Forensic Analysis · Communication Services / Telecom · as of Jun 27, 2026
HARMONIC INC. (HLIT)
A forensic read on HARMONIC INC. 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
-5.4
Altman Z-score
Clean
Earnings quality
4
Forensic signals
-10.3%
ROE
$1.6B
Market cap
HARMONIC INC. earns a C (Mixed — selective) forensic quality grade, and its Altman Z-score is -5.4, placing it in the Distress zone. 4 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by inventory days.
What the filings flag
94dInventory days.Days inventory outstanding moved from 63 to 94 FY2024→FY2025 (against cost of goods sold; inventory +11% vs -25% in cost of sales). Inventory is outrunning what's being sold — a flag for softening demand or obsolescence risk ahead.
2%Return on invested capital.Return on invested capital is 2% and slipping from 10% — well below its ~8% cost of capital, so reinvested dollars may be destroying value, not building it.
9% of revStock-based comp load.Stock-based compensation ran 9% of revenue and 33% of free cash flow in FY2025 — about $0.28 per diluted share. Heavy — a large slice of 'free cash flow' is really being paid out in stock, so the true owner cash per share is well below the headline.
+0.5%/yrShare-count dilution.Diluted share count changed +2% over the last 3 years to FY2025 (+0.5%/yr). Roughly flat — buybacks are about offsetting stock comp, not shrinking the count. Per-share value isn't being meaningfully helped or hurt by the count.
Key fundamentals
Net Margin-12.0%
Debt / Equity0.29x
Free Cash Flow$96.9M
Latest Revenue$360.5M
Return on Equity-11.3%
Revenue Growth YoY-26.2%
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 HARMONIC INC.:
🔒The written investment read — what the numbers mean, in plain English
🔒Ask anything about HLIT'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