Forensic Analysis · Vehicle Parts & Supplies Wholesale · as of Nov 9, 2026
Genuine Parts Co (GPC)
A forensic read on Genuine Parts Co 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
1.3
Distress distance
Clean
Earnings quality
3
Forensic signals
1.5%
ROE
3.5%
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 (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.
Genuine Parts Co earns a B (Sound & dependable) forensic quality grade, and its balance-sheet distress test reads 1.3, 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
1.8%
FY2025
Return on invested capital.Return on invested capital is 1.8% in the latest fiscal year and slipping across FY2023–FY2025 from 14.5%. After-tax operating profit was $1.4B in FY2023 and $194M in FY2025. The capital base behind it grew +15% across FY2023–FY2025, from $9.4B to $10.8B, while the return fell 12.7 points, so the dollars added over that window earned less than the 14.5% the older base was already earning. FY2025's operating profit carried a $254M restructuring charge that alone took about 2.1 points off that year's return, so about 2.1 of the 12.7-point fall across FY2023–FY2025 is that charge landing in the latest year rather than the capital earning less.
138d
FY2024→FY2025
Inventory days.Days inventory outstanding moved from 124 to 138 FY2024→FY2025 (against cost of goods sold; inventory +10% vs +3% in cost of sales). Inventory is building a little faster than sales — watch for markdowns.
134% of FCF
FY2025
Shareholder returns.Returned $564M to shareholders (buybacks + dividends) in FY2025 — 134% of free cash flow, but 63% 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 $49M of stock-based comp paid out in shares on top of that, the combined claim on free cash flow is 146%.
Key fundamentals
Latest Revenue$24.30B
Revenue Growth YoY+3.5%
Revenue CAGR (2yr)+2.6%
Net Margin0.3%
Free Cash Flow$420.9M
Return on Equity1.5%
Debt / Equity0.87x
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 Genuine Parts Co's actual 10-K/10-Q/8-K filings?