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York Water (YORW): 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 Nov 6, 2026; rules v1.1
York Water (YORW): 1 rule of 10 triggered on the filings to Sep 30, 2026: low net debt = no refinancing risk; 4 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
Low net debt = no refinancing risk Triggered · severity high · confidence medium
$330K of debt comes due within a year against $1K of cash and investments and no free cash flow to add: $329K short, to be refinanced or raised. Net debt of $195M says nothing about when the debt falls due.
Innocent reading: A committed, undrawn credit facility covers the gap (not visible in the balance sheet).
Every rule
A01 FCF growth = the business improved Not triggered confidence high
Free cash flow did not rise (−$18M → −$19M): the trap does not arise.
The figures and how they are read
| Fiscal year before | FY2024 |
| Fiscal year | FY2025 |
| Operating cash flow, year before | $31M |
| Operating cash flow | $30M |
| Capex, year before | $48M |
| Capex | $49M |
| Free cash flow, year before | −$18M |
| Free cash flow | −$19M |
| Change in FCF | −$1M |
| Change in capex | $499K |
| Working capital: change in its cash contribution | $316K |
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: FY2025 (cash flow statement, fiscal year) · FY2024 (cash flow statement, fiscal year before)
A07 Stock compensation added back = no economic cost Insufficient data
fewer than two fiscal years of stock compensation and share counts on file
B02 Receivables growing = future cash is certain Not triggered confidence medium
Receivables grew 23% against revenue 20% in Q3 2026; DSO 34 against a median of 35: collections are keeping pace with sales.
The figures and how they are read
| Quarter | Q3 2026 |
| Revenue, year over year | +19.5% |
| Receivables, year over year | +22.6% |
| Quarter before | Q2 2026 |
| Revenue y/y, quarter before | +22.5% |
| Receivables y/y, quarter before | +15.4% |
| Days sales outstanding | 33.8 |
| DSO, median of eight quarters | 34.5 |
| Receivables | $9M |
| Revenue | $24M |
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 Triggered severity high · confidence medium
$330K of debt comes due within a year against $1K of cash and investments and no free cash flow to add: $329K short, to be refinanced or raised. Net debt of $195M says nothing about when the debt falls due.
The figures and how they are read
| Cash and investments | 1,000 |
| Debt | $195M |
| Net debt | $195M |
| Due within a year | $330K |
| Read from | the debt maturity table |
| Free cash flow, twelve months | −$12M |
| Cash plus free cash flow | 1,000.00 |
| Coverage of what is due | 0.0 |
| Due in the second year | $45M |
| 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)
What would explain it innocently
- A committed, undrawn credit facility covers the gap (not visible in the balance sheet)
- The notes are routinely rolled over in the commercial-paper or bond market at an investment-grade rating
- Cash held abroad or in subsidiaries can be moved to where the debt is
- A sale of a business or asset already agreed brings the cash
What to look for in the filing
- Undrawn committed facilities and their covenants
- The cost and rating of the refinancing
- Restricted cash and the operating minimum
What would show the trap does not apply
- The 10-K lists an undrawn credit facility that covers the debt due, or the maturity is refinanced before it falls due
- Cash plus FCF of the next quarter exceeds the debt due within a year
Look again: next filing.
D03 EPS growth = profit growth Not triggered confidence high
EPS rose 12% and net income rose 26% in Q3 2026; the share count rose 12.5%: EPS growth follows profit growth.
The figures and how they are read
| Quarter | Q3 2026 |
| Quarter before | Q3 2025 |
| EPS, year before | $0.43 |
| EPS | $0.48 |
| Net income, year before | $6M |
| Net income | $8M |
| Diluted shares, year before | 14.4M shares |
| Diluted shares | 16.2M shares |
| EPS growth | +11.9% |
| Net income growth | +25.9% |
| Diluted shares: change | +12.5% |
| eps from profit | $0.11 |
| eps from share count | -$0.06 |
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 2026 (net income, diluted shares, EPS) · Q3 2025 (the same quarter a year earlier)
E02 Low P/E at a cyclical peak = undervalued Insufficient data
no market value or trailing net income in the valuation research
E07 A precise DCF value = the true value Insufficient data
no DCF in the valuation research for this company
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 → York Water: cash flow →
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.