Forensic Analysis · Trading Companies & Distributors · as of Aug 11, 2026

Ashland Inc. (ASH)

A forensic read on Ashland 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

Safe

Financial health

3.0

Distress distance

Clean

Earnings quality

Forensic signals

65.7

P / E (ttm)

-44.4%

ROE

$3.4B

Market cap

2.32%

Dividend yield

-13.7%

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.

Ashland Inc. earns a D (Weak — demands caution) forensic quality grade, and its balance-sheet distress test reads 3.0, placing it in the Safe zone. 4 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by return on invested capital.

What the filings flag

-15.4%

FY2025

Return on invested capital. Return on invested capital is -15.4% in the latest fiscal year and slipping from 6% — well below its ~8% cost of capital, so reinvested dollars may be destroying value, not building it.

489% of FCF

FY2025

Shareholder returns. Returned $176M to shareholders (buybacks + dividends) in FY2025 — 489% of free cash flow. More than free cash flow generated — and beyond operating cash too, so the extra is coming from debt or cash reserves, which isn't sustainable indefinitely. Counting the $14M of stock-based comp paid out in shares on top of that, the combined claim on free cash flow is 528%.

$1.2B

FY2020–FY2025

Goodwill impairments. Took $1.2B of goodwill writedowns across 2 years (FY2020 ($530M), FY2025 ($706M)) — about 877% of net income over the span. A large writedown means an acquisition turned out worth far less than was paid — a real mark against M&A discipline.

159d

FY2024→FY2025

Inventory days. Days inventory outstanding moved from 143 to 159 FY2024→FY2025 (against cost of goods sold; inventory +4% vs -15% in cost of sales). Inventory is building a little faster than sales — watch for markdowns.

Key fundamentals

Latest Revenue$1.82B

Revenue Growth YoY-13.7%

Revenue CAGR (3yr)-8.6%

Net Margin-46.3%

Free Cash Flow$36.0M

Return on Equity-44.4%

Debt / Equity0.71x

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 Ashland Inc.'s actual 10-K/10-Q/8-K filings?

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Data from SEC EDGAR public filings · metrics as of Aug 11, 2026. Forensic signals flag probability, not certainty.