Forensic Analysis · Trucking & Courier · as of Nov 10, 2026
Universal Logistics Holdings, Inc. (ULH)
A forensic read on Universal Logistics Holdings, 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
1.4
Distress distance
Clean
Earnings quality
3
Forensic signals
-16.8%
ROE
-15.6%
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.
Universal Logistics Holdings, Inc. earns a C (Mixed — selective) forensic quality grade, and its balance-sheet distress test reads 1.4, 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
-3.3%
FY2025
Return on invested capital.Return on invested capital is -3.3% in the latest fiscal year and slipping across FY2023–FY2025 from 10.3%. After-tax operating profit was $109M in FY2023 and ($51M) in FY2025, with operating income at 8.8% of revenue in FY2023, 11.0% in FY2024 and -4.1% in FY2025. The capital base behind it grew +47% across FY2023–FY2025, from $1.1B to $1.5B, while the return fell 13.6 points, so the dollars added over that window earned less than the 10.3% the older base was already earning. FY2025's operating profit carried a $124M asset write-down and a $101M goodwill write-off that alone took about 11.5 points off that year's return, so about 11.5 of the 13.6-point fall across FY2023–FY2025 is that charge landing in the latest year rather than the capital earning less. A non-cash write-down lowers the reported return in the year it lands.
FCF ($41M)
FY2025
Shareholder returns.Returned $11M to shareholders (buybacks + dividends) in FY2025, but free cash flow was ($41M) after capex — there was no free cash flow to fund the payout from at all, though operating cash flow alone was $183M — 6% of that. Capex and the payout together ran $52M past operating cash flow — a harder case than returns merely running ahead of free cash flow, since here there was none to run ahead of. New debt covered part of it: total debt rose $38M over FY2025, while cash rose $7M — $31M of the $52M. The FY2025 cash-flow statement filed $281M of debt issued against $148M repaid; $18M from sales of property and equipment; net cash used in investing activities of $203M; net cash provided by financing activities of $26M.
$105M
FY2024–FY2025
Goodwill impairments.Took $105M of goodwill writedowns across 2 years (FY2024 ($3M), FY2025 ($101M)) — about 348% of net income over the span. A large writedown means an acquisition turned out worth far less than was paid — a real mark against M&A discipline.
Key fundamentals
Latest Revenue$1.56B
Revenue Growth YoY-15.6%
Revenue CAGR (2yr)-3.2%
Net Margin-6.4%
Free Cash Flow-$41.1M
Return on Equity-16.8%
Debt / Equity1.48x
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 Universal Logistics Holdings, Inc.'s actual 10-K/10-Q/8-K filings?