Forensic Analysis · Utilities · as of Jun 27, 2026
Talen Energy Corp (TLN)
A forensic read on Talen Energy Corp 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
0.1
Altman Z-score
Clean
Earnings quality
4
Forensic signals
-1.7%
ROE
$19.4B
Market cap
Talen Energy Corp earns a D (Weak — demands caution) forensic quality grade, and its Altman Z-score is 0.1, placing it in the Distress zone. 4 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by accruals ratio.
What the filings flag
+55.9%Accruals ratio.Net operating assets grew +55.9% 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 -16% of net operating assets.
23d DSOReceivables vs revenue.Days sales outstanding moved from 11 to 23 days FY2024→FY2025 (receivables +142% vs revenue +22%). Receivables are outrunning sales — a flag for aggressive revenue recognition or slipping collections.
-1%Return on invested capital.Return on invested capital is -1% and slipping from 3% — well below its ~6% cost of capital, so reinvested dollars may be destroying value, not building it.
20% of revStock-based comp load.Stock-based compensation ran 20% of revenue and 87% of free cash flow in FY2025 — about $11.51 per diluted share. Heavy — a large slice of 'free cash flow' is really being paid out in stock, so the true owner cash per share is well below the headline.
Key fundamentals
Net Margin-8.5%
Debt / Equity6.23x
Free Cash Flow$606.0M
Latest Revenue$2.58B
Return on Equity-20.0%
Revenue Growth YoY+22.0%
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 Talen Energy Corp:
🔒The written investment read — what the numbers mean, in plain English
🔒Ask anything about TLN'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