Forensic Analysis · Professional & Commercial Services · as of Nov 9, 2026
WEX Inc. (WEX)
A forensic read on WEX 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
1.1
Distress distance
Clean
Earnings quality
2
Forensic signals
22.3%
ROE
1.2%
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.
WEX Inc. earns a B (Sound & dependable) forensic quality grade, and its balance-sheet distress test reads 1.1, placing it in the Grey zone. 2 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by shareholder returns.
What the filings flag
255% of FCF
FY2025
Shareholder returns.Returned $800M to shareholders (buybacks + dividends) in FY2025 — 255% of free cash flow. That is $486M (155%) more than free cash flow covered, and more than operating cash flow as well. Total debt rose $452M over FY2025, while cash and short-term investments rose $878M, so the borrowing was kept, not spent on the gap. The FY2025 cash-flow statement filed $550M of debt issued; $559M from sales and maturities of investments against $1.7B of investments purchased; net cash used in investing activities of $697M; net cash provided by financing activities of $419M. A payout past free cash flow draws the balance sheet down in every year it continues, which isn't sustainable indefinitely. Counting the $100M of stock-based comp paid out in shares on top of that, the combined claim on free cash flow is 287%.
11.0%
FY2025
Return on invested capital.Return on invested capital is 11.0% in the latest fiscal year and steady across FY2023–FY2025, inside a 0.9-point range. After-tax operating profit was $468M in FY2023 and $480M in FY2025, with operating income at 25.4% of revenue in FY2023, 26.1% in FY2024 and 25.0% in FY2025. The capital base behind it went from $4.4B in FY2023 to $4.4B in FY2025 (-2%), while the revenue it carried went from $2.5B to $2.7B. $4.0B of the $4.4B base at FY2025 is short-term investments (92.9%) — securities held beside cash, which the base keeps because only cash is subtracted from it; they earn the balance sheet's yield, which is not in the operating profit above, so this rate understates what the operating capital earns.
Key fundamentals
Latest Revenue$2.66B
Revenue Growth YoY+1.2%
Revenue CAGR (2yr)+2.2%
Net Margin11.4%
Free Cash Flow$313.7M
Return on Equity22.3%
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 WEX Inc.'s actual 10-K/10-Q/8-K filings?