8 Buffett-style checks and 2 of 5 Lynch-style checks. At $517.67 it trades 102.3% above this site's neutral DCF value (a margin of safety of -102.3%). Its earnings quality rates Strong and it returns +1.7% to shareholders net of dilution. Figures are as of October 23, 2026, from SEC filings and market data refreshed weekly; this is educational analysis, not investment advice.
Data as of October 23, 2026. Refreshed weekly from SEC filings and market data.
What does Martin Marietta Materials do?
Martin Marietta Materials produces crushed stone, sand, gravel and cement for road, building and infrastructure projects.
What stands out about Martin Marietta Materials?
- The share price implies 26.2% yearly growth. At $517.67, MLM's free cash flow of $14.98 per share would have to grow 26.2% a year, fading to 2.5% by year 10, for this site's DCF (10% discount rate) to match the price. This site's baseline starts at 8%, so the price asks for more growth than the baseline. Change the assumptions.
- Misses 2 of the 8 value filters. It fails PEG Ratio < 1.5 (2.67) and EPS Growth YoY > -5% (-23.2%); the other 4 pass and 2 were not evaluated. See every filter.
- Close to its 52-week low. At $517.67, MLM is 9.9% above its low of $471.10 and 26.9% below its high of $708.11. See the range.
- Strongest against peers: net margin. At 36.7% (peer median 13.7%) it ranks 1st of 32 among industrials stocks this site tracks. See the ranking.
- Short interest is elevated. 5.3% of the float is sold short, 3.3 days to cover, above this site's 5% flag. See the figures.
How has Martin Marietta Materials' share price moved?
The interactive price chart needs JavaScript.
Is Martin Marietta Materials undervalued? The value diligence check
Every value-investing signal this site computes for this stock, gathered in one place: the same real numbers from the tools below, not a new score.
- Margin of safety (DCF) -102.3%
- P/E vs. its own history 14.5x · at/below its cheapest point Real range: 15.9x–39.3x over 5 years (net income per diluted share from each fiscal year's 10-K, paired with the real closing price at that fiscal year-end).
- Wall St. analyst rating Buy · 3.83/5 30 analysts this month: 7 strong buy, 12 buy, 10 hold, 1 sell, 0 strong sell (Finnhub). Up from 3.74 last month.
- Altman Z″-Score (bankruptcy risk) 3.65 · Safe zone
- Earnings quality (is the profit real?) Strong · all 5 checks clean Beneish M-score −2.66 · accruals −3.5% of assets · 111% of profit arrived as cash · stock comp 0.7% of revenue · share count −1.2% a year. From the latest 10-K (year to Dec 2025) - see the Earnings Quality Screener for how each check is scored.
- Shareholder yield (cash back to owners) +1.7% net Latest fiscal year (2025): dividends 0.6% + buybacks 1.3% − stock comp 0.1%, as a share of today's market cap. Over 14 years its split-adjusted share count rose 32%. See Shareholder Yield Leaders.
- Capital needed to grow (See's test) $6.48 per $1 of new profit · Capital-hungry · but only 12% return on capital Operating profit $689M → $1.7B, capital needed $7.6B → $14B, 2016–2025 (3-year averages); return on capital now 12% before tax. Buffett's See's Candies needed $0.42 per $1 of new profit, FlightSafety $3.20, a typical grower about $5. See Capital-Light Compounders.
- PEG (growth at a reasonable price) 2.67 · Well above fair P/E 14.5× ÷ 5.4% a year of growth behind it. 303rd lowest of 447 stocks with a usable PEG. Lynch's fair value is a PEG of 1; a very high PEG usually means almost no growth, a very low one a profit spike. See PEG Ratio Ranking.
- Compounder lenses (4) 2 of 4 · misses capital-light, price Capital-light growth: not cleared (only 12% return on capital); Profit is real: cleared; Cash to owners: cleared; Fair price (PEG): not cleared (PEG 2.67, over 1.5). See Compounders at a Fair Price, which also lets you move the PEG bar.
- Value trap check Clear
- Munger's Inversion Check 2 flags
- Standing vs. sector peers 3 of 7 measures above the median Compared with the 31 other other industrials stocks this site tracks: 3 in the top third, 4 in the bottom third.
