Forensic Analysis · Industrials / Manufacturing / Defense · as of Aug 7, 2026
General Electric Co (GE)
A forensic read on General Electric Co 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
6.5
Distress distance
Clean
Earnings quality
5
Forensic signals
43.5
P / E (ttm)
46.6%
ROE
$379.4B
Market cap
0.50%
Dividend yield
18.5%
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.
General Electric Co earns a C (Mixed — selective) forensic quality grade, and its balance-sheet distress test reads 6.5, placing it in the Safe zone. 5 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by goodwill impairments.
What the filings flag
$2.6B
FY2019–FY2024
Goodwill impairments.Took $2.6B of goodwill writedowns across 3 years (FY2019 ($1.5B), FY2020 ($877M), FY2024 ($251M)) — about 24% 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.
0.75×
FY2023–FY2025
Cash conversion.Over FY2023–FY2025, operating cash flow was 0.75× cumulative net income. Cash is lagging reported profit. The shortfall is profit tied up in working capital rather than collected — the accrual and receivables lines below show where.
100d
FY2019→FY2020
Inventory days.Days inventory outstanding moved from 85 to 100 FY2019→FY2020 (against cost of goods sold; inventory -8% vs -10% in cost of sales). Inventory is building a little faster than sales — watch for markdowns.
9.3%
FY2025
Return on invested capital.Return on invested capital is 9.3% in the latest fiscal year and rising from 1% — around its ~9% cost of capital, so growth is roughly value-neutral.
104% of FCF
FY2025
Shareholder returns.Returned $7.6B to shareholders (buybacks + dividends) in FY2025 — 104% of free cash flow. Right at the limit of what free cash flow covers — little room before it's funded by debt or the balance sheet. That ratio has been CLIMBING toward the limit — 23% of free cash flow a few years back — not just sitting there. Counting the $325M of stock-based comp paid out in shares on top of that, the combined claim on free cash flow is 108%.
Key fundamentals
Latest Revenue$45.85B
Revenue Growth YoY+18.5%
Revenue CAGR (3yr)+16.3%
Net Margin19.0%
Free Cash Flow$7.26B
Return on Equity46.6%
Debt / Equity1.10x
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 General Electric Co's actual 10-K/10-Q/8-K filings?