CLX · Consumer staples(specialty cleaning, polishing and sanitation preparations) · 10 years of annual accounts filed with the SEC · latest fiscal year ended 2025-06-30
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Clorox Co reported revenue of $7.1 billion in fiscal 2025, after growing 1.9% a year over the previous 9 years. Its operating margin narrowed from 18.8% in 2017 to 16.4%, and it earned 31.8% on its invested capital in the latest year. Of the $9.3 billion its operations generated over 10 years, 51.7% went to dividends and 28.3% to buybacks; the share count fell 5.5%. On the accounting screens, it passes 7 of 9 Piotroski tests, its Altman Z'' of 1.36 is in the grey zone and its Beneish M-score is below the -1.78 line; 1 of the six cross-checks between its statements fires.
Revenue, fiscal 20257.1B+1.9% a year over 9 years
Operating margin16.4%gross margin 45.2%
Return on invested capital31.8%19.2% on average over 5 years
Free cash flow after stock pay680.0M9.6% of revenue
Net debt ÷ EBITDA1.7×net debt 2.3B
Piotroski F-score7/9tests of improvement passed
Is it growing?
Revenue and the operating income it turns into. Growth that does not reach operating income is growth bought with margin.
RevenueOperating income
02.0B4.0B6.0B8.0B
2017Revenue 6.0BOperating income 1.1B
2018
2018Revenue 6.1BOperating income 1.1B
2019Revenue 6.2BOperating income 1.1B
2020Revenue 6.7BOperating income 1.3B
2021Revenue 7.3BOperating income 999.0M
2022Revenue 7.1BOperating income 713.0M
2023Revenue 7.4BOperating income 328.0M
2024Revenue 7.1BOperating income 488.0M
2025Revenue 7.1BOperating income 1.2B
2017201820182019202020212022202320242025
Compound growth a year
3 yrs
5 yrs
9 yrs
Revenue
-0.0%
+1.1%
+1.9%
Operating income
+17.8%
-1.9%
+0.4%
Net income
+20.6%
-2.9%
+1.6%
Earnings per share
+20.5%
-2.4%
+2.3%
Free cash flow per share
+12.3%
-9.6%
+2.7%
Dividend per share
+1.7%
+3.0%
+5.0%
Shares
+0.1%
-0.5%
-0.6%
Falling shares are buybacks: each remaining share owns more of the company.
Does it earn more than its capital costs?
Margins say how much of each sale is kept; return on invested capital says how much the business earns on the money it needs to operate. Growth only creates value when that return is above the cost of the capital.
Return on invested capitalCost of capital today · 4.7%
0.0%10.0%20.0%30.0%40.0%
2017Return on invested capital 32.7%
2018
2018Return on invested capital 29.5%
2019Return on invested capital 31.5%
2020Return on invested capital 27.6%
2021Return on invested capital 25.0%
2022Return on invested capital 18.3%
2023Return on invested capital 8.2%
2024Return on invested capital 12.7%
2025Return on invested capital 31.8%
2017201820182019202020212022202320242025
Economic profit
Economic profit
0250.0M500.0M750.0M1.0B
2017Economic profit 654.1M
2018
2018Economic profit 749.0M
2019Economic profit 765.0M
2020Economic profit 845.5M
2021Economic profit 649.1M
2022Economic profit 411.9M
2023Economic profit 96.1M
2024Economic profit 227.0M
2025Economic profit 760.5M
2017201820182019202020212022202320242025
(return on capital − cost of capital) × capital invested: the profit left after paying for the money used. Today's cost of capital is applied to every year, since a past one cannot be rebuilt honestly.
Return on equity
252.3%
Return on assets
14.6%
Asset turnover
1.28×
Research & development
1.7% of revenue
Overheads (SG&A)
15.8% of revenue
Is the profit cash, and where does the cash go?
Net income is an accounting opinion; free cash flow is what was left in the bank after investing. Stock-based pay does not leave the bank — shareholders pay it through dilution — so it is shown taken off as well.
Net incomeFree cash flowAfter stock-based pay
0500.0M1.0B1.5B
2017Net income 701.0MFree cash flow 634.0MAfter stock-based pay 583.0M
2018
2018Net income 823.0MFree cash flow 782.0MAfter stock-based pay 729.0M
2019Net income 820.0MFree cash flow 786.0MAfter stock-based pay 743.0M
2020Net income 939.0MFree cash flow 1.3BAfter stock-based pay 1.2B
2021Net income 710.0MFree cash flow 945.0MAfter stock-based pay 895.0M
2022Net income 462.0MFree cash flow 535.0MAfter stock-based pay 483.0M
2023Net income 149.0MFree cash flow 930.0MAfter stock-based pay 857.0M
2024Net income 280.0MFree cash flow 483.0MAfter stock-based pay 409.0M
2025Net income 810.0MFree cash flow 761.0MAfter stock-based pay 680.0M
2017201820182019202020212022202320242025
Where 10 years of operating cash went, 2017–2025
9.3B generated by the business. Each band is its share of that total.