- Dividend payout sustainability 0/6 · clean
How does Martin Marietta Materials compare with its peers?
3 of 7 measures sit above the median of the 31 other industrials stocks tracked here, 3 in the top third and 4 in the bottom third.
- P/E ratiolower is cheaper · peer median 25.8× 14.5× ✓3rd of 32
- Free-cash-flow yieldhigher is cheaper · peer median 4.1% 2.9% ✕26th of 32
- Return on equityhigher is better · peer median 34% 23% ✕24th of 32
- Net marginhigher is better · peer median 13.7% 36.7% ✓1st of 32
- Revenue growthhigher is better, year on year · peer median 6.8% 0.1% ✕28th of 32
- Debt / equitylower is safer · peer median 0.87 0.52 ✓8th of 32
- Dividend yieldamong dividend payers · peer median 1.34% 0.57% ✕27th of 31
Peers are the stocks this site tracks in the same sector group, not every listed competitor. The bar runs from the weakest peer (left) to the strongest (right); the tick is the middle. Measures that don't apply to a sector (cash-flow yield for banks, debt for financials) are left out.
What would Buffett & Lynch say?
Buffett's checklist is built around durable, profitable businesses bought at sensible prices, and MLM doesn't clear enough of it yet. In its favor: MLM is currently earning a strong return on shareholders' equity, and has kept that profitability up over five years, not just this year, converts sales into profit at healthy margins, has grown earnings per share at a solid clip over five years, and earns many times its interest expense, so debt service isn't a worry. Where it comes up short: MLM carries more debt relative to equity than he typically tolerates, is trading above what a conservative discounted-cash-flow estimate says it's worth right now, and trades rich relative to owner earnings, the real cash the business could pay out.
- ROE (TTM) > 11% ✓
- ROE (5yr avg) > 11% ✓
- Debt/Equity < 0.5 ✕
- Pretax margin > 15% ✓
- EPS growth (5yr) > 7% ✓
- Interest coverage > 5x ✓
- Trading below intrinsic value (DCF) ✕
- Price vs. owner earnings < 25x ✕
- Bonus: returning capital via buybacks FY2025
Lynch looked for growth stories that weren't overpriced for that growth, and MLM falls short of his bar. In its favor: MLM isn't asking too much even by a fast grower's usual richer multiple, and is generating real cash to back up a fast grower's higher price tag. Where it comes up short: MLM doesn't clear the tighter PEG bar a fast grower needs to justify its pace, is growing earnings outside the 20-50% band he considered sustainable for a fast grower - either not fast enough to earn the label, or a pace he'd flag as unlikely to hold up, and is leaning on more debt than he liked a growth story to carry.
- PEG < 1 (stricter for fast growers) ✕
- EPS growth 20%-50% ✕
- Debt/Equity < 0.5 ✕
- P/E < 40 ✓
- Price/FCF < 40 ✓
Quantitative approximations of each investor's documented approach, not endorsed by either investor or their estates - commentary, not this site's actual ranking criteria. Buffett never published a numeric checklist: only 2 of his 8 checks here trace to his own documented concepts ("owner earnings," from his 1986 shareholder letter, and "price is what you pay, value is what you get," his case against fixed P/E/P/B ceilings) - the other 6 (ROE, debt, margins, growth, interest coverage) use commonly-cited thresholds that are not numbers he himself published. The 8 hard filters below (plus the Munger check and Graham margin of safety) are this site's real, mechanical screen and are computed completely independently of the checklists above.
Berkshire Hathaway's own filing
Which of the 8 value filters does Martin Marietta Materials pass?
- Market Cap > $25B $35.7B
- Trailing P/E < 25 14.54
- PEG Ratio < 1.5 2.67
- Price/Book < 8 3.09
- Price/Sales < 7 5.34
- EPS Growth YoY > -5% -23.2%
- vs 50-day MA (±12%) Not evaluated †
- vs 200-day MA (±12%) Not evaluated †
What is Martin Marietta Materials' margin of safety?
History tracking starts this week - check back in a future week to see how this has moved.
Where is Martin Marietta Materials in its 52-week range?
What is the short interest in Martin Marietta Materials?
3,187,868 shares short as of 2026-09-30 (FINRA settlement date). Reported twice a month, so this only changes roughly every two weeks, not daily.
