Forensic Analysis · Industrials / Manufacturing / Defense · as of Jun 28, 2026
COLUMBUS MCKINNON CORP (CMCO)
A forensic read on COLUMBUS MCKINNON CORP 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
Grey Zone
Financial health
1.2
Altman Z-score
Watch
Earnings quality
6
Forensic signals
-21.9%
ROE
$417M
Market cap
1.89%
Dividend yield
COLUMBUS MCKINNON CORP earns a C (Mixed — selective) forensic quality grade, and its Altman Z-score is 1.2, placing it in the Grey zone. 6 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by accruals ratio.
What the filings flag
+97.5%Accruals ratio.Net operating assets grew +97.5% relative to their average in FY2026 — the accrual component of earnings. Accruals are building sharply — a large slice of profit sits in operating assets, not cash; Richardson/Sloan link high accruals to weaker future returns as they reverse. The cash-flow cross-check agrees: reported earnings ran in line with operating cash by -3% of net operating assets.
116d DSOReceivables vs revenue.Days sales outstanding moved from 63 to 116 days FY2025→FY2026 (receivables +130% vs revenue +24%). Receivables are outrunning sales — a flag for aggressive revenue recognition or slipping collections.
267dInventory days.Days inventory outstanding moved from 114 to 267 FY2025→FY2026 (against cost of goods sold; inventory +207% vs +31% in cost of sales). Inventory is outrunning what's being sold — a flag for softening demand or obsolescence risk ahead.
-2%Return on invested capital.Return on invested capital is -2% and slipping from 5% — well below its ~9% cost of capital, so reinvested dollars may be destroying value, not building it.
-0.1%/yrShare-count dilution.Diluted share count changed -0% over the last 3 years to FY2026 (-0.1%/yr). Roughly flat — buybacks are about offsetting stock comp, not shrinking the count. Per-share value isn't being meaningfully helped or hurt by the count.
$200MGoodwill impairments.Took $200M of goodwill writedowns across 1 year(s) (FY2026 ($200M)). Writedowns mean past acquisitions underperformed what was paid for them — worth weighing on capital-allocation skill.
Key fundamentals
Net Margin-19.2%
Debt / Equity1.64x
Free Cash Flow$-164.1M
Latest Revenue$1.19B
Return on Equity-15.8%
Revenue Growth YoY+23.9%
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 COLUMBUS MCKINNON CORP:
🔒The written investment read — what the numbers mean, in plain English
🔒Ask anything about CMCO'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