Forensic Analysis · Consumer Staples / Food & Beverage · as of Aug 10, 2026

Clorox Co /De/ (CLX)

A forensic read on Clorox Co /De/ built from its complete SEC filings — financial-health screens, earnings quality, red flags and a price-aware rating. Reproducible math, not opinion.

B · Sound & dependable

Forensic grade

Safe

Financial health

3.9

Distress distance

Clean

Earnings quality

Forensic signals

17.0

P / E (ttm)

252.3%

ROE

$12.9B

Market cap

4.73%

Dividend yield

0.2%

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.

Clorox Co /De/ earns a B (Sound & dependable) forensic quality grade, and its balance-sheet distress test reads 3.9, placing it in the Safe zone. 3 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by shareholder returns.

What the filings flag

123% of FCF

FY2025

Shareholder returns. Returned $934M to shareholders (buybacks + dividends) in FY2025 — 123% 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 $81M of stock-based comp paid out in shares on top of that, the combined claim on free cash flow is 133%.

$534M

FY2021–FY2023

Goodwill impairments. Took $534M of goodwill writedowns across 2 years (FY2021 ($228M), FY2023 ($306M)) — about 40% 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.

+0.1%/yr

FY2022–FY2025

Share count. Diluted share count changed +0% over the last 3 years to FY2025 (+0.1%/yr). Roughly flat — buybacks ($332M) are about offsetting stock comp ($81M), not shrinking the count. Per-share value isn't being meaningfully helped or hurt by the count.

Key fundamentals

Latest Revenue$7.10B

Revenue Growth YoY+0.2%

Revenue CAGR (3yr)-0.0%

Net Margin11.4%

Free Cash Flow$761.0M

Return on Equity252.3%

Debt / Equity7.74x

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 Clorox Co /De/'s actual 10-K/10-Q/8-K filings?

Generate the AI investment read →

No credit card · informational only, not investment advice · see the track record

← Browse all forensic stock analyses

Data from SEC EDGAR public filings · metrics as of Aug 10, 2026. Forensic signals flag probability, not certainty.