Forensic Analysis · Industrials / Manufacturing / Defense · as of Jun 27, 2026
Ouster, Inc. (OUST)
A forensic read on Ouster, 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
Distress
Financial health
-3.5
Altman Z-score
Clean
Earnings quality
6
Forensic signals
-22.2%
ROE
$2.7B
Market cap
Ouster, Inc. earns a D (Weak — demands caution) forensic quality grade, and its Altman Z-score is -3.5, placing it in the Distress zone. 6 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by accruals ratio.
What the filings flag
+35.8%Accruals ratio.Net operating assets grew +35.8% relative to their average in FY2025 — the accrual component of earnings. Accruals are building sharply — a large slice of profit sits in operating assets, not cash; Richardson/Sloan link high accruals to weaker future returns as they reverse. The cash-flow cross-check agrees: reported earnings ran behind operating cash by -12% of net operating assets.
100dInventory days.Days inventory outstanding moved from 85 to 100 FY2024→FY2025 (against cost of goods sold; inventory +44% vs +22% in cost of sales). Inventory is outrunning what's being sold — a flag for softening demand or obsolescence risk ahead.
-28%Return on invested capital.Return on invested capital is -28% and rising from -111% — well below its ~9% cost of capital, so reinvested dollars may be destroying value, not building it.
+72.2%/yrShare-count dilution.Diluted share count changed +217% over the last 3 years to FY2025 (+72.2%/yr). The count is GROWING — existing holders are being diluted. That's ~72.2% shaved off per-share growth every year — total profit has to grow that much just to keep earnings-per-share flat, and a stake held since FY2022 has been diluted ~217%.
stoppedShareholder returns — halted.Capital returns have STOPPED — $45,000 of buybacks + dividends in FY2022, but ~$0 in FY2023. A halt usually means the company is conserving cash; understand why before reading it as neutral.
24% of revStock-based comp load.Stock-based compensation ran 24% of revenue in FY2025 — about $0.72 per diluted share. Meaningful — reported free cash flow flatters the economics, since SBC is a real cost paid in shares.
Key fundamentals
Net Margin-35.6%
Debt / Equity0.00x
Free Cash Flow$-64.8M
Latest Revenue$169.4M
Return on Equity-23.1%
Revenue Growth YoY+52.5%
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 Ouster, Inc.:
🔒The written investment read — what the numbers mean, in plain English
🔒Ask anything about OUST'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