Forensic Analysis · Industrials / Manufacturing / Defense · as of Aug 11, 2026
Daktronics Inc /Sd/ (DAKT)
A forensic read on Daktronics Inc /Sd/ 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
9.1
Distress distance
Clean
Earnings quality
5
Forensic signals
22.8
P / E (ttm)
15.1%
ROE
$1.0B
Market cap
10.9%
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.
Daktronics Inc /Sd/ earns a C (Mixed — selective) forensic quality grade, and its balance-sheet distress test reads 9.1, placing it in the Safe zone. 5 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by share-count dilution.
What the filings flag
+2.8%/yr
FY2023–FY2026
Share-count dilution.Diluted share count changed +8% over the last 3 years to FY2026 (+2.8%/yr). The count is growing: more stock was issued than repurchased over this window, so aggregate results grew faster than their per-share equivalents. That's ~2.8% 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 FY2023 has been diluted ~8%.
0.6% of rev
FY2026
Stock-based comp load.Stock-based compensation ran 0.6% of revenue and 14% of free cash flow in FY2026 — about $0.10 per diluted share. The cost of it is not in the cash flow — no cash left the business — it is in the count: holders gave up about 2.8% of the company a year, and that rate is not falling. That is the figure to weigh, not the share of free cash flow.
suspended
FY2020→FY2022
Dividend — suspended.The dividend has been SUSPENDED — $9M paid in FY2020, then $0 in FY2022. A suspension is a major signal the board is conserving cash; the prior payment history doesn't offset it.
+14.0%
FY2025→FY2026
Accruals ratio (% of NOA).Net operating assets grew +14.0% relative to their own average in FY2026 — scaled by NOA itself, not total assets (see the Forensic Screens card's differently-scaled Sloan Accrual Ratio for that read). Accruals are building faster than is comfortable — part of profit is sitting in the balance sheet rather than turning to cash. The build is led by receivables up +28% against revenue +11%. The cash-flow cross-check is more mixed: reported earnings ran in line with operating cash by 2% of net operating assets, diverging from the balance-sheet accrual read.
Key fundamentals
Latest Revenue$838.7M
Revenue Growth YoY+10.9%
Revenue CAGR (3yr)+3.6%
Net Margin5.4%
Free Cash Flow$34.3M
Return on Equity15.1%
Debt / Equity0.04x
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 Daktronics Inc /Sd/'s actual 10-K/10-Q/8-K filings?
Data from SEC EDGAR public filings · metrics as of Aug 11, 2026. Forensic signals flag probability, not certainty.
$5M
FY2023–FY2023
Goodwill impairments.Took $5M of goodwill writedowns across 1 year (FY2023 ($5M)) — about 67% of net income over the span. Writedowns mean past acquisitions underperformed what was paid for them.