Forensic Analysis · Chemicals · as of Nov 10, 2026

Element Solutions Inc (ESI)

A forensic read on Element Solutions Inc built from its complete SEC filings — financial-health screens, earnings quality, red flags and a price-aware rating. Reproducible math, not opinion.

B · Sound & dependable

Forensic grade

Grey Zone

Financial health

2.5

Distress distance

Clean

Earnings quality

Forensic signals

7.5%

ROE

3.8%

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.

Element Solutions Inc earns a B (Sound & dependable) forensic quality grade, and its balance-sheet distress test reads 2.5, placing it in the Grey zone. 2 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by goodwill impairments.

What the filings flag

$80M

FY2023

Goodwill impairments. Took $80M of goodwill writedowns across 1 year (FY2023 ($80M)) — about 68% of net income over the span. A large writedown means an acquisition turned out worth far less than was paid — a real mark against M&A discipline.

6.0%

FY2025

Return on invested capital. Return on invested capital is 6.0% in the latest fiscal year and rising across FY2023–FY2025 from 3.6%. After-tax operating profit was $156M in FY2023 and $246M in FY2025, with operating income at 7.4% of revenue in FY2023, 14.0% in FY2024 and 13.4% in FY2025. The capital base behind it went from $4.3B in FY2023 to $4.1B in FY2025 (-5%), while the revenue it carried went from $2.3B to $2.6B. FY2023's operating profit carried a $80M goodwill write-off that alone took about 1.7 points off that year's return, so about 1.7 of the 2.4-point rise across FY2023–FY2025 is that charge leaving the base year rather than the capital earning more. A non-cash write-down lowers the reported return in the year it lands.

Key fundamentals

Latest Revenue$2.55B

Revenue Growth YoY+3.8%

Revenue CAGR (2yr)+4.6%

Net Margin7.5%

Free Cash Flow$227.6M

Return on Equity7.5%

Debt / Equity0.61x

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Data from SEC EDGAR public filings · metrics as of Nov 10, 2026. Forensic signals flag probability, not certainty.

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