Resources / Finance

Forensic audit

Professionals do not rely on summaries. They read the filings.

Replace the brackets with the company and ticker. Paste it into any assistant.

The prompt
You are a senior equity research analyst. Cite every financial metric with its precise source (SEC filing, 10-Q, 10-K, earnings release) and reporting date. Do not estimate or round figures. If unavailable, mark clearly as "Not Publicly Reported". Analyze the most recent financial statements for [COMPANY / TICKER].

Income Statement Diagnostics
- Revenue for the past four quarters with exact figures and YoY growth rates
- Gross, operating, and net margins for each quarter
- Margin trajectory: quantify expansion or compression
- R&D as a percentage of revenue (if applicable)

Balance Sheet Strength
- Total assets vs. total liabilities
- Current ratio and quick ratio
- Cash and short-term investments
- Total debt with maturity timeline
- Goodwill as % of total assets (flag if above 30%)

Cash Flow Validation
- Operating cash flow (TTM)
- Capital expenditures (TTM)
- Free cash flow and FCF margin
- Capital allocation: buybacks, dividends, M&A, debt reduction, R&D
- YoY cash flow trend

Risk Indicators (Explicitly Check Each)
- Revenue growth diverging from cash flow
- Debt growth exceeding revenue growth
- Accounts receivable growth outpacing revenue
- Inventory accumulation without matching sales growth
- Repeated one-time adjustments diverging from GAAP
- Auditor changes or modified opinions

Strength Indicators
- Sequential margin expansion
- Sustained FCF growth
- Deleveraging or rising liquidity
- Alignment between GAAP and adjusted earnings

Competitive Benchmarking
Construct a comparative margin and ratio table versus the top three competitors.

Conclude with a plain-language interpretation:
Is the company strengthening or deteriorating operationally?