Forensic Analysis · General / Diversified · as of Jun 28, 2026
KELLY SERVICES INC (KELYA)
A forensic read on KELLY SERVICES INC 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
Safe
Financial health
3.3
Altman Z-score
Clean
Earnings quality
3
Forensic signals
-24.6%
ROE
$441M
Market cap
2.53%
Dividend yield
KELLY SERVICES INC earns a D (Weak — demands caution) forensic quality grade, and its Altman Z-score is 3.3, placing it in the Safe zone. 3 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by return on invested capital.
What the filings flag
-4%Return on invested capital.Return on invested capital is -4% and slipping from 2% — well below its ~9% cost of capital, so reinvested dollars may be destroying value, not building it.
$322MGoodwill impairments.Took $322M of goodwill writedowns across 3 year(s) (FY2021 ($148M), FY2024 ($73M), FY2025 ($102M)). Writedowns mean past acquisitions underperformed what was paid for them — worth weighing on capital-allocation skill.
-75%Dividend — cut.The payout was CUT ~75% in FY2021 (from FY2019). It still returns some cash, but it is NOT the dependable, rising dividend an unbroken streak implies — weigh the cut when judging reliability.
Key fundamentals
Net Margin-6.0%
Debt / Equity0.10x
Free Cash Flow$114.1M
Latest Revenue$4.25B
Return on Equity-26.0%
Revenue Growth YoY-1.9%
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 KELLY SERVICES INC:
🔒The written investment read — what the numbers mean, in plain English
🔒Ask anything about KELYA'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