Forensic Analysis · Industrials / Manufacturing / Defense · as of Jun 28, 2026
Alto Ingredients, Inc. (ALTO)
A forensic read on Alto Ingredients, Inc. 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
-3.3
Altman Z-score
Clean
Earnings quality
5
Forensic signals
13.7
P / E (ttm)
12.7%
ROE
$402M
Market cap
0.31%
Dividend yield
Alto Ingredients, Inc. earns a D (Weak — demands caution) forensic quality grade, and its Altman Z-score is -3.2, placing it in the Distress zone. 5 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by return on invested capital.
What the filings flag
2%Return on invested capital.Return on invested capital is 2% and rising from -13% — well below its ~9% cost of capital, so reinvested dollars may be destroying value, not building it.
+1.7%/yrShare-count dilution.Diluted share count changed +5% over the last 3 years to FY2025 (+1.7%/yr). The count is GROWING — existing holders are being diluted. That's ~1.7% 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 FY2022 has been diluted ~5%.
0% of revStock-based comp load.Stock-based compensation ran 0% of revenue and 35% of free cash flow in FY2025 — about $0.04 per diluted share. Heavy — a large slice of 'free cash flow' is really being paid out in stock, so the true owner cash per share is well below the headline.
25dInventory days.Days inventory outstanding moved from 19 to 25 FY2024→FY2025 (against cost of goods sold; inventory +24% vs -8% in cost of sales). Inventory is building a little faster than sales — watch for markdowns.
$6MGoodwill impairments.Took $6M of goodwill writedowns across 1 year(s) (FY2023 ($6M)). Writedowns mean past acquisitions underperformed what was paid for them — worth weighing on capital-allocation skill.
Key fundamentals
Net Margin1.5%
Debt / Equity0.32x
Free Cash Flow$8.6M
Latest Revenue$917.9M
Return on Equity5.4%
Revenue Growth YoY-4.9%
Go deeper — free with an account
The forensic grade and screens above are free — no account needed. An account adds the full interactive deep-dive on Alto Ingredients, Inc.:
🔒The written investment read — what the numbers mean, in plain English
🔒Ask anything about ALTO's filings — AI Q&A across the 10-K, 10-Qs & 8-Ks
🔒Interactive valuation — reverse-DCF sliders, Monte Carlo & scenario stress
🔒Calibrated 12-month price forecast, with the math shown