HEI · Industrials(aircraft engines & engine parts) · 10 years of annual accounts filed with the SEC · latest fiscal year ended 2025-10-31
Heico Corp reported revenue of $4.5 billion in fiscal 2025, after growing 12.7% a year over the previous 9 years. Its operating margin widened from 20.1% in 2017 to 22.7%, and it earned 19.7% on its invested capital in the latest year. Of the $4.4 billion its operations generated over 10 years, 104.7% went to acquisitions and 8.3% back into the business; the share count rose 3.8%. On the accounting screens, it passes 7 of 9 Piotroski tests, its Altman Z'' of 4.62 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 20254.5B+12.7% a year over 9 years
Operating margin22.7%gross margin 39.8%
Return on invested capital19.7%17.4% on average over 4 years
Free cash flow861.4M19.2% of revenue
Net debt ÷ EBITDANet cash214.4M more cash than debt
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
02.0B4.0B6.0B
2017Revenue 1.5BOperating income 306.7M
2018Revenue 1.8BOperating income 376.2M
2018
2019Revenue 2.1BOperating income 457.1M
2020Revenue 1.8BOperating income 376.6M
2021Revenue 1.9BOperating income 392.9M
2022Revenue 2.2BOperating income 496.8M
2023Revenue 3.0BOperating income 625.3M
2024Revenue 3.9BOperating income 824.5M
2025Revenue 4.5BOperating income 1.0B
2017201820182019202020212022202320242025
Compound growth a year
3 yrs
5 yrs
9 yrs
Revenue
+26.6%
+20.2%
+12.7%
Operating income
+27.1%
+22.0%
+14.3%
Net income
+25.2%
+17.1%
+15.7%
Earnings per share
+24.4%
+16.5%
+15.2%
Free cash flow per share
+24.7%
+16.8%
+13.7%
Dividend per share
+8.6%
+7.7%
+10.2%
Shares
+0.7%
+0.5%
+0.4%
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 · 10.2%
0.0%5.0%10.0%15.0%20.0%
2017
2018
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022Return on invested capital 15.2%
2023Return on invested capital 15.9%
2024Return on invested capital 18.7%
2025Return on invested capital 19.7%
2017201820182019202020212022202320242025
Economic profit
Economic profit
0200.0M400.0M600.0M
2017
2018
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022Economic profit 129.8M
2023Economic profit 179.7M
2024Economic profit 309.6M
2025Economic profit 411.6M
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
16.0%
Return on assets
8.1%
Asset turnover
0.53×
Research & development
2.7% of revenue
Overheads (SG&A)
17.1% 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
0250.0M500.0M750.0M1.0B
2017Net income 186.0MFree cash flow 262.3M
2018Net income 259.2MFree cash flow 286.6M
2018
2019Net income 327.9MFree cash flow 408.4M
2020Net income 314.0MFree cash flow 386.2M
2021Net income 304.2MFree cash flow 407.9M
2022Net income 351.7MFree cash flow 435.9M
2023Net income 403.6MFree cash flow 399.3M
2024Net income 514.1MFree cash flow 614.1M
2025Net income 690.4MFree cash flow 861.4M
2017201820182019202020212022202320242025
Where 10 years of operating cash went, 2017–2025
4.4B generated by the business. Each band is its share of that total.
Reinvested in the business 8%368.5M
Acquisitions 105%4.6B
Dividends 5%204.3M
Share buybacks 0%0
More than it generated: funded with cash or new debt -18%-779.7M
Per share
Earnings per shareFree cash flow per shareDividend per share
$0.00$2.00$4.00$6.00$8.00
2017Earnings per share $1.37Free cash flow per share $1.93Dividend per share $0.09
2018Earnings per share $1.90Free cash flow per share $2.10Dividend per share $0.11
2018
2019Earnings per share $2.39Free cash flow per share $2.97Dividend per share $0.14
2020Earnings per share $2.29Free cash flow per share $2.81Dividend per share $0.16
2021Earnings per share $2.21Free cash flow per share $2.96Dividend per share $0.17
2022Earnings per share $2.55Free cash flow per share $3.16Dividend per share $0.18
2023Earnings per share $2.91Free cash flow per share $2.87Dividend per share $0.20
2024Earnings per share $3.67Free cash flow per share $4.38Dividend per share $0.21
2025Earnings per share $4.90Free cash flow per share $6.12Dividend per share $0.23
2017201820182019202020212022202320242025
Shares outstanding
Diluted shares
134.0M136.0M138.0M140.0M142.0M
2017Diluted shares 135.6M
2018Diluted shares 136.7M
2018
2019Diluted shares 137.3M
2020Diluted shares 137.3M
2021Diluted shares 137.9M
2022Diluted shares 138.0M
2023Diluted shares 138.9M
2024Diluted shares 140.2M
2025Diluted shares 140.8M
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
-300.0M-200.0M-100.0M0
2017
2018
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022Net debt -137.8M
2023Net debt -166.8M
2024Net debt -158.0M
2025Net debt -214.4M
2017201820182019202020212022202320242025
Net debt ÷ EBITDA
-0.2×
Interest coverage
8× operating income ÷ interest
Current ratio
2.83 current assets ÷ current liabilities
Cash conversion cycle
196 days collects in 52d, stock 175d, pays in 31d
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 fellpassed
✕More liquidCurrent ratio higher than a year beforefailed
✕No new sharesShare count did not growfailed
✓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?
