Forensic Analysis · Semiconductors · as of Aug 7, 2026
Astera Labs, Inc. (ALAB)
A forensic read on Astera Labs, Inc. 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
18.6
Distress distance
Watch
Earnings quality
5
Forensic signals
212.3
P / E (ttm)
16.1%
ROE
$56.4B
Market cap
115.1%
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.
Astera Labs, Inc. earns a C (Mixed — selective) forensic quality grade, and its balance-sheet distress test reads 18.6, placing it in the Safe zone. 5 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by share-count dilution.
What the filings flag
+36.8%/yr
FY2024–FY2025
Share-count dilution.Diluted share count changed +37% over the last 1 year to FY2025 (+36.8%/yr). The count is growing: more stock was issued than repurchased over this window, so aggregate results grew faster than their per-share equivalents. That's ~36.8% shaved off per-share growth every year — total profit has to grow that much just to keep earnings-per-share flat, and a stake held since FY2024 has been diluted ~27%.
stopped
FY2024→FY2025
Shareholder returns — halted.Capital returns have STOPPED — $1M of buybacks + dividends in FY2024, but ~$0 in FY2025. A halt usually means the company is conserving cash.
+29.9%
FY2024→FY2025
Accruals ratio (% of NOA).Net operating assets grew +29.9% 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. The build is led by PP&E up +158% against revenue +115% and receivables up +114% against revenue +115%. That build tracks a +115% revenue year: net operating assets grew +35% and receivables +114%, 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. The cash-flow cross-check is more mixed: reported earnings ran behind operating cash by 10% of net operating assets, diverging from the balance-sheet accrual read.
12.7%
FY2025
Return on invested capital.Return on invested capital is 12.7% in the latest fiscal year and rising from -10% — a modest positive spread over its ~10% cost of capital — growth adds value, though not dramatically.
Key fundamentals
Latest Revenue$852.5M
Revenue Growth YoY+115.1%
Net Margin25.7%
Free Cash Flow$281.8M
Return on Equity16.1%
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 Astera Labs, Inc.'s actual 10-K/10-Q/8-K filings?
Data from SEC EDGAR public filings · metrics as of Aug 7, 2026. Forensic signals flag probability, not certainty.
Astera Labs, Inc. (ALAB) Stock — Forensic Analysis, Red Flags & Rating | Stockonomy · Stockonomy
19% of rev
FY2025
Stock-based comp load.Stock-based compensation ran 19% of revenue and 57% of free cash flow in FY2025 — about $0.89 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 36.8% a year, small enough that totals and per-share results tell the same story.