Filing Flows › Companies › California Water Service › Analysis traps
California Water Service (CWT): analysis traps
Where its figures could mislead a reader, and what to check before taking them at face value · Data: Q3 2026, to Sep 30, 2026, filed Oct 29, 2026; rules v1.1
California Water Service (CWT): 0 rules of 10 triggered on the filings to Sep 30, 2026. 1 to review; 3 with insufficient data; 2 not applicable. Each is a question to verify, with the normal explanation that would produce the same figures.
Check these first
A precise DCF value = the true value To review · confidence high
The DCF's point value is 47.93 a share (price 48.50); 70% of it is the terminal value, a number about years no one has seen. Moving wacc by ±1 pt alone takes it from 33.86 to 73.44; across every method the research ran the range is 6 to 230. The value is a range; the decimals are not information.
Innocent reading: A stable, mature business with a narrow range of outcomes, where the point value is a fair summary.
Every rule
A01 FCF growth = the business improved Insufficient data
fewer than two fiscal years with operating cash flow and capital expenditure on file
A07 Stock compensation added back = no economic cost Not triggered confidence high
Stock compensation is 0.5% of revenue: small enough that adding it back changes little.
The figures and how they are read
| Fiscal year | FY2025 |
| Stock compensation | $5M |
| Revenue | $964M |
| SBC / revenue | +0.5% |
| Buybacks | $1M |
| Buybacks / SBC | 0.3 |
| Diluted shares, year before | 58.6M shares |
| Diluted shares | 59.6M shares |
| Diluted shares: change | +1.7% |
SBC / revenue from the cash flow statement's add-back; the diluted weighted share count year over year; buybacks from the financing section
Source: FY2025 (stock compensation, buybacks and the diluted share count, fiscal year)
B02 Receivables growing = future cash is certain Not triggered confidence medium
Receivables grew 1% against revenue 5% in Q3 2026; DSO 21 against a median of 25: collections are keeping pace with sales.
The figures and how they are read
| Quarter | Q3 2026 |
| Revenue, year over year | +5.4% |
| Receivables, year over year | +0.9% |
| Quarter before | Q2 2026 |
| Revenue y/y, quarter before | +8.5% |
| Receivables y/y, quarter before | -4.1% |
| Days sales outstanding | 21.3 |
| DSO, median of eight quarters | 24.8 |
| Receivables | $81M |
| Revenue | $331M |
receivables and revenue against the same quarter a year earlier; DSO = receivables / quarterly revenue × days, against the median of the eight quarters before
Source: Q3 2026 (receivables and revenue) · Q3 2025 (the same quarter a year earlier)
B08 Adjusted profit = economic profit Insufficient data
no reconciliation table read from the releases yet and fewer than three quarters with both an adjusted and a GAAP EPS
C02 Low net debt = no refinancing risk Not triggered confidence medium
$357K comes due within a year, 995.1× covered by cash and investments of $45M plus $310M of free cash flow.
The figures and how they are read
| Cash and investments | $45M |
| Debt | $1.6B |
| Net debt | $1.6B |
| Due within a year | $357K |
| Read from | the debt maturity table |
| Free cash flow, twelve months | $310M |
| Cash plus free cash flow | $355M |
| Coverage of what is due | 995.1 |
| Due in the second year | $333K |
| Balance sheet date | 2026-09-30 |
due within a year from the maturity table (else the current portion of debt), against cash and investments plus free cash flow over the last twelve months (zero if negative); no credit lines assumed
Source: FY2025 (debt maturities, cash and investments)
D03 EPS growth = profit growth Insufficient data
no quarter with EPS, net income and diluted shares for both this year and last
E02 Low P/E at a cyclical peak = undervalued Not triggered confidence medium
Net income of $137M is not at a cyclical high against the last eight years (median $97M, best $191M): the P/E of 22.1× is on a normal year.
The figures and how they are read
| market value | $3.0B |
| net income ttm | $137M |
| pe ttm | 22.10 |
| net income median fy | $97M |
| pe mid cycle | 31.30 |
| net income peak fy | $191M |
| years | FY2018 / 66.0; FY2019 / 63.0; FY2020 / 97.0; FY2021 / 101.0; FY2022 / 96.0; FY2023 / 52.0; FY2024 / 191.0; FY2025 / 128.0 |
| down years in window | 4 |
P/E on the trailing twelve months' net income against the P/E on the median net income of the last eight fiscal years (a mid-cycle stand-in); 'at a peak' = this year's profit at or above 90% of the best year and at least 1.3× the median
Source: Q3 2026 (net income, trailing twelve months)
E07 A precise DCF value = the true value To review confidence high
The DCF's point value is 47.93 a share (price 48.50); 70% of it is the terminal value, a number about years no one has seen. Moving wacc by ±1 pt alone takes it from 33.86 to 73.44; across every method the research ran the range is 6 to 230. The value is a range; the decimals are not information.
The figures and how they are read
| dcf value | 47.93 |
| price | 48.50 |
| terminal value share | +69.5% |
| swing by input | WACC / ±1 pt / 33.86 / 73.44; Revenue growth (each year) / ±5 pts / 34.07 / 64.5; Operating margin / ±3 pts / 38.18 / 57.69; Terminal growth / ±0.5 pt / 44.11 / 53.03 |
| range all methods | 5.59; 229.63 |
the DCF's point value against the share of it that is the terminal value and the value at each input moved by one step (growth ±5 pts, WACC ±1 pt, margin ±3 pts …); the range across every method the research ran
Source: 2026-11-08 (valuation research)
What would explain it innocently
- A stable, mature business with a narrow range of outcomes, where the point value is a fair summary
- The inputs that matter most are themselves well known (a regulated return, a long contract)
What to look for in the filing
- Which input you believe differs from the research's and why
- What the price implies for growth (the reverse DCF on the fair-value page)
What would show the trap does not apply
- The DCF's value is robust to the terminal growth and discount rate (the range's low end is still above the price)
- The company's cash flows over the next three years track the DCF's early years
Look again: next filing.
J06 A bank's low P/E and high profit = safe Not applicable
not a bank
J08 A REIT's low net income = the dividend is unsafe Not applicable
not a REIT
What the statuses mean
Triggered: the filings show the pattern; read the normal explanations and the missing evidence before concluding anything. To review: one quarter or a weak signal; a reader's judgement, not a pattern. Not triggered: the pattern is absent on these figures. Insufficient data: the filings read so far do not hold what the rule needs; this is not a clean bill. Not applicable: the rule is not meant for this kind of company (a bank's working capital, a loss-making quarter's EPS growth). Out of date: the latest filing is more than fifteen months old.
Severity is what the pattern could mean for cash, value or solvency; confidence is how reliable the inputs and the reading are. The two are kept apart.
Record a view
A reader's judgement, grounds, what would change it and the next review; kept in the browser (needs JavaScript).
Every rule and the companies it triggers on → California Water Service: cash flow → Earnings quality score →
Each rule reads the company's own filings by a fixed formula and says what would explain the same figures innocently. A triggered rule is a question to verify, not a finding of manipulation, and not a view on the stock. Missing data is shown as missing, never as clear. Not investment advice.