Acacia Research Corp (ACTG) Stock — Forensic Analysis, Red Flags & Rating | Stockonomy · Stockonomy
Forensic Analysis · General / Diversified · as of Aug 11, 2026
Acacia Research Corp (ACTG)
A forensic read on Acacia Research Corp built from its complete SEC filings — financial-health screens, earnings quality, red flags and a price-aware rating. Reproducible math, not opinion.
C · Mixed — selective
Forensic grade
Safe
Financial health
5.0
Distress distance
Clean
Earnings quality
6
Forensic signals
-18.2
P / E (ttm)
4.0%
ROE
$469M
Market cap
0.00%
Dividend yield
133.2%
Revenue growth
This free snapshot doesn't read filing or proxy text, so the auditor-quality and governance checks that can lower a grade were not evaluated (red flags, auditor quality, say on pay, board independence). Those checks only ever lower a grade, so the full analysis can land below the grade above but never above it — treat it as the most favourable reading, not the settled one.
Acacia Research Corp earns a C (Mixed — selective) forensic quality grade, and its balance-sheet distress test reads 5.0, placing it in the Safe zone. 6 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by return on invested capital.
What the filings flag
1.2%
FY2025
Return on invested capital.Return on invested capital is 1.2% in the latest fiscal year and rising from -29% — well below its ~9% cost of capital, so reinvested dollars may be destroying value, not building it.
stopped
FY2024→FY2025
Shareholder returns — halted.Capital returns have STOPPED — $20M of buybacks + dividends in FY2024, but ~$0 in FY2025. A halt usually means the company is conserving cash.
suspended
FY2023→FY2024
Dividend — suspended.The dividend has been SUSPENDED — $1M paid in FY2023, then $0 in FY2024. A suspension is a major signal the board is conserving cash; the prior payment history doesn't offset it.
+27.1%
FY2024→FY2025
Accruals ratio (% of NOA).Net operating assets grew +27.1% relative to their own average in FY2025 — scaled by NOA itself, not total assets (see the Forensic Screens card's differently-scaled Sloan Accrual Ratio for that read). Accruals are building sharply, and much of it is accounted for. That build tracks a +133% revenue year: net operating assets grew +31% and receivables -3%, so the balance sheet is carrying more volume rather than getting heavier per dollar of sales — the accrual build is funding demand the company is shipping, not earnings running ahead of collection. This is the third straight fiscal year of building accruals — a multi-year streak is a materially stronger tell than a single year's move. The cash-flow cross-check is more mixed: reported earnings ran behind operating cash by 16% of net operating assets, diverging from the balance-sheet accrual read.
n/m (stock split)
Key fundamentals
Latest Revenue$285.2M
Revenue Growth YoY+133.2%
Revenue CAGR (3yr)+68.9%
Net Margin7.6%
Return on Equity4.0%
Debt / Equity0.17x
The forensic grade and screens above are free — no account needed. Want the AI investment read on top — the 0–100 rating, thesis, bull-vs-bear, red flags and the 12-month scenario, written from Acacia Research Corp's actual 10-K/10-Q/8-K filings?
Data from SEC EDGAR public filings · metrics as of Aug 11, 2026. Forensic signals flag probability, not certainty.
FY2022–FY2025
Share count (stock split).Diluted share count changed +129% over the last 3 years to FY2025, but that includes a large one-time change around FY2023 consistent with a stock split or reverse split, not gradual buybacks or issuance — a split changes the count with NO effect on any holder's proportional ownership, so the raw +31.8%/yr figure isn't a real buyback/dilution read here.
2% of rev
FY2025
Stock-based comp load.Stock-based compensation ran 2% of revenue in FY2025 — about $0.06 per diluted share. The cost of it is not in the cash flow — no cash left the business — it is in the count, and there it has run at about 6.0% a year and is falling.