Forensic Analysis · Gas Distribution Utility · as of Nov 9, 2026
Cheniere Energy, Inc. (LNG)
A forensic read on Cheniere Energy, Inc. 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
2.3
Distress distance
Watch
Earnings quality
2
Forensic signals
78.3%
ROE
27.2%
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.
Cheniere Energy, Inc. earns a C (Mixed — selective) forensic quality grade, and its balance-sheet distress test reads 2.3, placing it in the Grey zone. 2 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by accruals ratio (% of NOA).
What the filings flag
+13.7%
FY2024→FY2025
Accruals ratio (% of NOA).Net operating assets grew +13.7% relative to their own average in FY2025 — scaled by NOA itself, not by total assets, which is what the Forensic Screens card's own accrual row divides by. Accruals are building faster than is comfortable — part of profit is sitting in the balance sheet rather than turning to cash. The build is led by receivables up +87% against revenue +27% and payables paid down 28% against +27% in revenue. A cash-flow measure on the same base disagrees: reported earnings ran in line with operating cash by 1% of net operating assets, against an accruals ratio of 13.7%. The two are computed differently: the accruals ratio is the change in net operating assets over average net operating assets, while the cash-flow figure is net income less operating cash flow over that same average. Read them as two results, not one.Accruals ratio: the year-over-year change in net operating assets, relative to their own average.NOA (net operating assets): the money tied up in running the business, operating assets minus operating liabilities.
129% of FCF
FY2025
Shareholder returns.Returned $3.2B to shareholders (buybacks + dividends) in FY2025 — 129% of free cash flow, but 57% of operating cash flow. Returns run ahead of free cash flow because the business is also funding heavy growth capex (usually debt-financed); the payout itself is covered by operating cash — sustainable as long as that spending is genuine expansion, not upkeep. Counting the $161M of stock-based comp paid out in shares on top of that, the combined claim on free cash flow is 136%.
Key fundamentals
Latest Revenue$19.98B
Revenue Growth YoY+27.2%
Revenue CAGR (2yr)-1.0%
Net Margin26.7%
Free Cash Flow$2.46B
Return on Equity78.3%
Debt / Equity2.88x
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 Cheniere Energy, Inc.'s actual 10-K/10-Q/8-K filings?