Forensic Analysis · Parts & Accessories Manufacturing · as of Nov 8, 2026
Dana Inc (DAN)
A forensic read on Dana Inc built from its complete SEC filings — financial-health screens, earnings quality, red flags and a price-aware rating. Reproducible math, not opinion.
D · Weak — demands caution
Forensic grade
Distress
Financial health
0.8
Distress distance
Clean
Earnings quality
2
Forensic signals
7.8%
ROE
-3.0%
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.
Dana Inc earns a D (Weak — demands caution) forensic quality grade, and its balance-sheet distress test reads 0.8, placing it in the Distress zone. 2 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by return on invested capital.
What the filings flag
2.4%
FY2025
Return on invested capital.Return on invested capital is 2.4% in the latest fiscal year and rising across FY2023–FY2025 from -1.8%. After-tax operating profit was ($85M) in FY2023 and $110M in FY2025, with operating income at -1.4% of revenue in FY2023, -2.3% in FY2024 and 1.9% in FY2025. The capital base behind it went from $4.8B in FY2023 to $4.5B in FY2025 (-6%), while the revenue it carried went from $7.6B to $7.5B. FY2025's operating profit carried a $23M restructuring charge that alone took about 0.4 points off that year's return, so the latest return is depressed by that charge. FY2024's operating profit carried a $70M restructuring charge that alone took about 1.2 points off that year's return; FY2024 sits between the two ends of FY2023–FY2025, so the charge shapes the path between them without moving the change across it.
236% of FCF
FY2025
Shareholder returns.Returned $704M to shareholders (buybacks + dividends) in FY2025 — 236% of free cash flow. That is $406M (136%) more than free cash flow covered, and more than operating cash flow as well. It came out of the balance sheet's own liquid holdings, not new debt: cash fell $25M over FY2025, while total debt fell $5M — $25M of the $406M. The FY2025 cash-flow statement filed $223M of debt repaid; $13M from sales of property and equipment; net cash used in investing activities of $222M; net cash used in financing activities of $371M. A payout past free cash flow draws the balance sheet down in every year it continues, which isn't sustainable indefinitely. Counting the $40M of stock-based comp paid out in shares on top of that, the combined claim on free cash flow is 250%.
Key fundamentals
Latest Revenue$7.50B
Revenue Growth YoY-3.0%
Revenue CAGR (2yr)-0.7%
Net Margin1.1%
Free Cash Flow$298.0M
Return on Equity7.8%
Debt / Equity3.09x
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 Dana Inc's actual 10-K/10-Q/8-K filings?