Philip Morris trades at 22x earnings — double Altria's multiple — on the promise that ZYN and IQOS justify a consumer tech premium. But MetricDuck's ROIC data shows Altria earns 44.8% on invested capital versus PM's 34.5%. The FY2025 10-K reveals why: $28 billion in goodwill and intangibles from the Swedish Match acquisition, $11.7 billion in trade receivable factoring inflating operating cash flow, and an Americas segment earning just 10.4% margins while East Asia delivers 47%. The transformation is real. The valuation premium may not be.
Amphenol posted 52% revenue growth, 450bps of margin expansion, and closed its largest acquisition in history. The stock dropped. DuPont decomposition explains why: 86% of the balance sheet growth came from a single quarter, and incremental returns fell below the cost of debt.
86% of Amazon's ROIC decline is capital turnover compression — not margin deterioration. The 10-K reveals why: $59B in new servers, a depreciation reversal on AI hardware, and $440B in irrevocable commitments. At $200B capex, the margin of safety is compressing.
Howmet Aerospace earns 34% gross margins with sole-source pricing power in jet engine castings — yet GAAP ROIC is only 18.6%. The FY2025 10-K reveals why: $4.5 billion in legacy goodwill from the Alcoa-Arconic spinoff chain sits on the balance sheet generating zero revenue. Tangible ROIC is 35%. Cash ROIC hit 28% in Q4. The market prices HWM at 59x earnings anyway — and a $1.8B acquisition is about to add more goodwill.
Meta's Family of Apps earns a 51.5% operating margin. Its ROIC is declining at -6.3 points per quarter. Both facts are true simultaneously. The gap between them reveals everything about the largest AI infrastructure bet in advertising history — and the accounting policies designed to make it look cheaper than it is.
FIX has 40.8% ROIC. PWR has 9.7%—despite 4x the revenue. The 'data center exposure' explanation is incomplete. The full story: FIX earns 2.5x higher margins AND turns assets 30% faster. Here's the DuPont analysis of six infrastructure contractors building America's data centers.
Intuitive Surgical generates 3x the returns on capital of Medtronic and Stryker. DuPont decomposition reveals ISRG wins on both NOPAT margin (25.6% vs 15%) AND capital turnover (0.84x vs 0.49x) — a rare double advantage. The counter-intuitive finding: high stock compensation actually understates their operating efficiency.
Both Jabil (29% ROIC) and Celestica (39% ROIC) rank among the best capital allocators in EMS. But DuPont decomposition reveals they get there through opposite mechanisms — JBL wins on turnover (13x), CLS wins on margin (10.2%). The counter-intuitive finding: CLS has better metrics AND faster growth, yet trades at an apparent discount. Here's what the data reveals.
Adobe's ROIC didn't just beat peers—it doubled in 8 quarters. The story isn't 'Adobe has high ROIC.' It's WHY it improved from 50% to 105% while Salesforce stayed at 12%. DuPont decomposition reveals the answer.
Yum Brands' shareholder equity is -$7.5 billion. Yet its ROIC is 50.8% - 2.2x McDonald's 22.8%. This isn't financial engineering. It's the byproduct of franchise economics: when a business doesn't need capital, it returns excess to shareholders. We break down the mechanism behind negative equity in asset-light models.
KLA Corporation delivers 43% ROIC—highest in semiconductor equipment. But SEC filings reveal 33% China revenue concentration, DOJ export investigations, and rare earth supply risks. Our DuPont analysis shows KLAC's zero-debt, asset-light model drives returns, while ASML's 75% invested capital growth explains its ROIC decline. Lam Research emerges as the 'boring winner' with stable returns and minimal risk.
Walmart's net margin is actually higher than Costco's (3.96% vs 2.97%). But Costco's ROIC is 2x higher (41.2% vs 20.9%). The difference isn't profit margin—it's asset turnover. Here's the DuPont decomposition of retail capital efficiency.