Forensic Analysis · Textiles & Apparel Manufacturing · as of Nov 8, 2026
Ralph Lauren Corp (RL)
A forensic read on Ralph Lauren Corp built from its complete SEC filings — financial-health screens, earnings quality, red flags and a price-aware rating. Reproducible math, not opinion.
A · High-quality compounder
Forensic grade
Safe
Financial health
6.9
Distress distance
Clean
Earnings quality
2
Forensic signals
34.7%
ROE
14.6%
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 (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.
Ralph Lauren Corp earns an A (High-quality compounder) forensic quality grade, and its balance-sheet distress test reads 6.9, placing it in the Safe zone. 2 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by accruals ratio (% of NOA).
What the filings flag
+14.3%
FY2025→FY2026
Accruals ratio (% of NOA).Net operating assets grew +14.3% relative to their own average in FY2026 — 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. Net operating assets also rose $5.2M through acquisitions (increase in goodwill and intangibles); that purchase is investing and is excluded from this ratio. The build is led by PP&E up +26% against revenue +15%. A cash-flow measure on the same base disagrees: reported earnings ran behind operating cash by 11% of net operating assets, against an accruals ratio of 14.3%. 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.
73% of OCF
FY2026
Shareholder returns.Returned $840M to shareholders (buybacks + dividends) in FY2026 — 73% of operating cash flow. Capex isn't disclosed for FY2026, so this is the ceiling on coverage, not the free-cash-flow payout — actual free-cash coverage is tighter than this reads.
Key fundamentals
Latest Revenue$8.11B
Revenue Growth YoY+14.6%
Revenue CAGR (2yr)+10.6%
Net Margin11.6%
Return on Equity34.7%
Debt / Equity0.44x
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 Ralph Lauren Corp's actual 10-K/10-Q/8-K filings?