Forensic Analysis · Retail / Consumer Discretionary · as of Nov 9, 2026
Ulta Beauty, Inc. (ULTA)
A forensic read on Ulta Beauty, Inc. built from its complete SEC filings — financial-health screens, earnings quality, red flags and a price-aware rating. Reproducible math, not opinion.
B · Sound & dependable
Forensic grade
Safe
Financial health
3.8
Distress distance
Clean
Earnings quality
1
Forensic signals
43.6%
ROE
9.7%
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.
Ulta Beauty, Inc. earns a B (Sound & dependable) forensic quality grade, and its balance-sheet distress test reads 3.8, placing it in the Safe zone. 1 forensic signal was flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by accruals ratio (% of NOA).
What the filings flag
+11.2%
FY2025→FY2026
Accruals ratio (% of NOA).Net operating assets grew +11.2% 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 $418.6M through acquisitions (increase in goodwill and intangibles); that purchase is investing and is excluded from this ratio. The build is led by receivables up +33% against revenue +10% and PP&E up +16% against revenue +10%. A cash-flow measure on the same base disagrees: reported earnings ran behind operating cash by 17% of net operating assets, against an accruals ratio of 11.2%. 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.
Key fundamentals
Latest Revenue$12.39B
Revenue Growth YoY+9.7%
Revenue CAGR (2yr)+5.2%
Net Margin9.3%
Free Cash Flow$1.07B
Return on Equity43.6%
Debt / Equity0.02x
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