Forensic Analysis · Homebuilders & Residential Construction · as of Nov 9, 2026
Jacobs Solutions Inc. (J)
A forensic read on Jacobs Solutions 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
Grey Zone
Financial health
2.1
Distress distance
Clean
Earnings quality
2
Forensic signals
7.1%
ROE
4.6%
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.
Jacobs Solutions Inc. earns a B (Sound & dependable) forensic quality grade, and its balance-sheet distress test reads 2.1, placing it in the Grey zone. 2 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by shareholder returns.
What the filings flag
149% of FCF
FY2025
Shareholder returns.Returned $907M to shareholders (buybacks + dividends) in FY2025 — 149% of free cash flow. That is $300M (49%) more than free cash flow covered, and more than operating cash flow as well. Total debt rose $17M over FY2025, while cash rose $91M, so the borrowing was kept, not spent on the gap. The FY2025 cash-flow statement filed $2.5B of debt issued against $1.5B repaid; $35M from shares issued; $2M from sales of property and equipment; net cash used in investing activities of $75M; net cash used in financing activities of $525M. A payout past free cash flow draws the balance sheet down in every year it continues, which isn't sustainable indefinitely. Counting the $61M of stock-based comp paid out in shares on top of that, the combined claim on free cash flow is 159%.
8.0%
FY2025
Return on invested capital.Return on invested capital is 8.0% in the latest fiscal year and rising across FY2023–FY2025 from 5.2%. After-tax operating profit was $545M in FY2023 and $561M in FY2025, with operating income at 6.2% of revenue in FY2023, 6.0% in FY2024 and 7.2% in FY2025. The capital base behind it came down -33% across FY2023–FY2025, from $10.5B to $7.0B, so this return is struck on a smaller base than it started on.
Key fundamentals
Latest Revenue$12.03B
Revenue Growth YoY+4.6%
Revenue CAGR (2yr)+5.3%
Net Margin2.4%
Free Cash Flow$607.5M
Return on Equity7.1%
Debt / Equity0.61x
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 Jacobs Solutions Inc.'s actual 10-K/10-Q/8-K filings?