National Presto: Untangling Poor Cap Allocation to Find Exceptional Capital Allocation at a Subsidiary

NPK: Conglomerate w/ 3 segments—Defense (gem), Housewares & Safety (disasters). Defense built via smart M&A (40mm ammo, small diameter bombs), vertical integration, DSE acquisition = dominant share. Backlog growing, strong fundamentals inflecting. CEO owns 25%, poor governance, no investor comms. Safety never profitable, Housewares China-sourced hurting on tariffs. Albion Partners filed 13D to engage. Catalyst: activism may force sale/better allocation, backlog conversion. Upside if Defense margins expand, other segments stabilize/wind down. PT $248 (~91% upside). Risks: CEO disengagement, Defense spend cuts, margin compression, sector re-rate.

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