All articles tagged with "Hidden Liabilities"
Dividend investing isn't just about yield—it's about sustainability. Our dividend research library covers payout ratio analysis, hidden liability screening, and sector-specific safety rankings across insurance, utilities, consumer staples, and more.
CL has the highest ROIC (34.4%), yet PG—with the lowest ROIC (23.9%)—shows the strongest improvement trajectory (+21.6% over 8 quarters). Meanwhile, KO's superior cash generation masks a $12 billion tax liability. Here's how to read beyond the headline metrics.
All three companies raised dividends in 2025. All three beat Q3 earnings estimates. But one has a $950 million hidden liability that most investors don't see. Progressive's 26.8% payout looks sustainable until you examine what's buried in the filing footnotes.
Oracle's -$10B Q2 free cash flow triggered alarm bells. Decomposition reveals the collapse is 70% working capital timing, not structural deterioration. The real story: $248B in off-balance sheet lease commitments dwarfs their $100B balance sheet debt. This is the largest infrastructure bet in enterprise software history.
CrowdStrike's 10-Q tells a rare story: risk factors that are actively materializing. Two risks escalated, one is new, and zero have been resolved. The July 19 incident created $101M+ in expenses, litigation with no disclosed maximum exposure, and management admissions that read like warnings, not disclaimers. This is a test case for reading risk factors seriously.
Wall Street treats homebuilders as a monolithic 'housing play.' But our analysis reveals a 4x ROIC spread (NVR 35% vs LEN 9%) that cannot be explained by margins alone. The divergence stems from three structural factors: NVR's asset-light lot model vs LEN's Millrose spin-off creating structural margin compression, DHI's $26B in specific performance land contracts creating downside asymmetry, and NVR's paradoxically 'cautious' guidance signaling genuine competitive strength.
VST's +321% appreciation prices in nuclear optionality, but ignores a $510M battery fire disaster and antitrust lawsuit. CEG's 'capacity price boom' masks 970bps margin spread between regions. TLN's 0.9x interest coverage means debt service consumes nearly ALL operating income. We analyzed 9 filings to surface what the market overlooks.
Two enterprise AI giants, two very different earnings quality profiles. Palantir (6/10) wins on cash conversion, accounting practices, and litigation risk. Snowflake (4/10) struggles with negative cash conversion (-0.47x) and aggressive software capitalization ($228M). Our 5-pass SEC filing analysis reveals what standard screeners miss.
LYFT has higher gross margin (42.6%) AND better earnings quality (7/10) than UBER. So why is LYFT barely profitable? The answer: OpEx. LYFT spends 42.2% of revenue on operating expenses vs UBER's 30.6%. Our 5-pass filing intelligence reveals how scale economics beat unit economics in rideshare.
Five cloud security platforms, five different approaches to shareholder value. Elastic (7/10) stands out with neutral accounting and sustainable SBC. CrowdStrike (4/10) raises red flags with 22.9% SBC/revenue and multi-front July 19 litigation. Our 5-pass filing intelligence reveals what standard screeners miss.
Digital Realty has $2.3 billion in construction commitments plus an active SEC investigation. Welltower faces $337 million in put-call acquisition obligations. Standard FFO/AFFO screens miss these entirely. Here's what filing intelligence reveals about 8 major REITs.
EQIX's capex intensity jumped +8.7pp in 8 quarters. CCI's ROIC collapsed to -12%. ANET's customer concentration is HIGH (Microsoft + Meta). Standard screeners show none of this. Here's our 4-signal framework for screening AI data center infrastructure stocks.
E&P companies properly account for $35.7B in asset retirement obligations. Pure refiners? Nearly zero—until they're forced to close. Valero's $337M Benicia ARO surprise in April 2025 reveals what investors miss in refinery financials.
Three major fintechs, three very different approaches to earnings quality. PayPal (8/10) represents conservative accounting, Block (6/10) shows aggressive tendencies with regulatory exposure, and Coinbase (4/10) raises red flags with 0.10x cash conversion. Our 5-pass filing intelligence reveals what standard screeners miss.