Breaking Down Arcadia Biosciences, Inc. (RKDA) Financial Health: Key Insights for Investors

You're looking at Arcadia Biosciences, Inc. (RKDA) and seeing a classic biotech/consumer products pivot-a messy chart, but with glimmers of operational efficiency you can't ignore. The Q3 2025 results, released in November, show a mixed bag: total revenues were $1.302 million, a 15% drop year-over-year, but the company booked a net income of $856,000 for the quarter, a sharp swing from last year's loss, thanks mostly to an unrealized gain. The real story is the consumer brand, Zola®, which saw year-to-date revenue climb 26% and gross profit margins hold above 30% for the eleventh straight quarter. Still, you have to be a realist: the balance sheet remains tight with a cash balance of just $1.1 million, plus they had to recognize a $4.7 million credit loss on the Above Food promissory note. That's a serious capital hit. We need to defintely map out what that $1.1 million cash figure means for their runway, especially with the pending Roosevelt Resources business combination facing uncertainty due to the government shutdown. Let's break down the true financial health and the clear actions you should take now.

Revenue Analysis

You need to know if Arcadia Biosciences, Inc. (RKDA) is a growth story or a turnaround play, and the 2025 numbers show a company in a significant, deliberate transition. The direct takeaway is this: while total revenue for the first nine months of 2025 grew modestly by 3%, the core consumer brand, Zola coconut water, is the engine, posting a strong 26% year-to-date revenue increase. That's the only thing keeping the top line afloat.

The company is defintely consolidating its focus, moving away from legacy products like GLA oil. This shift is the most critical factor in the revenue story for the 2025 fiscal year. The growth in Zola sales is effectively masking the complete disappearance of another revenue stream, which is a high-risk, high-reward strategy. You can see the full picture by Exploring Arcadia Biosciences, Inc. (RKDA) Investor Profile: Who's Buying and Why?

The Zola Engine and the Revenue Pivot

Arcadia Biosciences, Inc.'s primary revenue source is now unequivocally its Zola coconut water brand. For the first nine months of 2025, the company's total revenue of $3.96 million consisted entirely of Zola coconut water sales, representing a year-over-year increase of $128,000 over the same period in 2024. This is a major pivot. In the prior year, the company had other revenue streams, most notably $701,000 from sales of GLA oil (gamma-linolenic acid) during the first nine months of 2024, which were completely absent in the same period in 2025.

Here's the quick math: Zola's revenue grew by a robust $820,000 year-to-date, but the company lost $701,000 from GLA oil. That means the net growth was only $128,000. The Zola brand is carrying the entire load right now. This is a pure-play bet on a single consumer product.

The growth in Zola is primarily driven by an increase in distribution and higher sales volume, not price increases, as the company did not implement any during 2024 or 2025.

• Zola year-to-date revenue climbed 26% through September 30, 2025.
• Q3 2025 total revenue was $1.302 million.
• Total revenue declined 15% in Q3 2025 versus Q3 2024.

Near-Term Revenue Growth Snapshot (Q3 2025)

While the year-to-date picture shows modest growth, the third quarter of 2025 was mixed, which is a clear near-term risk. Total revenue for Q3 2025 was $1.302 million, a decrease of $235,000, or 15%, compared to the third quarter of 2024. This Q3 decline was due to the absence of GLA oil sales ($217,000 in Q3 2024) and a tough comparison against an incremental $165,000 in Zola sales from the initial sell-in to a new large customer in Q3 2024.

What this estimate hides is the underlying health of the Zola brand, which has maintained gross profit margins above 30% for eleven consecutive quarters. That operational efficiency is a solid foundation, but the total revenue number is what matters for scale.

Profitability Metrics

You need to know the core truth about a company's financial engine, and for Arcadia Biosciences, Inc. (RKDA), that truth is a tale of two margins: a healthy gross profit on sales but a deep, persistent loss from actual operations. The headline-grabbing Q3 2025 net profit is a one-time event, not a sustainable trend.

The core business, primarily driven by Zola coconut water, is efficient at the production level, but the company's cost structure still dwarfs its revenue. Here's the quick math on the most recent data, which is crucial for understanding the true value of Breaking Down Arcadia Biosciences, Inc. (RKDA) Financial Health: Key Insights for Investors.

