SF · Financials(security brokers, dealers & flotation companies) · 10 years of annual accounts filed with the SEC · latest fiscal year ended 2025-12-31
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Stifel Financial Corp reported revenue of $3.8 billion in fiscal 2025, after growing 4.0% a year over the previous 9 years. Its operating margin widened from 7.9% in 2016 to 44.8%, and it earned 20.1% on its invested capital in the latest year. Of the $7.2 billion its operations generated over 10 years, 23.4% went to buybacks and 11.9% back into the business; the share count rose 41.9%. On the accounting screens, it passes 6 of 7 Piotroski tests; none of the six cross-checks between its statements fires.
Revenue, fiscal 20253.8B+4.0% a year over 9 years
Operating margin44.8%gross margin —
Return on invested capital20.1%12.8% on average over 5 years
Free cash flow after stock pay890.9M23.6% of revenue
Net debt ÷ EBITDANet cash1.6B more cash than debt
Piotroski F-score6/7tests 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
01.0B2.0B3.0B4.0B
2016Revenue 2.6BOperating income 209.5M
2017Revenue 3.0BOperating income 339.6M
2018Revenue 2.2BOperating income 704.4M
2019Revenue 2.4BOperating income 777.1M
2020Revenue 2.7BOperating income 716.9M
2021Revenue 3.6BOperating income 1.1B
2022Revenue 3.0BOperating income 885.1M
2023Revenue 2.7BOperating income 706.7M
2024Revenue 3.3BOperating income 928.4M
2025Revenue 3.8BOperating income 1.7B
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Compound growth a year
3 yrs
5 yrs
9 yrs
Revenue
+8.5%
+7.1%
+4.0%
Operating income
+24.0%
+18.7%
+26.1%
Net income
+1.1%
+6.3%
+26.7%
Earnings per share
+3.3%
+7.2%
+21.8%
Free cash flow per share
+1.6%
-7.1%
—
Shares
-2.2%
-0.8%
+4.0%
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.
GrossOperatingNetFree cash flow
-20.0%0.0%20.0%40.0%60.0%
2016Operating 7.9%Net 3.1%Free cash flow -17.8%
2017Operating 11.3%Net 6.1%Free cash flow 21.7%
2018Operating 32.2%Net 18.0%Free cash flow 19.3%
2019Operating 33.0%Net 19.1%Free cash flow 19.9%
2020Operating 26.8%Net 18.8%Free cash flow 59.3%
2021Operating 30.8%Net 22.8%Free cash flow 18.9%
2022Operating 30.0%Net 22.4%Free cash flow 36.4%
2023Operating 26.1%Net 19.3%Free cash flow 16.5%
2024Operating 28.2%Net 22.2%Free cash flow 12.6%
2025Operating 44.8%Net 18.1%Free cash flow 28.0%
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Return on invested capital
Return on invested capitalCost of capital today · 10.2%
0.0%10.0%20.0%30.0%
2016Return on invested capital 3.1%
2017Return on invested capital 5.6%
2018Return on invested capital 11.9%
2019Return on invested capital 12.6%
2020Return on invested capital 10.4%
2021Return on invested capital 14.0%
2022Return on invested capital 10.3%
2023Return on invested capital 8.2%
2024Return on invested capital 11.6%
2025Return on invested capital 20.1%
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Economic profit
Economic profit
-500.0M-250.0M0250.0M500.0M750.0M
2016Economic profit -278.6M
2017Economic profit -190.5M
2018Economic profit 74.8M
2019Economic profit 111.8M
2020Economic profit 9.3M
2021Economic profit 234.2M
2022Economic profit 5.9M
2023Economic profit -130.4M
2024Economic profit 89.3M
2025Economic profit 654.0M
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
11.4%
Return on assets
1.7%
Asset turnover
0.09×
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
-1.0B01.0B2.0B
2016Net income 81.5MFree cash flow -469.6MAfter stock-based pay -655.9M
2017Net income 182.9MFree cash flow 651.7MAfter stock-based pay 511.2M
2018Net income 394.0MFree cash flow 421.3MAfter stock-based pay 320.5M
2019Net income 448.4MFree cash flow 469.0MAfter stock-based pay 366.8M
2020Net income 503.5MFree cash flow 1.6BAfter stock-based pay 1.5B
2021Net income 824.9MFree cash flow 683.9MAfter stock-based pay 564.5M
2022Net income 662.2MFree cash flow 1.1BAfter stock-based pay 939.6M
2023Net income 522.5MFree cash flow 447.4MAfter stock-based pay 307.1M
2024Net income 731.4MFree cash flow 416.6MAfter stock-based pay 262.9M
2025Net income 683.8MFree cash flow 1.1BAfter stock-based pay 890.9M
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Where 10 years of operating cash went, 2016–2025
7.2B generated by the business. Each band is its share of that total.
