Aterian, Inc. — financial distress indicators
Financial-health summary
Aterian, Inc.'s reported numbers place it in the 'Weak' financial-health band (distress score 62/100). The main indicators are cash runway under 12 months, losses in each of the last 3 years and revenue collapse. In its favour: high insider/promoter ownership (52%) aligns management with survival.
Stress by dimension
Share price — last 12 months
Indicators behind the score
Each red flag shows the evidence from the company’s own filings and the financial or legal principle behind it. Points add to the 0–100 score.
At the current free-cash-flow burn, cash covers ~3 months.
Going-concern standard: management must assess ability to continue for 12 months (ASC 205-40). Runway below that horizon forces dilution, asset sales or default.
Net income negative in 3 of 3 fiscal years.
Persistent losses erode equity and the capacity to absorb shocks.
Revenue changed -30% year over year.
A >30% sales drop typically breaches leverage covenants and starves fixed-cost coverage.
Operating cash flow negative in 2 of the last 3 years.
A business that cannot fund itself from operations depends on external capital to survive.
Last price $0.61.
Below the $1 minimum-bid listing standard (Nasdaq Rule 5550(a)(2) / NYSE 802.01C); sustained breach leads to delisting and loss of capital-market access.
Revenue declined every year for three years.
Structural, not cyclical, decline.
Revenue vs net income
Cash generation
Debt vs cash vs equity
✅ Mitigating factors
- High insider/promoter ownership (52%) aligns management with survival.
📰 Recent news scan
- Aterian Engages Former CEO Rodriguez as Independent Consultant - The Globe and MailGoogle News · 2026-10-06
- Preferred shares bought for $1.3M convert into a common-stock stake in Aterian (ATER). - Stock TitanGoogle News · 2026-10-02
- Chang Woei Jiann Discloses 10% Stake in Aterian, Inc. after Preferred Share Deal - TradingViewGoogle News · 2026-10-02
- Insiders Of Aterian Reap Rewards After Their Investment Jumps Another US$128m - Simply Wall StreetGoogle News · 2026-09-14
- ATER Stock Alert: Halper Sadeh LLC is Investigating Whether Aterian, Inc. is Obtaining a Fair Price for its Shareholders - Business WireGoogle News · 2026-06-01
- Aterian (ATER) surges 96.5% on $18M brand-portfolio sale deal and $7M strategic preferred-stock investment - Quiver QuantitativeGoogle News · 2026-04-28
⚖️ U.S. legal pathway — Title 11, U.S. Code
Which chapter would apply?
- Chapter 11 — reorganisation. Management usually stays in control as debtor-in-possession; the automatic stay (§362) halts collection; a plan must meet the best-interests test (§1129(a)(7)) and the absolute priority rule (§1129(b)) — creditors are paid before shareholders, who are frequently wiped out.
- Chapter 7 — liquidation. A trustee sells assets and distributes proceeds by statutory priority (§§507, 726).
- Subchapter V (“Chapter 5”) is a fast track for small-business debtors under a statutory debt cap, but SEC-reporting companies are excluded (§101(51D)) — so it rarely applies to listed companies.
What typically triggers a filing
- Payment default or covenant breach lenders will not waive; a debt maturity that cannot be refinanced.
- Auditor going-concern doubt (ASC 205-40 / PCAOB AS 2415) — often itself a default trigger in loan agreements.
- Creditors can force a case with an involuntary petition (§303) if debts are not paid as they come due.
- Delisting after sustained sub-$1 prices or equity deficits cuts off equity funding.
Transactions shortly before filing can be clawed back (preferences — 90 days, §547; fraudulent transfers — 2 years, §548).
Frequently asked questions
What do Aterian, Inc.'s financial-health indicators show?
As of 2026-10-08, Aterian, Inc.'s public financial data places it in the 'Weak' band with a distress score of 62/100, driven by cash runway under 12 months, losses in each of the last 3 years and revenue collapse. This is a statistical screen of reported numbers — it does not mean the company is insolvent, has defaulted or will enter insolvency proceedings.
What is Aterian, Inc.'s financial distress score?
62/100 ('Weak').
What works in Aterian, Inc.'s favour?
High insider/promoter ownership (52%) aligns management with survival.
How are shareholders treated if a company enters insolvency?
In a Chapter 11 reorganisation the absolute priority rule pays secured lenders, then unsecured creditors, before shareholders — so existing shares are usually cancelled or heavily diluted. In Chapter 7 the company is liquidated and shareholders rarely recover anything.
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Methodology
Score = capped sum of rule-based red flags across seven dimensions (liquidity, solvency, profitability, cash flow, sales trend, market signal, news). Ohlson O-score (1980) gives an accounting-based 1-year failure probability; Merton distance-to-default (Bharath & Shumway 2008) gives a market-implied probability. Financial institutions use a capital-based rule set. Recalculated every trading day from the latest filings, prices and news.