Forensic Analysis · Retail / Consumer Discretionary · as of Nov 8, 2026
Academy Sports & Outdoors, Inc. (ASO)
A forensic read on Academy Sports & Outdoors, 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
3.7
Distress distance
Watch
Earnings quality
3
Forensic signals
18.0%
ROE
2.0%
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 (auditor quality, say on pay, board independence, going concern). 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.
Academy Sports & Outdoors, Inc. earns a C (Mixed — selective) forensic quality grade, and its balance-sheet distress test reads 3.7, placing it in the Safe zone. 3 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by inventory days.
What the filings flag
130d
FY2025→FY2026
Inventory days.Days inventory outstanding moved from 116 to 130 FY2025→FY2026 (against cost of goods sold; inventory +15% vs +1% in cost of sales). Inventory is building a little faster than sales — watch for markdowns.
10.5%
FY2026
Return on invested capital.Return on invested capital is 10.5% in the latest fiscal year and slipping across FY2024–FY2026 from 15.4%. After-tax operating profit was $531M in FY2024 and $397M in FY2026, with operating income at 11.0% of revenue in FY2024, 9.1% in FY2025 and 8.5% in FY2026. The capital base behind it went from $3.5B in FY2024 to $3.8B in FY2026 (+10%), while the revenue it carried went from $6.2B to $6.1B.
105% of FCF
FY2026
Shareholder returns.Returned $234M to shareholders (buybacks + dividends) in FY2026 — 105% of free cash flow. That is $12M (5%) more than free cash flow covered. Over FY2026 cash rose $41M and total debt fell $2M, so neither line funded the gap. The FY2026 cash-flow statement filed $4M from shares issued; $41M from sales of property and equipment; net cash used in investing activities of $172M; net cash used in financing activities of $221M. That ratio has been CLIMBING past free cash flow — 70% of free cash flow two years back — not just sitting there. Counting the $21M of stock-based comp paid out in shares on top of that, the combined claim on free cash flow is 115%.
Key fundamentals
Latest Revenue$6.05B
Revenue Growth YoY+2.0%
Revenue CAGR (2yr)-0.9%
Net Margin6.2%
Free Cash Flow$222.1M
Return on Equity18.0%
Debt / Equity0.22x
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 Academy Sports & Outdoors, Inc.'s actual 10-K/10-Q/8-K filings?