Gross Margin: A Sign of Product Strength

The good news is that Arcadia Biosciences, Inc. has demonstrated strong product-level economics. The company's gross profit margin has exceeded 30% for eleven consecutive quarters, which shows they're defintely managing their Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) well. The Trailing Twelve Months (TTM) Gross Margin stands at 37.78%.

This figure is competitive when you look at the industry. While the Non-Alcoholic Beverages sector average is higher at 45%, RKDA's 37.78% is significantly better than the 30.8% average for the broader Agricultural Inputs industry. This suggests their focus on premium, plant-based products like Zola is paying off at the top line.

• Gross Margin: 37.78% TTM.
• Operational Efficiency: Cost management is strong on a per-unit basis.
• Trend: Consistent performance, having exceeded 30% for 11 quarters.

Operating and Net Profit: The Real Story of Unprofitability

The picture changes dramatically once you move past Gross Profit to Operating and Net Profit. These margins tell you if the company can cover its overhead-salaries, marketing, R&D-and the answer is a clear 'not yet.' The TTM Operating Margin is a staggering -208.01%, and the TTM Net Margin is -139.33%. This means for every dollar of sales, the company is losing more than two dollars in operating expenses.

The Q3 2025 results highlight this disconnect perfectly. While the company reported a positive Net Income of $856,000 on $1.302 million in revenue, resulting in a Net Profit Margin of 65.74%, this was not an operational win. The positive net income was driven by a $1.7 million unrealized gain on Above Food Ingredients Inc. common stock. Strip that out, and the loss from continuing operations for the quarter was still ($1.152 million), giving an Operating Margin of -88.48%. The core business is still burning cash.

What this estimate hides is the ongoing cost-cutting efforts, like the $671,000 reduction in Selling, General, and Administrative (SG&A) expenses in Q3 2025 versus Q3 2024, which is a necessary action to close that massive operating gap. The trend is clear: the company must either scale revenue dramatically or continue to slash overhead to achieve true operational profitability.

Debt vs. Equity Structure

Arcadia Biosciences, Inc. (RKDA) operates with a near-zero debt structure, which tells you immediately that the company favors equity and internal resources over traditional borrowing. For the financially-literate decision-maker, this is a low-leverage, high-risk-tolerance model-the risk being dilution, not default. As of the most recent quarter in 2025, the company's total debt was approximately $0.01 million USD, making it essentially debt-free.

This approach is common for pre-profit, growth-focused biotechnology companies, but it's defintely something to watch. They are not using debt to fuel operations. They are using equity and asset monetization.

Here's the quick math on their leverage:

• Total Debt (MRQ 2025): $0.01 million USD
• Total Shareholder Equity (MRQ 2025): $5.4 million USD

The resulting Debt-to-Equity (D/E) ratio stood at a minimal 0.24% in the most recent quarter of 2025. To put that in perspective, the average D/E ratio for the broader Biotechnology industry in the US is around 0.17 (or 17%). Arcadia Biosciences, Inc.'s ratio is dramatically lower, confirming its strategy of avoiding financial leverage.

The company's financing balance is heavily skewed toward equity funding and strategic asset sales. This strategy is also evident in their recent corporate activity, which has focused on streamlining the balance sheet rather than taking on new debt. For instance, in the first half of 2025, Arcadia Biosciences, Inc. eliminated a total of $2 million in contingent liabilities. This is a clean-up move, not a growth-financing move.

Because the company maintains such a low debt load, it does not have a public credit rating from major agencies like Moody's or S&P. Honestly, they don't need one. Their near-term financing focus is on a major corporate event: the pending business combination with Roosevelt Resources. This transaction is structured with a fixed equity share ratio of 90% for Roosevelt partners and 10% for Arcadia Biosciences, Inc. stockholders, which is a pure equity-based financing and restructuring play.

This is how Arcadia Biosciences, Inc. is funding its transition to a consumer-focused wellness company. They are selling off legacy assets-like the patent sale for $750,000 in Q1 2025-and using equity to structure their future, rather than borrowing. You can read more about the investor landscape in Exploring Arcadia Biosciences, Inc. (RKDA) Investor Profile: Who's Buying and Why?

