Forensic Analysis · Grocery & Drugstore · as of Nov 9, 2026
Kroger Co (KR)
A forensic read on Kroger Co 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
Grey Zone
Financial health
1.8
Distress distance
Clean
Earnings quality
3
Forensic signals
14.3%
ROE
0.4%
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.
Kroger Co earns a C (Mixed — selective) forensic quality grade, and its balance-sheet distress test reads 1.8, placing it in the Grey zone. 3 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by return on invested capital.
What the filings flag
5.1%
FY2026
Return on invested capital.Return on invested capital is 5.1% in the latest fiscal year, against 7.3% in FY2024, having run between 5.1% and 9.4% across FY2024–FY2026 with no direction held. After-tax operating profit was $2.4B in FY2024 and $1.6B in FY2026, with operating income at 2.1% of revenue in FY2024, 2.6% in FY2025 and 1.3% in FY2026. The capital base behind it went from $32.6B in FY2024 to $31.3B in FY2026 (-4%), while the revenue it carried went from $150.0B to $147.6B.
104% of FCF
FY2026
Shareholder returns.Returned $3.6B to shareholders (buybacks + dividends) in FY2026 — 104% of free cash flow. That is $128M (4%) more than free cash flow covered. It came out of the balance sheet's own liquid holdings, not new debt: cash fell $625M over FY2026, while total debt fell $34M. That ratio has been CLIMBING past free cash flow — 30% of free cash flow two years back — not just sitting there. Counting the $157M of stock-based comp paid out in shares on top of that, the combined claim on free cash flow is 108%.
$242M
FY2025
Goodwill impairments.Took $242M of goodwill writedowns across 1 year (FY2025 ($242M)) — about 9% of net income over the span. Writedowns mean past acquisitions underperformed what was paid for them.
Key fundamentals
Latest Revenue$147.64B
Revenue Growth YoY+0.4%
Revenue CAGR (2yr)-0.8%
Net Margin0.7%
Free Cash Flow$3.46B
Return on Equity14.3%
Debt / Equity2.68x
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 Kroger Co's actual 10-K/10-Q/8-K filings?