Forensic Analysis · Healthcare / Pharmaceuticals / Biotech · as of Jun 27, 2026
ARDELYX, INC. (ARDX)
A forensic read on ARDELYX, 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
-2.3
Altman Z-score
Clean
Earnings quality
5
Forensic signals
-38.1%
ROE
$1.4B
Market cap
ARDELYX, INC. earns a D (Weak — demands caution) forensic quality grade, and its Altman Z-score is -2.3, placing it in the Distress zone. 5 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by inventory days.
What the filings flag
1137dInventory days.Days inventory outstanding moved from 658 to 1137 FY2024→FY2025 (against cost of goods sold; inventory +35% vs -22% in cost of sales). Inventory is outrunning what's being sold — a flag for softening demand or obsolescence risk ahead.
-9%Return on invested capital.Return on invested capital is -9% and rising from -92% — well below its ~10% cost of capital, so reinvested dollars may be destroying value, not building it.
+17.3%/yrShare-count dilution.Diluted share count changed +52% over the last 3 years to FY2025 (+17.3%/yr). The count is GROWING — existing holders are being diluted. That's ~17.3% 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 ~52%.
+15.2%Accruals ratio.Net operating assets grew +15.2% relative to their average in FY2025 — the accrual component of earnings. Accruals are building faster than is comfortable — part of profit sits in receivables, inventory or capitalized costs rather than cash. The cash-flow cross-check agrees: reported earnings ran behind operating cash by -7% of net operating assets.
12% of revStock-based comp load.Stock-based compensation ran 12% of revenue in FY2025 — about $0.20 per diluted share. Meaningful — reported free cash flow flatters the economics, since SBC is a real cost paid in shares.
Key fundamentals
Net Margin-15.1%
Debt / Equity1.37x
Free Cash Flow$-44.0M
Latest Revenue$407.3M
Return on Equity-36.9%
Revenue Growth YoY+22.1%
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 ARDELYX, INC.:
🔒The written investment read — what the numbers mean, in plain English
🔒Ask anything about ARDX'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