Forensic Analysis · Packaged Foods · as of Nov 9, 2026
General Mills Inc (GIS)
A forensic read on General Mills 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
2.3
Distress distance
Clean
Earnings quality
3
Forensic signals
-1.1%
ROE
-5.4%
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.
General Mills Inc earns a B (Sound & dependable) forensic quality grade, and its balance-sheet distress test reads 2.3, placing it in the Grey zone. 3 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by return on invested capital.
What the filings flag
2.3%
FY2026
Return on invested capital.Return on invested capital is 2.3% in the latest fiscal year and slipping across FY2024–FY2026 from 11.5%. After-tax operating profit was $2.8B in FY2024 and $576M in FY2026, with operating income at 17.3% of revenue in FY2024, 17.0% in FY2025 and 4.8% in FY2026. The capital base behind it went from $24.0B in FY2024 to $25.1B in FY2026 (+4%), while the revenue it carried went from $19.9B to $18.4B. FY2026's operating profit carried a $1.5B goodwill write-off and a $303M asset write-down that alone took about 4.7 points off that year's return, so about 4.7 of the 9.2-point fall across FY2024–FY2026 is that charge landing in the latest year rather than the capital earning less. A non-cash write-down lowers the reported return in the year it lands.
$1.6B
FY2024–FY2026
Goodwill impairments.Took $1.6B of goodwill writedowns across 2 years (FY2024 ($117M), FY2026 ($1.5B)) — about 34% 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.
112% of FCF
FY2026
Shareholder returns.Returned $1.8B to shareholders (buybacks + dividends) in FY2026 — 112% of free cash flow, but 84% of operating cash flow. Returns run ahead of free cash flow, with the gap funded by debt or cash reserves rather than the cash the business itself throws off; the payout itself is still covered by operating cash. Counting the $79M of stock-based comp paid out in shares on top of that, the combined claim on free cash flow is 117%.
Key fundamentals
Latest Revenue$18.42B
Revenue Growth YoY-5.4%
Revenue CAGR (2yr)-3.7%
Net Margin-0.5%
Free Cash Flow$1.63B
Return on Equity-1.1%
Debt / Equity1.83x
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 Mills Inc's actual 10-K/10-Q/8-K filings?