Forensic Analysis · Communication Services / Telecom · as of Jun 27, 2026
Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (WBD)
A forensic read on Warner Bros. Discovery, 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
Distress
Financial health
0.3
Altman Z-score
Clean
Earnings quality
6
Forensic signals
-4.9%
ROE
$67.0B
Market cap
Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. earns a C (Mixed — selective) forensic quality grade, and its Altman Z-score is 0.3, placing it in the Distress zone. 6 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by return on invested capital.
What the filings flag
0%Return on invested capital.Return on invested capital is 0% and rising from -5% — well below its ~8% cost of capital, so reinvested dollars may be destroying value, not building it.
+10.1%/yrShare-count dilution.Diluted share count changed +30% over the last 3 years to FY2025 (+10.1%/yr). The count is GROWING — existing holders are being diluted. That's ~10.1% shaved off per-share growth every year — total profit has to grow that much just to keep earnings-per-share flat, and a stake held since FY2022 has been diluted ~30%.
stoppedShareholder returns — halted.Capital returns have STOPPED — $969M of buybacks + dividends in FY2020, but ~$0 in FY2022. A halt usually means the company is conserving cash; understand why before reading it as neutral.
52d DSOReceivables vs revenue.Days sales outstanding moved from 46 to 52 days FY2024→FY2025 (receivables +7% vs revenue -5%). Receivables are creeping up relative to sales — watch the trend.
2% of revStock-based comp load.Stock-based compensation ran 2% of revenue and 25% of free cash flow in FY2025 — about $0.30 per diluted share. Meaningful — reported free cash flow flatters the economics, since SBC is a real cost paid in shares.
$9.4BGoodwill impairments.Took $9.4B of goodwill writedowns across 3 year(s) (FY2019 ($155M), FY2020 ($121M), FY2024 ($9.1B)). Writedowns mean past acquisitions underperformed what was paid for them — worth weighing on capital-allocation skill.
Key fundamentals
Net Margin1.9%
Debt / Equity0.91x
Free Cash Flow$3.09B
Latest Revenue$37.30B
Return on Equity2.0%
Revenue Growth YoY-5.1%
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 Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc.:
🔒The written investment read — what the numbers mean, in plain English
🔒Ask anything about WBD'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