What could go wrong with Martin Marietta Materials? Munger's inversion check
"Invert, always invert." Instead of reasons to buy, these are reasons to hesitate, not a verdict, and not everything worth knowing about a business.
- Margin of safety, even in the bull case -20%
- Short interest under 5% of float 5.3%
- Passes most of the 6 fundamental filters 4/6 passed
- Price run-up backed by value, not just momentum +10% off 52wk low
- Debt/equity stable since 2016 0.41 → 0.53
Doesn't cover circle of competence, management quality, or accounting concerns: those need judgment, not data.
How much have Martin Marietta Materials shareholders gained per year?
Earnings growth per share plus dividend.
An earnings-based proxy, not a stock-price total return - it doesn't capture multiple expansion/contraction or reinvested dividends. EPS from MLM's own 10-K filings; dividend yield is the current trailing yield on today's price, from the same weekly fetch as the rest of this site.
What do Martin Marietta Materials' 10-year financials show?
From MLM's own 10-K filings (SEC EDGAR): up to the last 10 fiscal years. Press any year's bars for the exact figures.
Frequently asked questions about Martin Marietta Materials
What kind of company is Martin Marietta Materials?
Martin Marietta Materials produces crushed stone, sand, gravel and cement for road, building and infrastructure projects. This site groups it with Construction stocks.
Is Martin Marietta Materials trading above or below its DCF value?
At $517.67, MLM trades 102.3% above this site's neutral DCF value of $255.86 per share, a margin of safety of −102.3%. That DCF projects free cash flow for 10 years, with growth starting at 8% and fading to 2.5%, discounted at 10%; it is one set of assumptions, not a forecast. Test your own in the Intrinsic Value Calculator.
How many of this site's 8 value filters does Martin Marietta Materials pass?
MLM passes 4 of 8. It passes Market Cap > $25B ($35.7B), Trailing P/E < 25 (14.54), Price/Book < 8 (3.09) and Price/Sales < 7 (5.34). It misses PEG Ratio < 1.5 (2.67) and EPS Growth YoY > -5% (-23.2%). vs 50-day MA (±12%) and vs 200-day MA (±12%) were not evaluated, because the moving-average checks only run on stocks that clear the fundamentals first. The 8-filter list shows every stock that passes all of them.
Where is Martin Marietta Materials trading compared with its 52-week range?
At $517.67, MLM trades 9.6% above its 52-week low of $471.10 and 26.9% below its 52-week high of $708.11. The Near 52-Week Low list tracks stocks in that position.
When does Martin Marietta Materials report earnings next?
Martin Marietta Materials's next earnings report is expected on November 4, 2026, with analysts expecting earnings of $6.23 per share. Dates come from the Finnhub earnings calendar and can move. In its last 4 quarters it beat the estimate 2 times, by an average of +0.9%.
How heavily is Martin Marietta Materials stock sold short?
As of September 30, 2026, 5.3% of MLM's float was sold short (3,187,868 shares, 3.3 days to cover), up 9.7% from the prior reporting period. FINRA publishes short interest twice a month, so it changes about every two weeks; this site flags anything above 5% of the float.
Where do these numbers come from?
- Financial statements: Martin Marietta Materials's 10-K annual report for the year ended Dec 31, 2025, filed Feb 19, 2026 (filing index). Every earlier year in the 10-year financials comes from the company's older 10-K filings, all listed on SEC EDGAR.
- Prices and market data: quotes, P/E and analyst ratings from Finnhub; daily price history and the 52-week range from Twelve Data, both refreshed weekly. Short interest comes from FINRA, reported twice a month.
- How to check a figure: click any number in the card above to see its exact source, and read the Editorial Standards for every rule behind the checks.
About this Martin Marietta Materials Inc analysis
This page shows every value-investing check the site runs on Martin Marietta Materials Inc (MLM) in one place: the 8 mechanical filters, the Buffett and Lynch checklists, a margin of safety from a disclosed DCF, earnings quality, shareholder yield and how it ranks against its sector peers. The numbers come from SEC filings and public market data, refreshed weekly, and the same rules apply to every stock on the stock list. See Editorial Standards for the sources and the rules, or run your own filters in the stock screener.