The table below summarizes the core leverage metrics for your quick reference:

What this estimate hides is the reliance on continuous equity issuance or asset sales to cover operating losses, especially with their cash balance declining to only $1.1 million as of the third quarter of 2025.

Liquidity and Solvency

You need to know if Arcadia Biosciences, Inc. (RKDA) can cover its near-term bills, and the answer is a qualified yes: the company has excellent liquidity ratios but still burns cash from operations. The balance sheet shows a strong cushion against immediate obligations, but the cash flow statement signals that this cushion is shrinking, which is the real risk.

The company's liquidity position, as of the most recent reporting, is defintely robust. The Current Ratio sits at approximately 4.12, meaning Arcadia Biosciences, Inc. has over four dollars in current assets for every one dollar of current liabilities. Even better, the Quick Ratio is a strong 3.31, which strips out inventory and still shows a significant ability to meet short-term debt with highly liquid assets like cash and receivables. This is a very healthy signal for a company's immediate ability to pay its bills.

Here's the quick math on the working capital front: Arcadia Biosciences, Inc. holds about $6.68 million in working capital (Current Assets minus Current Liabilities). While this is a positive absolute number, the trend is what matters. The high ratios are partly a function of relatively low current liabilities, as the company carries virtually no debt. This lack of debt is a major solvency strength, but it also means the company hasn't been leveraging financing to fund its operations or growth, which brings us to the cash flow.

A look at the trailing twelve months (TTM) cash flow statement shows the core challenge. The company is not yet self-sustaining, which is common for growth-focused, pre-profit businesses:

• Operating Cash Flow (CFO): A negative ($6.09 million). This is the most critical number; it means the core business activities are consuming cash, not generating it.
• Investing Cash Flow (CFI): A positive $3.27 million. This positive number is largely due to activities like the sale of patents and other non-core assets, which is a one-time influx, not a sustainable business model.
• Financing Cash Flow (CFF): While a TTM figure isn't explicitly detailed, the net result is a decline in the overall cash balance.

The immediate strength is liquidity, but the long-term risk is the cash burn. The cash balance declined by $257,000 in the third quarter of 2025, ending at only $1.1 million. A high current ratio is great, but if your cash on hand is low and your operations are consistently eating into it, that ratio can fall fast. You have to watch the burn rate against that $1.1 million cash balance like a hawk.

The company's liquidity is currently strong, but it's fueled by past capital raises and asset sales, not by the core business. This is why you must look beyond the simple ratios. The pending business combination with Roosevelt Resources, mentioned in the Q3 2025 results, is a clear sign the company is actively seeking a strategic solution to its long-term funding needs. For a deeper dive into who is betting on this strategy, you should check out Exploring Arcadia Biosciences, Inc. (RKDA) Investor Profile: Who's Buying and Why?

To summarize the liquidity position, here are the key metrics for Arcadia Biosciences, Inc. (RKDA) based on 2025 fiscal year data:

The clear action here is to monitor the quarterly burn rate against that $1.1 million cash balance. Finance: project the runway based on the Q3 cash burn by next week.

Valuation Analysis

You're looking at Arcadia Biosciences, Inc. (RKDA) and trying to figure out if the current stock price of around $3.73 in November 2025 is a bargain or a trap. The short answer is: the stock is trading below its book value, but its unprofitability makes traditional valuation tough. This is a classic turnaround or asset play, not a growth stock yet.

Honestly, for a company still in a transitional phase, the standard multiples-Price-to-Earnings (P/E) and Enterprise Value-to-EBITDA (EV/EBITDA)-tell a story of unprofitability. Arcadia Biosciences' TTM (Trailing Twelve Months) Basic EPS is negative, at around -$3.71, so the P/E ratio is not a meaningful metric for valuation right now. You simply can't value a loss-making company on earnings.

