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e.l.f. Beauty earnings quality score

How much of the reported profit is backed by cash, and how many markers of managed earnings the filings show

Score58 / 100 · grade C · rank 749 of 1027

e.l.f. Beauty (ELF) scores 58 of 100 for earnings quality, grade C: rank 749 of 1027 companies and 40 of 48 in consumer-staples. It loses the most points on Dechow F-score 2.08 (substantial), adjusted earnings 68% below GAAP, Montier C-score 3 of 6 checks failed. It earns full or near-full marks for Beneish M-score -3.26: clean (below −2.22), profit about as variable as cash flow (smoothness 0.92). Revenue grew 40% in the year: fast growth raises accruals, the Beneish and Dechow scores and the C-score by construction, so a growing company scores lower than a steady one with the same accounting.

What earned and lost points

ComponentWhat the filings showPointsOf
Accrualsaccruals of -10.2% of assets, lower than 84% of companies (profit backed by cash)1720
Beneish M-scoreBeneish M-score -3.26: clean (below −2.22)1515
Dechow F-scoreDechow F-score 2.08 (substantial)415
Montier C-scoreMontier C-score 3 of 6 checks failed815
Discretionary accrualsdiscretionary accruals of -3.1% of assets (modified Jones), smaller than most510
Piotroski F-scorePiotroski F-score 4 of 9410
Non-GAAP gapadjusted earnings 68% below GAAP010
Earnings smoothnessprofit about as variable as cash flow (smoothness 0.92)55
ELF: share of the available points, by componentELF: share of the available points, by componentAccruals84%Discretionary accruals51%Beneish M-score100%Dechow F-score25%Montier C-score50%Piotroski F-score44%Earnings smoothness100%

How the score is built

Eight published measures, each scored against the whole universe or on its own scale and weighted: accruals 20, discretionary accruals 10, Beneish M 15, Dechow F 15, Montier C 15, Piotroski F 10, the non-GAAP gap 10, smoothness 5. A measure that cannot be computed (Beneish for a bank, say) drops out and the rest is rescaled, so every company is scored on what applies to it.

Every company ranked → The full quality workbench, live → e.l.f. Beauty: cash flow →

Computed from the companies’ own XBRL filings (latest fiscal year) by published formulas; a statistical screen, not an audit or an accusation. A low score means the reported profit shows more of the markers of managed or low-quality earnings than its peers. Not investment advice.