Compass Minerals shows a resilient earnings beat streak and a cheap PEG-based valuation, but the analyst target has already been reached, the momentum gate has failed, and elevated leverage keep the position at essentially zero conviction despite modest resistance-based upside.
Thesis pillars
- Failed Momentum Gate→Stable
- Earnings Beat Streak With Rising Estimates→Stable
- Cheap Valuation On Peg Basis→Stable
- +2 more pillars — see the Why tab for full reasoning
Compass Minerals Intl Inc (CMP) Stock Analysis
Basic Materials · Other Industrial Metals & Mining
Sell if holding. At $29.70, A.R:R is negative (-0.8) — price has exceeded the analyst target. Reward from here is too thin for a buy — the engine flags exit. Additional concerns: Concentration risk — Product: Salt segment (82.0%); Concentration risk — Product: highway deicing salt (63.0%).
Compass Minerals International is a leading North American and UK producer of essential minerals, primarily rock salt for highway deicing and consumer/industrial use, and sulfate of potash (SOP) plant nutrition products sold under the Protassium+ brand. The company operates 12... Read more
Sell if holding. At $29.70, A.R:R is negative (-0.8) — price has exceeded the analyst target. Reward from here is too thin for a buy — the engine flags exit. Additional concerns: Concentration risk — Product: Salt segment (82.0%); Concentration risk — Product: highway deicing salt (63.0%). Chart setup: No clear chart pattern; technical signals are mixed. Score 4.1/10, high confidence.
Passes 6/8 gates (clean insider activity, no SEC red flags, news events none recent, earnings proximity 36d clear, semi cycle peak clear, materials cycle peak clear). Fails on weak momentum and favorable risk/reward ratio. Suitability: aggressive.
About Compass Minerals Intl Inc
About Compass Minerals Intl Inc
Compass Minerals International generated approximately 82% of fiscal 2025 sales from its Salt segment and the remainder from Plant Nutrition, operating 12 production facilities across the U.S., Canada and the UK with more than 1,800 employees. Its Goderich, Ontario mine is the largest underground rock salt mine in the world, and its Ogden, Utah facility is the largest sulfate of potash (SOP) and solar salt production site in the Western Hemisphere. The company issued $650.0 million of 8.00% Senior Notes due 2030 in June 2025 to refinance existing debt.
Within Salt, highway deicing sales, made through annual tendered bids and multi-year contracts with governmental road agencies, constituted 63% of fiscal 2025 Salt segment sales, while consumer and industrial products, including the Sifto brand in Canada and private-label water conditioning salt, made up the remaining 37%. Plant Nutrition, sold under the Protassium+ brand, is concentrated in specialty sulfate of potash rather than the more commonly used muriate of potash, and the company describes itself as the only SOP producer with production facilities in North America; approximately 88% of fiscal 2025 Plant Nutrition sales went to U.S. crop-input dealers and distributors, concentrated in the Western and Southeastern U.S. where low-chloride nutrients suit local crops and soils. As part of a back-to-basics strategy, Compass Minerals exited its Fortress fire retardant business in May 2025 to focus capital on the core Salt and Plant Nutrition segments and has suspended dividends to prioritize debt reduction.
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Compass Minerals' 10-K discloses two structural concentrations investors should weigh alongside weather-driven demand: the Salt segment alone accounts for about 82% of total sales, with highway deicing making up 63% of that segment, so a series of mild winters would disproportionately hit results, and Plant Nutrition earns nearly all of its revenue from a single product, SOP. Separately, the company disclosed material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting tied to a prior restatement, and states it cannot assure that remediation measures taken to date, or still being implemented, will be sufficient to prevent future material weaknesses.
See also: Basic Materials · Other Industrial Metals & Mining
From Compass Minerals Intl Inc's most recent 10-K filing, extracted July 6, 2026.
Upcoming dated catalysts
Thesis
Key Metrics
Quality Signals
Options Flow
Concentration Risks(10-K Item 1A)
- HIGHProductSalt segment82%10-K Item 1: 'the Salt segment sales as a percentage of total sales accounted for approximately 82%, 81%, and 84%, respectively, of our sales'
- HIGHProducthighway deicing salt63%10-K Item 1: 'Highway deicing, including salt sold to chemical customers, constituted 63% of our fiscal 2025 Salt segment sales.'
- HIGHProductSOP (sulfate of potash)10-K Item 1: 'Our Plant Nutrition segment currently generates nearly all of its sales and earnings through the production and sale of SOP.'
- HIGHGeographicUnited States (Plant Nutrition sales)88%10-K Item 1: 'Approximately 88% of our Plant Nutrition segment sales in fiscal 2025 were made to U.S. customers'
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Rating Breakdown
3 floor-breakers
Revenue shrinking — -8.4% YoY. Growth thesis broken unless recovery story develops.static
Ranks in the bottom of its industry peers on the composite signal. Better names in the same sector exist.static
Momentum below the gate floor. Component breakdown shows what dragged the score down.static
Price Targets
Position Sizing
Risk Alerts
Earnings
Verdict History
Frequently Asked Questions
Sell if holding. At $29.70, A.R:R is negative (-0.8) — price has exceeded the analyst target. Reward from here is too thin for a buy — the engine flags exit. Additional concerns: Concentration risk — Product: Salt segment (82.0%); Concentration risk — Product: highway deicing salt (63.0%). Chart setup: No clear chart pattern; technical signals are mixed. Prior stop was $27.71. Score 4.1/10, high confidence.
Take-profit target: $31.83 (+6.8% upside). Prior stop was $27.71. Stop-loss: $27.71.
Concentration risk — Product: Salt segment (82.0%); Concentration risk — Product: highway deicing salt (63.0%); Analyst target reached - limited upside remaining.
Compass Minerals Intl Inc trades at a P/E of 187.2 (forward 25.3). TrendMatrix value score: 6.0/10. Verdict: Sell.
8 analysts cover CMP with a consensus score of 3.8/5. Average price target: $32.
What does Compass Minerals Intl Inc do?Compass Minerals International is a leading North American and UK producer of essential minerals, primarily rock salt...
Compass Minerals International is a leading North American and UK producer of essential minerals, primarily rock salt for highway deicing and consumer/industrial use, and sulfate of potash (SOP) plant nutrition products sold under the Protassium+ brand. The company operates 12 production and packaging facilities, including the world's largest underground rock salt mine in Goderich, Ontario; the Salt segment generated approximately 82% of fiscal 2025 sales, with Plant Nutrition making up the remainder.