Forensic Analysis · General / Diversified · as of Jun 28, 2026

ACCO BRANDS Corp (ACCO)

A forensic read on ACCO BRANDS Corp built from its complete SEC filings — financial-health screens, earnings quality, red flags and a price-aware rating. Reproducible math, not opinion.

D · Weak — demands caution

Forensic grade

Distress

Financial health

0.6

Altman Z-score

Clean

Earnings quality

Forensic signals

5.3

P / E (ttm)

11.3%

ROE

$388M

Market cap

7.50%

Dividend yield

ACCO BRANDS Corp earns a D (Weak — demands caution) forensic quality grade, and its Altman Z-score is 0.6, placing it in the Distress zone. 6 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by return on invested capital.

What the filings flag

4%Return on invested capital. Return on invested capital is 4% and rising from 1% — well below its ~9% cost of capital, so reinvested dollars may be destroying value, not building it.

86d DSOReceivables vs revenue. Days sales outstanding moved from 76 to 86 days FY2024→FY2025 (receivables +3% vs revenue -8%). Receivables are creeping up relative to sales — watch the trend.

103dInventory days. Days inventory outstanding moved from 89 to 103 FY2024→FY2025 (against cost of goods sold; inventory +7% vs -8% in cost of sales). Inventory is building a little faster than sales — watch for markdowns.

-0.5%/yrShare-count dilution. Diluted share count changed -1% over the last 3 years to FY2025 (-0.5%/yr). Roughly flat — buybacks are about offsetting stock comp, not shrinking the count. Per-share value isn't being meaningfully helped or hurt by the count.

1% of revStock-based comp load. Stock-based compensation ran 1% of revenue and 17% of free cash flow in FY2025 — about $0.12 per diluted share. Meaningful — reported free cash flow flatters the economics, since SBC is a real cost paid in shares.

$316MGoodwill impairments. Took $316M of goodwill writedowns across 3 year(s) (FY2022 ($99M), FY2023 ($90M), FY2024 ($128M)). Writedowns mean past acquisitions underperformed what was paid for them — worth weighing on capital-allocation skill.

Key fundamentals

Net Margin2.7%

Debt / Equity1.26x

Free Cash Flow$51.0M

Latest Revenue$1.52B

Return on Equity6.2%

Revenue Growth YoY-8.5%

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Data from SEC EDGAR public filings · metrics as of Jun 28, 2026. Forensic signals flag probability, not certainty.