Forensic Analysis · Healthcare / Pharmaceuticals / Biotech · as of Jun 27, 2026
Elanco Animal Health Inc (ELAN)
A forensic read on Elanco Animal Health Inc 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
1.3
Altman Z-score
Clean
Earnings quality
5
Forensic signals
-3.6%
ROE
$12.3B
Market cap
Elanco Animal Health Inc earns a C (Mixed — selective) forensic quality grade, and its Altman Z-score is 1.3, placing it in the Grey zone. 5 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by return on invested capital.
What the filings flag
-2%Return on invested capital.Return on invested capital is -2% and steady — well below its ~10% cost of capital, so reinvested dollars may be destroying value, not building it.
299dInventory days.Days inventory outstanding moved from 287 to 299 FY2024→FY2025 (against cost of goods sold; inventory +10% vs +6% in cost of sales). Inventory is building a little faster than sales — watch for markdowns.
+0.6%/yrShare-count dilution.Diluted share count changed +2% over the last 3 years to FY2025 (+0.6%/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.
1% of revStock-based comp load.Stock-based compensation ran 1% of revenue and 24% of free cash flow in FY2025 — about $0.14 per diluted share. Meaningful — reported free cash flow flatters the economics, since SBC is a real cost paid in shares.
$1.0BGoodwill impairments.Took $1.0B of goodwill writedowns across 1 year(s) (FY2023 ($1.0B)). Writedowns mean past acquisitions underperformed what was paid for them — worth weighing on capital-allocation skill.
Key fundamentals
Net Margin-4.9%
Debt / Equity0.61x
Free Cash Flow$284.0M
Latest Revenue$4.71B
Return on Equity-3.5%
Revenue Growth YoY+6.2%
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 Elanco Animal Health Inc:
🔒The written investment read — what the numbers mean, in plain English
🔒Ask anything about ELAN'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