4.62safe zone
1.12.6
Working capital ÷ assets 0.18 × 6.56+1.18
Retained earnings ÷ assets 0.43 × 3.26+1.40
Operating income ÷ assets 0.12 × 6.72+0.81
Equity ÷ liabilities 1.18 × 1.05+1.24
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?
-2.50below the -1.78 line
-1.78
Receivables vs sales 1.02+0.94
Gross margin slipping 0.98+0.52
Soft assets 0.98+0.40
Sales growth 1.16+1.04
Slower depreciation 1.09+0.13
Overheads vs sales 0.97-0.17
Profit not in cash -0.03-0.13
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.
Capital spending (73M) is well below depreciation (196M).
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$107.37discounted at 10.2% a year · 54% 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
21.9×
Enterprise value ÷ EBITDA
12.3×
Enterprise value ÷ revenue
3.3×
Free cash flow yield
5.7%
From cash flows to a value per share
10 years of cash flow, today6.8B
Everything after, today8.1B
The whole business14.9B
Plus net cash214.4M
What belongs to shareholders15.1B
Divided among 140.8M shares: <strong>$107.37</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
0500.0M1.0B1.5B2.0B
2017Reported 262.3M
2018Reported 286.6M
2018
2019Reported 408.4M
2020Reported 386.2M
2021Reported 407.9M
2022Reported 435.9M
2023Reported 399.3M
2024Reported 614.1M
2025Reported 861.4M
2026Projected 671.2M
2027Projected 792.4M
2028Projected 920.1M
2029Projected 1.1B
2030Projected 1.2B
2031Projected 1.3B
2032Projected 1.4B
2033Projected 1.5B
2034Projected 1.6B
2035Projected 1.6B
2017201820202022202420262028203020322034
Year by year
2026
2027
2028
2029
2030
2031
2032
2033
2034
2035
Revenue
5.4B
6.4B
7.4B
8.4B
9.5B
10.4B
11.3B
12.0B
12.5B
12.9B
Growth
20.0%
18.1%
16.1%
14.2%
12.2%
10.3%
8.3%
6.4%
4.4%
2.5%
Cash margin
12.5%
12.5%
12.5%
12.5%
12.5%
12.5%
12.5%
12.5%
12.5%
12.5%
Free cash flow
671.2M
792.4M
920.1M
1.1B
1.2B
1.3B
1.4B
1.5B
1.6B
1.6B
Worth today
609.2M
652.8M
687.9M
712.8M
726.0M
726.6M
714.4M
689.9M
653.9M
608.4M
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%
9.2%
111
117
125
133
143
9.7%
104
109
115
123
131
10.2%
97
102
107
114
121
10.7%
91
96
100
106
112
11.2%
86
90
94
99
104
Year-one growth and the final margin
margin ↓ · growth →
16.0%
18.0%
20.0%
22.0%
24.0%
10.0%
78
84
91
97
105
11.2%
85
92
99
107
115
12.5%
92
100
107
116
125
13.7%
99
107
116
125
135
15.0%
106
115
124
134
145
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%, 2.0%, 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$81.18
Median$107.58
90th percentile$145.17
$100.00$150.00
Half of the simulations land between <b>$92.44</b> and <b>$125.06</b>; one in ten below $81.18, one in ten above $145.17.
Does the long run make sense?
6.1×The terminal value prices the business in year 10 at 6.1 times that year's EBITDA.
7%To grow 2.5% forever while reinvesting 34% of its after-tax operating profit, the business must earn 7% on the new capital — it has earned 17% on average over the last five years.
54%of the value comes from after year 10. The more of it, the more the answer depends on the part nobody can see.
What lenders charge, after the tax saving on interest: 13.18% × (1 − 16.6%) = <strong>11.00%</strong>.
Weighted by how much of each the company uses (book value (no price given)): <strong>10.18%</strong>, the rate every future cash flow is discounted at.
What it has filed lately
The last twelve months at the SEC, most important first: annual and quarterly reports, events, large holders and insiders.
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.