Reinvested in the business 23%2.1B
Acquisitions 16%1.4B
Dividends 52%4.8B
Share buybacks 28%2.6B
More than it generated: funded with cash or new debt -19%-1.7B
Over the same years it paid 527.0M in stock. The share count fell 5.5%. 2.1B of the buybacks went beyond offsetting that dilution.
Per share
Earnings per shareFree cash flow per shareDividend per share
$0.00$5.00$10.00$15.00
2017Earnings per share $5.33Free cash flow per share $4.82Dividend per share $3.13
2018
2018Earnings per share $6.25Free cash flow per share $5.94Dividend per share $3.42
2019Earnings per share $6.32Free cash flow per share $6.06Dividend per share $3.78
2020Earnings per share $7.35Free cash flow per share $10.12Dividend per share $4.17
2021Earnings per share $5.58Free cash flow per share $7.42Dividend per share $4.38
2022Earnings per share $3.73Free cash flow per share $4.32Dividend per share $4.61
2023Earnings per share $1.20Free cash flow per share $7.49Dividend per share $4.69
2024Earnings per share $2.24Free cash flow per share $3.87Dividend per share $4.77
2025Earnings per share $6.52Free cash flow per share $6.12Dividend per share $4.84
2017201820182019202020212022202320242025
Shares outstanding
Diluted shares
122.0M124.0M126.0M128.0M130.0M132.0M
2017Diluted shares 131.6M
2018
2018Diluted shares 131.6M
2019Diluted shares 129.8M
2020Diluted shares 127.7M
2021Diluted shares 127.3M
2022Diluted shares 123.9M
2023Diluted shares 124.2M
2024Diluted shares 124.8M
2025Diluted shares 124.3M
2017201820182019202020212022202320242025
How strong is the balance sheet?
Debt is not bad in itself; debt the business cannot service in a bad year is. Net debt is debt minus cash, and below zero the company holds more cash than it owes.
Net debt
01.0B2.0B3.0B
2017Net debt 1.4B
2018
2018Net debt 2.2B
2019Net debt 2.2B
2020Net debt 1.9B
2021Net debt 2.5B
2022Net debt 2.3B
2023Net debt 2.1B
2024Net debt 2.3B
2025Net debt 2.3B
2017201820182019202020212022202320242025
Net debt ÷ EBITDA
1.7×
Interest coverage
13× operating income ÷ interest
Current ratio
0.84 current assets ÷ current liabilities
Cash conversion cycle
13 days collects in 42d, stock 49d, pays in 79d
Three classic screens of the accounts
Each asks a different question of the same statements — is it improving, does it look like a company heading for distress, do the accounts resemble ones that were manipulated. None is a verdict; each shows what moves it.
Piotroski F-score
Is the business improving? Nine yes-or-no tests, this year against last.
7of 9 tests passed
✓ProfitableReturn on assets above zeropassed
✓Cash from operationsOperating cash flow above zeropassed
✓Profitability improvedReturn on assets higher than a year beforepassed
✓Profit backed by cashOperating cash flow above net income (low accruals)passed
✕Less long-term debtLong-term debt as a share of assets fellfailed
✕More liquidCurrent ratio higher than a year beforefailed
✓No new sharesShare count did not growpassed
✓Better gross marginGross margin higher than a year beforepassed
✓Sells more per assetAsset turnover higher than a year beforepassed
Where it misleads: it measures change, not level. An excellent business that stood still for a year scores low; a poor one recovering from a disaster scores high.
Altman Z''-score
Does the balance sheet look like those of companies that went bankrupt?
1.36grey zone
1.12.6
Working capital ÷ assets -0.06 × 6.56-0.37
Retained earnings ÷ assets 0.08 × 3.26+0.25
Operating income ÷ assets 0.21 × 6.72+1.41
Equity ÷ liabilities 0.06 × 1.05+0.07
Where it misleads: buybacks. A company that returns so much cash that its equity turns small or negative sinks the last two ratios without being anywhere near bankruptcy. Banks and insurers do not fit the model at all.
Beneish M-score
Do the accounts resemble those of companies that manipulated their earnings?
-2.52below the -1.78 line
-1.78
Receivables vs sales 1.18+1.09
Gross margin slipping 0.95+0.50
Soft assets 0.99+0.40
Sales growth 1.00+0.89
Slower depreciation 1.03+0.12
Overheads vs sales 0.96-0.17
Profit not in cash -0.03-0.14
Leverage rising 1.12-0.37
Where it misleads: fast growth and acquisitions. Sales growth carries a heavy weight, so a company growing 50% a year scores like a suspect without having done anything. It is a screen from a 1999 study, not an accusation.
Where the statements disagree
Cross-checks between the income statement, the balance sheet and the cash flow for the latest year, each with the benign reading and the worrying one.
Receivables are growing 18% against revenue growing 0%.
Benign
A shift towards larger customers on longer terms, or sales concentrated at the end of the period.
Worrying
Sales are being made on looser credit, or revenue has been booked that may never be collected.
What is it worth, under which assumptions?
