EMR · Technology(electronic & other electrical equipment (no computer equip)) · 10 years of annual accounts filed with the SEC · latest fiscal year ended 2025-09-30
Emerson Electric Co reported revenue of $18.0 billion in fiscal 2025, after growing 2.4% a year over the previous 9 years. Its operating margin held steady at about 16.3% from 2016, and it earned 7.7% on its invested capital in the latest year. Of the $27.3 billion its operations generated over 10 years, 81.6% went to acquisitions and 44.4% to dividends; the share count fell 12.4%. On the accounting screens, it passes 7 of 9 Piotroski tests, its Altman Z'' of 4.42 is in the safe zone and its Beneish M-score is below the -1.78 line; 1 of the six cross-checks between its statements fires.
Revenue, fiscal 202518.0B+2.4% a year over 9 years
Operating margin16.3%gross margin 52.8%
Return on invested capital7.7%8.1% on average over 5 years
Free cash flow after stock pay2.4B13.3% of revenue
Net debt ÷ EBITDA1.7×net debt 7.4B
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
05.0B10.0B15.0B20.0B
2016Revenue 14.5BOperating income 2.3B
2017Revenue 15.3BOperating income 2.3B
2018Revenue 17.4BOperating income 2.7B
2019Revenue 18.4BOperating income 2.9B
2020Revenue 16.8BOperating income 2.3B
2021Revenue 12.9BOperating income 1.9B
2022Revenue 13.8BOperating income 2.4B
2023Revenue 15.2BOperating income 2.9B
2024Revenue 17.5BOperating income 2.0B
2025Revenue 18.0BOperating income 2.9B
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Compound growth a year
3 yrs
5 yrs
9 yrs
Revenue
+9.3%
+1.4%
+2.4%
Operating income
+6.5%
+4.7%
+2.7%
Net income
-10.8%
+3.1%
+3.8%
Earnings per share
-9.3%
+4.5%
+5.4%
Free cash flow per share
+2.3%
+2.3%
+2.5%
Dividend per share
+0.8%
+1.1%
+1.2%
Shares
-1.7%
-1.4%
-1.5%
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 · 8.6%
0.0%5.0%10.0%15.0%20.0%
2016Return on invested capital 13.6%
2017Return on invested capital 13.1%
2018Return on invested capital 17.4%
2019Return on invested capital 17.9%
2020Return on invested capital 13.2%
2021Return on invested capital 9.5%
2022Return on invested capital 9.8%
2023Return on invested capital 7.8%
2024Return on invested capital 5.5%
2025Return on invested capital 7.7%
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Economic profit
Economic profit
-1.0B01.0B2.0B
2016Economic profit 593.7M
2017Economic profit 572.4M
2018Economic profit 1.1B
2019Economic profit 1.2B
2020Economic profit 691.5M
2021Economic profit 135.5M
2022Economic profit 232.0M
2023Economic profit -227.3M
2024Economic profit -924.5M
2025Economic profit -281.4M
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
(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
11.3%
Return on assets
5.5%
Asset turnover
0.43×
Research & development
4.3% of revenue
Overheads (SG&A)
28.3% 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
05.0B10.0B15.0B
2016Net income 1.6BFree cash flow 2.4BAfter stock-based pay 2.3B
2017Net income 1.5BFree cash flow 1.4BAfter stock-based pay 1.3B
2018Net income 2.2BFree cash flow 2.3BAfter stock-based pay 2.1B
2019Net income 2.3BFree cash flow 2.4BAfter stock-based pay 2.3B
2020Net income 2.0BFree cash flow 2.5BAfter stock-based pay 2.4B
2021Net income 2.3BFree cash flow 3.2BAfter stock-based pay 3.0B
2022Net income 3.2BFree cash flow 2.6BAfter stock-based pay 2.5B
2023Net income 13.2BFree cash flow 274.0MAfter stock-based pay 24.0M
2024Net income 2.0BFree cash flow 2.9BAfter stock-based pay 2.7B
2025Net income 2.3BFree cash flow 2.7BAfter stock-based pay 2.4B
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Where 10 years of operating cash went, 2016–2025
27.3B generated by the business. Each band is its share of that total.
Reinvested in the business 17%4.6B
Acquisitions 82%22.3B
Dividends 44%12.1B
Share buybacks 32%8.8B
More than it generated: funded with cash or new debt -75%-20.5B
Over the same years it paid 1.8B in stock. The share count fell 12.4%. 7.0B of the buybacks went beyond offsetting that dilution.
