Forensic Analysis · Computer Hardware · as of Nov 9, 2026
Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co (HPE)
A forensic read on Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co built from its complete SEC filings — financial-health screens, earnings quality, red flags and a price-aware rating. Reproducible math, not opinion.
D · Weak — demands caution
Forensic grade
Distress
Financial health
0.4
Distress distance
3
Forensic signals
0.2%
ROE
13.8%
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.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co earns a D (Weak — demands caution) forensic quality grade, and its balance-sheet distress test reads 0.4, 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
-0.8%
FY2025
Return on invested capital.Return on invested capital is -0.8% in the latest fiscal year and slipping across FY2023–FY2025 from 5.4%. After-tax operating profit was $1.9B in FY2023 and ($345M) in FY2025, with operating income at 7.2% of revenue in FY2023, 7.3% in FY2024 and -1.3% in FY2025. The capital base behind it grew +19% across FY2023–FY2025, from $35.0B to $41.8B, while the return fell 6.2 points, so the dollars added over that window earned less than the 5.4% the older base was already earning. FY2025's operating profit carried a $1.6B goodwill write-off that alone took about 3.0 points off that year's return, so about 3.0 of the 6.2-point fall across FY2023–FY2025 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
FY2025
Goodwill impairments.Took $1.6B of goodwill writedowns across 1 year (FY2025 ($1.6B)) — about 2768% 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.
141% of FCF
FY2025
Shareholder returns.Returned $886M to shareholders (buybacks + dividends) in FY2025 — 141% of free cash flow, but 30% 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 $643M of stock-based comp paid out in shares on top of that, the combined claim on free cash flow is 244%.
Key fundamentals
Latest Revenue$34.30B
Revenue Growth YoY+13.8%
Revenue CAGR (2yr)+8.5%
Net Margin0.2%
Free Cash Flow$627.0M
Return on Equity0.2%
Debt / Equity0.91x
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 Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co's actual 10-K/10-Q/8-K filings?