Forensic Analysis · Automotive / Vehicle Manufacturing · as of Aug 11, 2026
Federal Signal Corp /De/ (FSS)
A forensic read on Federal Signal Corp /De/ 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
12.4
Distress distance
Clean
Earnings quality
4
Forensic signals
27.5
P / E (ttm)
17.8%
ROE
$7.7B
Market cap
0.47%
Dividend yield
17.1%
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.
Federal Signal Corp /De/ earns a C (Mixed — selective) forensic quality grade, and its balance-sheet distress test reads 12.4, placing it in the Safe zone. 4 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by accruals ratio (% of noa).
What the filings flag
+36.2%
FY2024→FY2025
Accruals ratio (% of NOA).Net operating assets grew +36.2% relative to their own average in FY2025 — scaled by NOA itself, not total assets (see the Forensic Screens card's differently-scaled Sloan Accrual Ratio for that read). 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 build is led by receivables up +49% against revenue +17% and inventory up +42% against +17% in cost of sales. The cash-flow cross-check is more mixed: reported earnings ran in line with operating cash by 1% of net operating assets, diverging from the balance-sheet accrual read.
95d
FY2024→FY2025
Inventory days.Days inventory outstanding moved from 87 to 95 FY2024→FY2025 (against cost of goods sold; inventory +42% vs +17% in cost of sales). Inventory is building a little faster than sales — watch for markdowns.
12.7%
FY2025
Return on invested capital.Return on invested capital is 12.7% in the latest fiscal year and rising from 10% — a modest positive spread over its ~9% cost of capital — growth adds value, though not dramatically.
+0.2%/yr
FY2022–FY2025
Share count.Diluted share count changed +0% over the last 3 years to FY2025 (+0.2%/yr). Roughly flat — buybacks ($40M) are about offsetting stock comp ($15M), not shrinking the count. Per-share value isn't being meaningfully helped or hurt by the count.
Key fundamentals
Latest Revenue$2.18B
Revenue Growth YoY+17.1%
Revenue CAGR (3yr)+15.0%
Net Margin11.3%
Free Cash Flow$227.1M
Return on Equity17.8%
Debt / Equity0.41x
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 Federal Signal Corp /De/'s actual 10-K/10-Q/8-K filings?