Forensic Analysis · Trucking & Courier · as of Nov 9, 2026

United Parcel Service Inc (UPS)

A forensic read on United Parcel Service 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

Grey Zone

Financial health

2.2

Distress distance

Clean

Earnings quality

Forensic signals

33.8%

ROE

-2.6%

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.

United Parcel Service Inc earns a B (Sound & dependable) forensic quality grade, and its balance-sheet distress test reads 2.2, 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

12.1%

FY2025

Return on invested capital. Return on invested capital is 12.1% in the latest fiscal year and steady across FY2023–FY2025, inside a 1.4-point range. After-tax operating profit was $7.2B in FY2023 and $6.1B in FY2025, with operating income at 10.0% of revenue in FY2023, 9.3% in FY2024 and 8.9% in FY2025. The capital base behind it went from $53.3B in FY2023 to $50.8B in FY2025 (-5%), while the revenue it carried went from $91.0B to $88.7B.

134% of FCF

FY2025

Shareholder returns. Returned $6.4B to shareholders (buybacks + dividends) in FY2025 — 134% of free cash flow, but 76% of operating cash flow. Returns run ahead of free cash flow, with the gap funded by debt or cash reserves rather than the cash the business itself throws off; the payout itself is still covered by operating cash. Counting the $73M of stock-based comp paid out in shares on top of that, the combined claim on free cash flow is 136%.

$125M

FY2023

Goodwill impairments. Took $125M of goodwill writedowns across 1 year (FY2023 ($125M)) — about 2% of net income over the span. Writedowns mean past acquisitions underperformed what was paid for them.

Key fundamentals

Latest Revenue$88.66B

Revenue Growth YoY-2.6%

Revenue CAGR (2yr)-1.3%

Net Margin6.3%

Free Cash Flow$4.76B

Return on Equity33.8%

Debt / Equity1.49x

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Data from SEC EDGAR public filings · metrics as of Nov 9, 2026. Forensic signals flag probability, not certainty.

See a wrong number? Report an error with the filing it should match.