A company is worth the cash it will generate, brought back to today. This model projects revenue with growth that fades over the years, applies a free cash flow margin, and discounts the result at the cost of capital. Every assumption says where it came from, and all of them can be changed.
81% of the value comes from after year 10: this valuation rests mostly on the long run, which is exactly what is least known.
Value per share, with these assumptions$126.84discounted at 4.7% a year · 81% of it from after year 10
Type a share price on the left to ask the reverse questions: what growth, what margin or what discount rate that price implies.
What the value implies, in the usual multiples
At this model's value
Price ÷ earnings
19.5×
Enterprise value ÷ EBITDA
13.1×
Enterprise value ÷ revenue
2.5×
Free cash flow yield
4.3%
From cash flows to a value per share
10 years of cash flow, today3.5B
Everything after, today14.6B
The whole business18.1B
Minus net debt-2.3B
What belongs to shareholders15.8B
Divided among 124.3M shares: <strong>$126.84</strong> each.
The projection next to its history
Reported free cash flow after stock pay, then the model's. A projection that looks nothing like the past needs a reason.
ReportedProjected
0500.0M1.0B1.5B
2017Reported 583.0M
2018
2018Reported 729.0M
2019Reported 743.0M
2020Reported 1.2B
2021Reported 895.0M
2022Reported 483.0M
2023Reported 857.0M
2024Reported 409.0M
2025Reported 680.0M
2026Projected 413.2M
2027Projected 418.0M
2028Projected 423.6M
2029Projected 430.0M
2030Projected 437.1M
2031Projected 445.2M
2032Projected 454.1M
2033Projected 463.9M
2034Projected 474.7M
2035Projected 486.6M
2017201820202022202420262028203020322034
Year by year
2026
2027
2028
2029
2030
2031
2032
2033
2034
2035
Revenue
7.2B
7.3B
7.4B
7.5B
7.6B
7.7B
7.9B
8.1B
8.2B
8.4B
Growth
1.0%
1.2%
1.3%
1.5%
1.7%
1.8%
2.0%
2.2%
2.3%
2.5%
Cash margin
5.8%
5.8%
5.8%
5.8%
5.8%
5.8%
5.8%
5.8%
5.8%
5.8%
Free cash flow
413.2M
418.0M
423.6M
430.0M
437.1M
445.2M
454.1M
463.9M
474.7M
486.6M
Worth today
394.8M
381.6M
369.5M
358.3M
348.1M
338.6M
330.0M
322.2M
315.0M
308.5M
If the least-known inputs move
Value per share as two inputs change at a time. Neighbouring cells that differ a lot are the conclusion: the value depends on numbers nobody knows to a point.
The discount rate and growth forever
discount ↓ · forever →
1.5%
2.0%
2.5%
3.0%
3.5%
3.7%
132
174
252
448
1,868
4.2%
104
130
171
247
439
4.7%
85
102
127
167
242
5.2%
71
83
100
124
164
5.7%
60
69
81
98
122
Year-one growth and the final margin
margin ↓ · growth →
-3.0%
-1.0%
1.0%
3.0%
5.0%
4.6%
80
90
100
112
124
5.2%
91
102
114
126
140
5.8%
102
114
127
141
156
6.3%
113
126
140
156
172
6.9%
124
138
153
170
188
All the inputs moving at once
4,292 valuations, each with growth, final margin, discount rate and growth forever drawn at random around the values on the left (spreads of 3.0%, 2.0%, 1.0% and 0.5%). Not a probability — the spreads are assumptions too — but an honest picture of how wide the answer is.
10th percentile$49.14
Median$112.70
90th percentile$239.42
$100.00$200.00$300.00
Half of the simulations land between <b>$74.88</b> and <b>$167.50</b>; one in ten below $49.14, one in ten above $239.42.
Does the long run make sense?
14.0×The terminal value prices the business in year 10 at 14.0 times that year's EBITDA.
5%To grow 2.5% forever while reinvesting 54% of its after-tax operating profit, the business must earn 5% on the new capital — it has earned 19% on average over the last five years.
81%of the value comes from after year 10. The more of it, the more the answer depends on the part nobody can see.
Every Form 4 filed in the last twelve months, read line by line: 6 filings by 6 people. Open-market purchases and sales are counted apart from awards, option exercises and shares withheld for taxes.
Bought on the open market—none in the period
Sold on the open market—none in the period
Under pre-arranged plans—of the sales followed a 10b5-1 plan set months earlier
A Form 4 says what happened, when, how many shares and at what price. It does not say why: a sale can be diversification, a tax bill or a plan fixed months earlier, and an award is pay, not a purchase. Nothing here is a reason to buy or sell anything.
Which large funds report holding it
From the Form 13F of the 28 institutions followed on this site, as of the end of their last reported quarter. A 13F is filed up to 45 days later and shows only long positions in US-listed shares.
Accounts from the company's own SEC filings; lines some companies do not report are shown as a dash rather than estimated. The risk-free rate is the 10-year US Treasury yield. A DCF is a way of making assumptions explicit, not a forecast: it states what the company would be worth if the assumptions held. The scores are screens that point where to look, not verdicts. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell.