Is ARCB a high-quality business?

AlphaMadera's AlphaQuality grade scores ArcBest Corporation on six pillars — profitability, capital efficiency, balance-sheet strength, growth durability, cash generation, and shareholder yield. The composite letter grade reflects how ARCB compares to a Buffett-style quality bar.

What is ArcBest Corporation's AlphaQuality grade?

AlphaQuality assigns a letter grade (A through F) to ARCB based on a six-pillar quantitative model. The live page shows the composite grade plus each pillar's individual score with the underlying metrics.

What makes ARCB a quality stock?

AlphaQuality looks at return on capital, free-cash-flow margins, debt-to-equity, revenue stability, dividend and buyback policy, and operating-margin trend. Stocks scoring well across all six pillars earn higher grades — the methodology favors compounders over cyclicals.

ARCB - ArcBest Corporation

Price: -- -- | CONSENSUS: Buy DETAILS | PRICE TARGET: $117.14 DETAILS

AlphaQuality

Quantitative six-pillar business-quality grade

Cyclical & Capital-Intensive

AlphaQuality — archetype-weighted quantitative grade

C+ 57.6 / 100 composite

Composite Grade

Composite of six pillars weighted for cyclical & capital-intensive businesses. Purely quantitative — no stock price or analyst input.

Profitability

Weight: 15%

D+ 42.5

5yr Avg ROIC 8.8% 54/100
Operating Margin Trend -1.22 pp/yr 16/100

Capital Efficiency

Weight: 15%

A- 84.9

5yr Avg ROE 14.5% 78/100
5yr Share-Count CAGR -3.8% 97/100

Growth Quality

Weight: 10%

F 22.9

5yr Revenue CAGR 1.6% 33/100
5yr EPS CAGR -24.3% 0/100
Revenue-Growth Years (5) 2/5 40/100

Cash Generation

Weight: 15%

B- 67.1

5yr FCF Margin 3.7% 44/100
5yr FCF/NI Conversion 0.96x 96/100

Balance Sheet

Weight: 25%

B+ 77.6

Net Debt / EBITDA 2.05x 69/100
Interest Coverage (EBIT/Int) 7.72x 76/100
Altman Z-Score 4.01 95/100

Stability

Weight: 20%

D 33.4

EPS Volatility (σ/μ) 0.81 7/100
Piotroski F-Score 6 67/100
Negative-Revenue Years (5) 3/5 40/100

1 of 2 gurus held; 1 added; 1 full exit.

Holders: 1 -1
Avg Δ position: +22.9%
New buys: 0
Full exits: 1

Laffont sold -100%
Cooperman increased +23%

How this is calculated

AlphaQuality grades six pillars from 0-100 and weights each by archetype:

Profitability (15%) — 5yr Avg ROIC, Operating Margin Trend
Capital Efficiency (15%) — 5yr Avg ROE, 5yr Share-Count CAGR
Growth Quality (10%) — 5yr Revenue CAGR, 5yr EPS CAGR, Revenue-Growth Years (5)
Cash Generation (15%) — 5yr FCF Margin, 5yr FCF/NI Conversion
Balance Sheet (25%) — Net Debt / EBITDA, Interest Coverage (EBIT/Int), Altman Z-Score
Stability (20%) — EPS Volatility (σ/μ), Piotroski F-Score, Negative-Revenue Years (5)

We deliberately ignore stock price, analyst targets, and consensus ratings so the grade is suitable for backtesting forward returns. A minimum of 5 fiscal years of audited statements is required; distressed and highly leveraged infrastructure businesses are declared ungradable rather than forced into a numeric score.