Per share
Earnings per shareFree cash flow per shareDividend per share
$0.00$10.00$20.00$30.00
2016Earnings per share $2.53Free cash flow per share $3.76Dividend per share $1.90
2017Earnings per share $2.36Free cash flow per share $2.23Dividend per share $1.93
2018Earnings per share $3.47Free cash flow per share $3.58Dividend per share $1.93
2019Earnings per share $3.72Free cash flow per share $3.89Dividend per share $1.95
2020Earnings per share $3.24Free cash flow per share $4.20Dividend per share $1.99
2021Earnings per share $3.83Free cash flow per share $5.27Dividend per share $2.01
2022Earnings per share $5.42Free cash flow per share $4.40Dividend per share $2.05
2023Earnings per share $22.90Free cash flow per share $0.47Dividend per share $2.08
2024Earnings per share $3.43Free cash flow per share $5.07Dividend per share $2.09
2025Earnings per share $4.05Free cash flow per share $4.71Dividend per share $2.10
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Shares outstanding
Diluted shares
550.0M575.0M600.0M625.0M650.0M
2016Diluted shares 646.8M
2017Diluted shares 643.4M
2018Diluted shares 635.3M
2019Diluted shares 620.6M
2020Diluted shares 606.6M
2021Diluted shares 601.8M
2022Diluted shares 596.3M
2023Diluted shares 577.3M
2024Diluted shares 574.0M
2025Diluted shares 566.7M
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
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
02.0B4.0B6.0B8.0B
2016Net debt 1.1B
2017Net debt 1.0B
2018Net debt 2.7B
2019Net debt 3.3B
2020Net debt 3.3B
2021Net debt 4.0B
2022Net debt 7.0B
2023Net debt 105.0M
2024Net debt 4.1B
2025Net debt 7.4B
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Net debt ÷ EBITDA
1.7×
Interest coverage
— operating income ÷ interest
Current ratio
0.88 current assets ÷ current liabilities
Cash conversion cycle
98 days collects in 63d, stock 95d, pays in 59d
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?
4.42safe zone
1.12.6
Working capital ÷ assets -0.03 × 6.56-0.19
Retained earnings ÷ assets 0.97 × 3.26+3.15
Operating income ÷ assets 0.07 × 6.72+0.47
Equity ÷ liabilities 0.94 × 1.05+0.98
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?
-2.67below the -1.78 line
-1.78
Receivables vs sales 1.03+0.95
Gross margin slipping 0.96+0.51
Soft assets 1.03+0.42
Sales growth 1.03+0.92
Slower depreciation 1.09+0.12
Overheads vs sales 0.96-0.17
Profit not in cash -0.02-0.09
Leverage rising 1.48-0.48
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.
Capital spending (431M) is well below depreciation (1,518M).
Benign
Mature assets, or a business that has become less capital-intensive.
Worrying
Under-investing: today's profit is being held up by consuming tomorrow's capacity.
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.
Value per share, with these assumptions$59.16discounted at 8.6% a year · 56% 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
14.6×
Enterprise value ÷ EBITDA
9.2×
Enterprise value ÷ revenue
2.3×
Free cash flow yield
7.2%
From cash flows to a value per share
10 years of cash flow, today18.2B
Everything after, today22.7B
The whole business40.9B
Minus net debt-7.4B
What belongs to shareholders33.5B
Divided among 566.7M shares: <strong>$59.16</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
01.0B2.0B3.0B4.0B
2016Reported 2.3B
2017Reported 1.3B
2018Reported 2.1B
2019Reported 2.3B
2020Reported 2.4B
2021Reported 3.0B
2022Reported 2.5B
2023Reported 24.0M
2024Reported 2.7B
2025Reported 2.4B
2026Projected 2.6B
2027Projected 2.6B
2028Projected 2.7B
2029Projected 2.7B
2030Projected 2.8B
2031Projected 2.8B
2032Projected 2.9B
2033Projected 3.0B
2034Projected 3.0B
2035Projected 3.1B
2016201820202022202420262028203020322034
Year by year
2026
2027
2028
2029
2030
2031
2032
2033
2034
2035
Revenue
18.3B
18.6B
18.9B
19.2B
19.6B
20.0B
20.5B
20.9B
21.4B
22.0B
Growth
1.5%
1.6%
1.7%
1.8%
1.9%
2.1%
2.2%
2.3%
2.4%
2.5%
Cash margin
14.2%
14.2%
14.2%
14.2%
14.2%
14.2%
14.2%
14.2%
14.2%
14.2%
Free cash flow
2.6B
2.6B
2.7B
2.7B
2.8B
2.8B
2.9B
3.0B
3.0B
3.1B
Worth today
2.4B
2.2B
2.1B
2.0B
1.8B
1.7B
1.6B
1.5B
1.4B
1.4B
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%
7.6%
61
67
73
81
90
8.1%
56
60
65
72
79
8.6%
51
55
59
64
70
9.1%
47
50
54
58
63
9.6%
43
46
49
53
57
Year-one growth and the final margin
margin ↓ · growth →
-2.5%
-0.5%
1.5%
3.5%
5.5%
11.3%
39
43
48
53
59
12.7%
43
48
54
59
66
14.2%
48
53
59
66
72
15.6%
52
58
65
72
79
17.0%
57
64
70
78
86
All the inputs moving at once
5,000 valuations, each with growth, final margin, discount rate and growth forever drawn at random around the values on the left (spreads of 3.0%, 2.1%, 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$40.96
Median$59.26
90th percentile$88.11
$50.00$100.00
Half of the simulations land between <b>$48.65</b> and <b>$72.59</b>; one in ten below $40.96, one in ten above $88.11.
Does the long run make sense?
9.6×The terminal value prices the business in year 10 at 9.6 times that year's EBITDA.
Free growthIn year 10 free cash flow is at or above after-tax operating profit, yet the model grows 2.5% forever. Growth needs reinvestment; this assumes it comes for free, which flatters the terminal value.
56%of the value comes from after year 10. The more of it, the more the answer depends on the part nobody can see.
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.