Forensic Analysis · Industrials / Manufacturing / Defense · as of Jun 27, 2026
AeroVironment Inc (AVAV)
A forensic read on AeroVironment 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
7.6
Altman Z-score
Clean
Earnings quality
5
Forensic signals
-6.4%
ROE
$6.9B
Market cap
AeroVironment Inc earns a C (Mixed — selective) forensic quality grade, and its Altman Z-score is 7.6, placing it in the Safe zone. 5 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by receivables vs revenue.
What the filings flag
45d DSOReceivables vs revenue.Days sales outstanding moved from 36 to 45 days FY2024→FY2025 (receivables +45% vs revenue +14%). Receivables are outrunning sales — a flag for aggressive revenue recognition or slipping collections.
4%Return on invested capital.Return on invested capital is 4% and rising from -1% — well below its ~9% cost of capital, so reinvested dollars may be destroying value, not building it.
+4.7%/yrShare-count dilution.Diluted share count changed +14% over the last 3 years to FY2025 (+4.7%/yr). The count is GROWING — existing holders are being diluted. That's ~4.7% 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 ~14%.
+12.0%Accruals ratio.Net operating assets grew +12.0% 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 ahead of operating cash by +5% of net operating assets.
$330MGoodwill impairments.Took $330M of goodwill writedowns across 3 year(s) (FY2023 ($156M), FY2024 ($156M), FY2025 ($18M)). Writedowns mean past acquisitions underperformed what was paid for them — worth weighing on capital-allocation skill.
Key fundamentals
Net Margin5.3%
Debt / Equity0.05x
Free Cash Flow$-24.1M
Latest Revenue$820.6M
Return on Equity4.9%
Revenue Growth YoY+14.5%
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 AeroVironment Inc:
🔒The written investment read — what the numbers mean, in plain English
🔒Ask anything about AVAV'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