Forensic Analysis · Hospitality & Leisure · as of Aug 11, 2026

United Parks & Resorts Inc. (PRKS)

A forensic read on United Parks & Resorts 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

Grey Zone

Financial health

2.4

Distress distance

Clean

Earnings quality

Forensic signals

13.9

P / E (ttm)

$2.1B

Market cap

-3.6%

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 (red flags, auditor quality, say on pay, board independence). 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.

United Parks & Resorts Inc. earns a D (Weak — demands caution) forensic quality grade, and its balance-sheet distress test reads 2.4, 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

12.6%

FY2025

Return on invested capital. Return on invested capital is 12.6% in the latest fiscal year and slipping from 20% — a modest positive spread over its ~8% cost of capital — growth adds value, though not dramatically.

99% of FCF

FY2025

Shareholder returns. Returned $160M to shareholders (buybacks + dividends) in FY2025 — 99% of free cash flow. Right at the limit of what free cash flow covers — little room before it's funded by debt or the balance sheet. That ratio has actually been EASING, not tightening further — down from ~191% of free cash flow a few years back. Counting the $17M of stock-based comp paid out in shares on top of that, the combined claim on free cash flow is 109%.

-98%

FY2016→FY2017

Dividend — cut. The payout was CUT ~98% in FY2017 (from FY2016) and hasn't been restored since. It still returns some cash, but it is NOT the dependable, rising dividend an unbroken streak implies.

Key fundamentals

Latest Revenue$1.66B

Revenue Growth YoY-3.6%

Revenue CAGR (3yr)-1.3%

Net Margin10.1%

Free Cash Flow$162.6M

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 United Parks & Resorts Inc.'s actual 10-K/10-Q/8-K filings?

Generate the AI investment read →

No credit card · informational only, not investment advice · see the track record

← Browse all forensic stock analyses

Data from SEC EDGAR public filings · metrics as of Aug 11, 2026. Forensic signals flag probability, not certainty.