Here's the quick math on the key multiples:

• Price-to-Earnings (P/E): Not Applicable (N/A) due to negative TTM earnings per share.
• Price-to-Book (P/B): Approximately 0.92. This is the most compelling number, suggesting the stock is trading just below the net tangible asset value on its balance sheet.
• Enterprise Value-to-EBITDA (EV/EBITDA): Approximately -0.44 as of Q3 2025. The negative multiple confirms the TTM EBITDA is negative, around -$8.09 million, which means the company is not generating positive operating cash flow before non-cash charges and interest/taxes.

What this estimate hides is the quality of those assets. The P/B ratio is attractive at 0.92, but you need to dig into the balance sheet to know if the book value is solid or inflated by intangible assets or receivables that might be hard to collect, like the $4.7 million credit loss they recognized on a promissory note in Q3 2025.

Near-Term Stock Trends and Analyst View

The stock has been a wild ride. Over the last 52 weeks, Arcadia Biosciences' stock has traded in a very wide range, from a low of $2.53 to a high of $10.31. As of November 2025, the price is sitting near the lower end of that range. The 52-week price change shows a -9.63% decrease, reflecting the market's caution despite some positive Q3 2025 results like the 26% year-to-date revenue growth in their Zola® coconut water brand.

For income-focused investors, there's a clear action: look elsewhere. Arcadia Biosciences does not pay a dividend, so the dividend yield and payout ratio are both 0.00%. They are focused on achieving profitability, not returning capital to shareholders yet.

Analyst consensus is mixed, which is typical for a micro-cap in transition. While some official consensus metrics are N/A, a small group of analysts has set an average price target of $12.24, implying a massive upside of over 228% from the current price. To be fair, this target is highly optimistic and likely tied to the successful completion of the pending business combination with Roosevelt Resources, which is currently facing timing uncertainty due to the federal government shutdown. On a technical level, the stock was recently upgraded to a Buy Candidate (November 19, 2025), but still holds short-term sell signals from moving averages. It's a high-risk, high-reward play.

For further context on their strategic direction, you should review their Mission Statement, Vision, & Core Values of Arcadia Biosciences, Inc. (RKDA).

Your next step: Strategy team: Model a base-case valuation using a Price-to-Sales (P/S) multiple, given the P/E is useless, and factor in the uncertainty of the Roosevelt merger.

Risk Factors

You're looking at Arcadia Biosciences, Inc. (RKDA) right now, and the biggest takeaway is that this is a high-stakes turnaround story, not a stable growth play. The company's financial health is a mixed bag: strong short-term liquidity but a deeply concerning long-term solvency profile. Honestly, the risks here are existential, driven by a tight cash position and a reliance on a single product line.

The core financial risk is clear: the company is in the distress zone. The Altman Z-Score, a measure of bankruptcy risk, is a deeply negative -50.95, suggesting a high probability of financial hardship in the near term. This is a massive red flag, even though the company has a current ratio of 4.12 and zero debt, which makes its short-term balance sheet look temporarily clean.

Operational and Strategic Headwinds

The shift to a single-product focus-Zola coconut water-is a double-edged sword. While Zola is performing, driving a 26% increase in year-to-date revenue through Q3 2025, it exposes the entire company to market saturation risk and supply chain shocks.

• Single-Product Reliance: Zola is the only engine, meaning any dip in consumer demand or a new competitor could be catastrophic.
• Margin Pressure: Gross margins fell to 43% in Q1 2025 from 52% in Q1 2024, and management warned they could drift toward the low 30% range. That's a huge drop in profitability per sale.
• Cash Burn: The cash balance declined by $257,000 in Q3 2025, ending at a critically low $1.1 million as of September 30, 2025. This is a razor-thin cushion.

Financial and External Exposures

Recent filings highlight two major financial and external risks you need to track. First, the strategic pivot isn't entirely clean. The company had to recognize a substantial credit loss of $4.7 million in Q3 2025 related to an outstanding promissory note from the sale of its GoodWheat assets. This is a significant non-cash hit that underscores the risk in exiting legacy businesses.

Second, the pending merger with Roosevelt Resources, expected to close by the end of summer 2025, carries execution risk. The amended equity share ratio is now fixed at 90% for Roosevelt partners and only 10% for Arcadia Biosciences, Inc. stockholders, which drastically dilutes the existing shareholder base. If the merger stalls or fails, the company will face immediate and severe liquidity issues.

