Forensic Analysis · General / Diversified · as of Jun 27, 2026
HELEN OF TROY LTD (HELE)
A forensic read on HELEN OF TROY LTD 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
Distress
Financial health
-0.1
Altman Z-score
Clean
Earnings quality
3
Forensic signals
-94.5%
ROE
$661M
Market cap
HELEN OF TROY LTD earns a C (Mixed — selective) forensic quality grade, and its Altman Z-score is -0.1, placing it in the Distress zone. 3 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by return on invested capital.
What the filings flag
-38%Return on invested capital.Return on invested capital is -38% and slipping from 7% — well below its ~9% cost of capital, so reinvested dollars may be destroying value, not building it.
171dInventory days.Days inventory outstanding moved from 166 to 171 FY2025→FY2026 (against cost of goods sold; inventory +1% vs -2% in cost of sales). Inventory is building a little faster than sales — watch for markdowns.
$745MGoodwill impairments.Took $745M of goodwill writedowns across 2 year(s) (FY2025 ($39M), FY2026 ($707M)). Writedowns mean past acquisitions underperformed what was paid for them — worth weighing on capital-allocation skill.
Key fundamentals
Net Margin-50.3%
Debt / Equity0.98x
Free Cash Flow$131.9M
Latest Revenue$1.79B
Return on Equity-112.6%
Revenue Growth YoY-6.4%
Go deeper — free with an account
The forensic grade and screens above are free — no account needed. An account adds the full interactive deep-dive on HELEN OF TROY LTD:
🔒The written investment read — what the numbers mean, in plain English
🔒Ask anything about HELE's filings — AI Q&A across the 10-K, 10-Qs & 8-Ks
🔒Interactive valuation — reverse-DCF sliders, Monte Carlo & scenario stress
🔒Calibrated 12-month price forecast, with the math shown