Filing Flows › Companies › Hormel Foods › Analysis traps
Hormel Foods (HRL): analysis traps
Where its figures could mislead a reader, and what to check before taking them at face value · Data: Q3 FY26, to Jul 26, 2026, filed Aug 27, 2026; rules v1.1
Hormel Foods (HRL): 0 rules of 10 triggered on the filings to Jul 26, 2026. 1 to review; 1 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 11.37 a share (price 21.98); 83% of it is the terminal value, a number about years no one has seen. Moving operating margin by ±3 pts alone takes it from 1.61 to 21.12; across every method the research ran the range is -32 to 68. 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 Not triggered confidence high
Free cash flow did not rise ($1.0B → $534M): the trap does not arise.
The figures and how they are read
| Fiscal year before | FY24 |
| Fiscal year | FY25 |
| Operating cash flow, year before | $1.3B |
| Operating cash flow | $845M |
| Capex, year before | $256M |
| Capex | $311M |
| Free cash flow, year before | $1.0B |
| Free cash flow | $534M |
| Change in FCF | −$476M |
| Change in capex | $54M |
| Working capital: change in its cash contribution | −$319M |
FCF = operating cash flow − cash capex; ΔFCF = ΔOCF − ΔCapEx; the working-capital part is the change in the cash-bridge items (receivables, inventory, payables, accruals), with the sign of the cash flow statement
Source: FY25 (cash flow statement, fiscal year) · FY24 (cash flow statement, fiscal year before)
A07 Stock compensation added back = no economic cost Not triggered confidence high
Stock compensation is 0.2% of revenue: small enough that adding it back changes little.
The figures and how they are read
| Fiscal year | FY25 |
| Stock compensation | $26M |
| Revenue | $12.1B |
| SBC / revenue | +0.2% |
| Buybacks | 0 |
| Buybacks / SBC | 0.0 |
| Diluted shares, year before | 548.8M shares |
| Diluted shares | 550.5M shares |
| Diluted shares: change | +0.3% |
SBC / revenue from the cash flow statement's add-back; the diluted weighted share count year over year; buybacks from the financing section
Source: FY25 (stock compensation, buybacks and the diluted share count, fiscal year)
B02 Receivables growing = future cash is certain Not triggered confidence medium
Receivables grew -9% against revenue 1% in Q1 FY26; DSO 22 against a median of 23: collections are keeping pace with sales.
The figures and how they are read
| Quarter | Q1 FY26 |
| Revenue, year over year | +1.3% |
| Receivables, year over year | -9.3% |
| Quarter before | Q4 FY25 |
| Revenue y/y, quarter before | +1.5% |
| Receivables y/y, quarter before | -4.0% |
| Days sales outstanding | 22.3 |
| DSO, median of eight quarters | 22.6 |
| Receivables | $696M |
| Revenue | $3.0B |
receivables and revenue against the same quarter a year earlier; DSO = receivables / quarterly revenue × days, against the median of the eight quarters before
Source: Q1 FY26 (receivables and revenue) · Q1 FY25 (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
$506M comes due within a year, 3.3× covered by cash and investments of $868M plus $781M of free cash flow.
The figures and how they are read
| Cash and investments | $868M |
| Debt | $2.9B |
| Net debt | $2.0B |
| Due within a year | $506M |
| Read from | the current portion of debt on the balance sheet |
| Free cash flow, twelve months | $781M |
| Cash plus free cash flow | $1.6B |
| Coverage of what is due | 3.3 |
| Due in the second year | — |
| Balance sheet date | 2026-07-26 |
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: 2026-07-26 (debt maturities, cash and investments)
D03 EPS growth = profit growth Not triggered confidence high
EPS fell 68% and net income fell 68% in Q3 FY26; the share count rose 0.1%: EPS growth follows profit growth.
The figures and how they are read
| Quarter | Q3 FY26 |
| Quarter before | Q3 FY25 |
| EPS, year before | $0.33 |
| EPS | $0.11 |
| Net income, year before | $184M |
| Net income | $60M |
| Diluted shares, year before | 550.7M shares |
| Diluted shares | 551.1M shares |
| EPS growth | -67.7% |
| Net income growth | -67.6% |
| Diluted shares: change | +0.1% |
| eps from profit | -$0.23 |
| eps from share count | $0.00 |
EPS and net income against the same quarter a year earlier; the EPS bridge attributes the change to profit first, then to the share count (the order is fixed and disclosed)
Source: Q3 FY26 (net income, diluted shares, EPS) · Q3 FY25 (the same quarter a year earlier)
E02 Low P/E at a cyclical peak = undervalued Not triggered confidence medium
Net income of $342M is not at a cyclical high against the last eight years (median $909M, best $1.0B): the P/E of 35.4× is on a normal year.
The figures and how they are read
| market value | $12.1B |
| net income ttm | $342M |
| pe ttm | 35.40 |
| net income median fy | $909M |
| pe mid cycle | 13.30 |
| net income peak fy | $1.0B |
| years | FY18 / 1012.0; FY19 / 979.0; FY20 / 908.0; FY21 / 909.0; FY22 / 1000.0; FY23 / 794.0; FY24 / 805.0; FY25 / 478.0 |
| 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 FY26 (net income, trailing twelve months)
E07 A precise DCF value = the true value To review confidence high
The DCF's point value is 11.37 a share (price 21.98); 83% of it is the terminal value, a number about years no one has seen. Moving operating margin by ±3 pts alone takes it from 1.61 to 21.12; across every method the research ran the range is -32 to 68. The value is a range; the decimals are not information.
The figures and how they are read
| dcf value | 11.37 |
| price | 21.98 |
| terminal value share | +82.6% |
| swing by input | Operating margin / ±3 pts / 1.61 / 21.12; WACC / ±1 pt / 8.05 / 17.41; Revenue growth (each year) / ±5 pts / 8.67 / 14.62; Tax rate / ±5 pts / 10.19 / 12.54 |
| range all methods | -31.55; 68.2 |
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 → Hormel Foods: 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.