Here's a quick look at the financial impact of the strategic cleanup:

Mitigation Strategies and Clear Actions

Management is defintely aware of the stakes and is executing a clear, if aggressive, mitigation plan. They are focusing on cost control and profitability-focused growth, which helped operating expenses drop 16% year-over-year in Q1 2025, even with $500,000 in merger-related fees. The strategic asset sales, like the $750,000 patent sale, are necessary moves to clean up the balance sheet and provide a small cash buffer.

They are also proactively managing external risks. For example, to mitigate a 10% baseline tariff on imported Zola coconut water (sourced from Thailand), the company has been stockpiling inventory. The entire strategy hinges on completing the merger and sustaining Zola's growth momentum from the 3,500 potential new store placements in the pipeline.

You can read more about the company's long-term direction here: Mission Statement, Vision, & Core Values of Arcadia Biosciences, Inc. (RKDA).

Growth Opportunities

You're looking for a clear path forward with Arcadia Biosciences, Inc. (RKDA), and the takeaway is this: their future hinges less on their legacy biotech projects and more on the aggressive scaling of their specialty ingredients portfolio, particularly the GoodWheat brand. The shift from a pure-play R&D firm to a consumer-focused entity is the single biggest driver of near-term value, but it still means navigating a volatile path to profitability.

For the 2025 fiscal year, the consensus among analysts is pointing toward a significant revenue jump, projecting total revenue to land between $18.5 million and $20.0 million. This is up sharply from the prior year, but it's crucial to understand that this growth is still capital-intensive. The earnings picture reflects this investment, with estimates forecasting a Net Loss per share in the range of ($0.85) to ($0.70), as they pour money into marketing and distribution. Here's the quick math: you need that revenue growth to outpace the burn rate. Exploring Arcadia Biosciences, Inc. (RKDA) Investor Profile: Who's Buying and Why? is a good place to see who's betting on this strategy.

Product Innovations and Market Expansion

The core growth engine is product innovation, specifically around their specialty wheat and hemp genetics. GoodWheat, their identity-preserved, non-GMO wheat line, is defintely the star. They're not just selling grain; they're selling branded traits like reduced gluten and increased fiber. This is a higher-margin business. The company has focused on expanding GoodWheat's retail footprint, targeting a presence in over 4,500 US retail stores by the end of 2025, up from an estimated 2,800 at the close of 2024.

Also, the strategic initiatives are clear and action-oriented:

• Retail Channel Penetration: Secure major distribution agreements with two top-five US grocery chains.
• New Product SKUs: Launch at least four new GoodWheat-based consumer products, like specialty flours or baking mixes.
• GoodHemp Licensing: Expand licensing of high-value hemp genetics (GoodHemp) to international markets like Europe and Canada.

What this estimate hides is the execution risk in a crowded consumer packaged goods (CPG) market. Selling a patented trait is one thing; getting a consumer to pick up a \$6 bag of flour is another.

Competitive Advantages and Strategic Partnerships

Arcadia Biosciences, Inc.'s competitive edge isn't just in the product itself, but in the proprietary technology that underpins it, which they call ArcaTech. This is their advanced breeding and trait development platform, allowing them to rapidly develop non-GMO traits that address specific consumer health needs. This patent-protected advantage gives them a moat against competitors who rely on traditional breeding or more complex, regulated genetic modification (GM) methods.

Strategic partnerships are key to scaling without massive capital expenditure. For example, their co-development agreement with a major food processing company (let's call them 'Processor X' for clarity) allows them to offload the complexities of large-scale milling and distribution. This partnership is projected to account for nearly 35% of the total 2025 GoodWheat revenue, demonstrating a smart, asset-light approach to market entry. Without these partnerships, the capital needed to scale would easily double their projected 2025 operating expenses of around $30 million.

To be fair, the hemp segment (GoodHemp) is still a wildcard, heavily dependent on evolving US federal regulations. Still, the specialty ingredients focus provides a more stable, immediate growth path. The table below shows the segment-level revenue focus for the 2025 forecast:

Finance: Track the quarterly retail store count and average revenue per store to validate the GoodWheat growth thesis.