Forensic Analysis · Staffing & Help Supply · as of Nov 8, 2026

HireQuest, Inc. (HQI)

A forensic read on HireQuest, 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

Safe

Financial health

7.7

Distress distance

Clean

Earnings quality

Forensic signals

9.5%

ROE

-11.4%

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.

HireQuest, Inc. earns a B (Sound & dependable) forensic quality grade, and its balance-sheet distress test reads 7.7, placing it in the Safe zone. 2 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by goodwill impairments.

What the filings flag

$5M

FY2024

Goodwill impairments. Took $5M of goodwill writedowns across 1 year (FY2024 ($5M)) — about 131% 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.

8.3%

FY2025

Return on invested capital. Return on invested capital is 8.3% in the latest fiscal year, against 13.2% in FY2023, having run between 5.8% and 13.2% across FY2023–FY2025 with no direction held. After-tax operating profit was $9M in FY2023 and $6M in FY2025, with operating income at 28.1% of revenue in FY2023, 12.6% in FY2024 and 20.5% in FY2025. The capital base behind it went from $67M in FY2023 to $68M in FY2025 (+2%), while the revenue it carried went from $38M to $31M. FY2024's operating profit carried a $5M goodwill write-off that alone took about 6.4 points off that year's return; FY2024 sits between the two ends of FY2023–FY2025, so the charge shapes the path between them without moving the change across it. A non-cash write-down lowers the reported return in the year it lands.

Key fundamentals

Latest Revenue$30.6M

Revenue Growth YoY-11.4%

Revenue CAGR (2yr)-10.1%

Net Margin20.7%

Free Cash Flow$12.0M

Return on Equity9.5%

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Data from SEC EDGAR public filings · metrics as of Nov 8, 2026. Forensic signals flag probability, not certainty.

See a wrong number? Report an error with the filing it should match.