Forensic Analysis · General / Diversified · as of Jun 27, 2026
Emerald Holding, Inc. (EEX)
A forensic read on Emerald Holding, 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
-1.6
Altman Z-score
Clean
Earnings quality
6
Forensic signals
-10.8%
ROE
$992M
Market cap
1.19%
Dividend yield
Emerald Holding, Inc. earns a D (Weak — demands caution) forensic quality grade, and its Altman Z-score is -1.6, placing it in the Distress zone. 6 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by accruals ratio.
What the filings flag
+21.8%Accruals ratio.Net operating assets grew +21.8% relative to their average in FY2025 — 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 behind operating cash by -34% of net operating assets.
60d DSOReceivables vs revenue.Days sales outstanding moved from 53 to 60 days FY2024→FY2025 (receivables +32% vs revenue +16%). Receivables are outrunning sales — a flag for aggressive revenue recognition or slipping collections.
2%Return on invested capital.Return on invested capital is 2% and slipping from 23% — well below its ~9% cost of capital, so reinvested dollars may be destroying value, not building it.
+62.5%/yrShare-count dilution.Diluted share count changed +187% over the last 3 years to FY2025 (+62.5%/yr). The count is GROWING — existing holders are being diluted. That's ~62.5% 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 ~187%.
2% of revStock-based comp load.Stock-based compensation ran 2% of revenue and 27% of free cash flow in FY2025 — about $0.06 per diluted share. Meaningful — reported free cash flow flatters the economics, since SBC is a real cost paid in shares.
$686MGoodwill impairments.Took $686M of goodwill writedowns across 4 year(s) (FY2020 ($603M), FY2021 ($7M), FY2022 ($6M)). Writedowns mean past acquisitions underperformed what was paid for them — worth weighing on capital-allocation skill.
Key fundamentals
Net Margin-6.6%
Debt / Equity1.64x
Free Cash Flow$41.4M
Latest Revenue$463.4M
Return on Equity-9.1%
Revenue Growth YoY+16.2%
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 Emerald Holding, Inc.:
🔒The written investment read — what the numbers mean, in plain English
🔒Ask anything about EEX'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