Reinvested in the business 12%854.3M
Acquisitions 0%0
Dividends 0%0
Share buybacks 23%1.7B
Kept, or used to pay down debt 65%4.7B
Over the same years it paid 1.4B in stock. The share count rose 41.9%. 331.0M of the buybacks went beyond offsetting that dilution.
Per share
Earnings per shareFree cash flow per shareDividend per share
$-10.00$-5.00$0.00$5.00$10.00$15.00
2016Earnings per share $1.05Free cash flow per share $-6.05
2017Earnings per share $2.26Free cash flow per share $8.04
2018Earnings per share $3.23Free cash flow per share $3.45
2019Earnings per share $3.80Free cash flow per share $3.98
2020Earnings per share $4.39Free cash flow per share $13.86
2021Earnings per share $6.96Free cash flow per share $5.77
2022Earnings per share $5.63Free cash flow per share $9.15
2023Earnings per share $4.61Free cash flow per share $3.94
2024Earnings per share $6.59Free cash flow per share $3.75
2025Earnings per share $6.21Free cash flow per share $9.59
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Shares outstanding
Diluted shares
60.0M80.0M100.0M120.0M140.0M
2016Diluted shares 77.6M
2017Diluted shares 81.0M
2018Diluted shares 122.0M
2019Diluted shares 117.9M
2020Diluted shares 114.6M
2021Diluted shares 118.5M
2022Diluted shares 117.5M
2023Diluted shares 113.5M
2024Diluted shares 111.0M
2025Diluted shares 110.1M
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
-3.0B-2.0B-1.0B01.0B
2016Net debt 260.0M
2017Net debt 574.7M
2018Net debt -739.9M
2019Net debt -125.6M
2020Net debt -1.2B
2021Net debt -849.8M
2022Net debt -1.1B
2023Net debt -2.2B
2024Net debt -2.0B
2025Net debt -1.6B
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Net debt ÷ EBITDA
-0.9×
Interest coverage
2× operating income ÷ interest
Current ratio
— current assets ÷ current liabilities
Cash conversion cycle
—
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.
6of 7 tests passed
✓ProfitableReturn on assets above zeropassed
✓Cash from operationsOperating cash flow above zeropassed
✕Profitability improvedReturn on assets higher than a year beforefailed
✓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 before — not reportedno data
✓No new sharesShare count did not growpassed
–Better gross marginGross margin higher than a year before — not reportedno data
✓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?
The accounts lack a line it needs (retained earnings, current assets or liabilities).
Beneish M-score
Do the accounts resemble those of companies that manipulated their earnings?
The accounts lack too many of the lines it needs.
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.
None of the six cross-checks fires for the latest year: receivables and inventory move with revenue, profit turns into cash, investment keeps up with depreciation, the tax rate is ordinary and debt is moderate.
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$133.63discounted at 10.2% a year · 50% 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
21.5×
Enterprise value ÷ EBITDA
7.5×
Enterprise value ÷ revenue
3.5×
Free cash flow yield
6.1%
From cash flows to a value per share
10 years of cash flow, today6.5B
Everything after, today6.6B
The whole business13.1B
Plus net cash1.6B
What belongs to shareholders14.7B
Divided among 110.1M shares: <strong>$133.63</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
-1.0B01.0B2.0B
2016Reported -655.9M
2017Reported 511.2M
2018Reported 320.5M
2019Reported 366.8M
2020Reported 1.5B
2021Reported 564.5M
2022Reported 939.6M
2023Reported 307.1M
2024Reported 262.9M
2025Reported 890.9M
2026Projected 874.2M
2027Projected 931.0M
2028Projected 986.9M
2029Projected 1.0B
2030Projected 1.1B
2031Projected 1.1B
2032Projected 1.2B
2033Projected 1.2B
2034Projected 1.3B
2035Projected 1.3B
2016201820202022202420262028203020322034
Year by year
2026
2027
2028
2029
2030
2031
2032
2033
2034
2035
Revenue
4.0B
4.3B
4.6B
4.8B
5.0B
5.3B
5.5B
5.7B
5.8B
6.0B
Growth
7.0%
6.5%
6.0%
5.5%
5.0%
4.5%
4.0%
3.5%
3.0%
2.5%
Cash margin
21.7%
21.7%
21.7%
21.7%
21.7%
21.7%
21.7%
21.7%
21.7%
21.7%
Free cash flow
874.2M
931.0M
986.9M
1.0B
1.1B
1.1B
1.2B
1.2B
1.3B
1.3B
Worth today
793.4M
766.9M
737.7M
706.4M
673.1M
638.4M
602.5M
566.0M
529.1M
492.2M
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%
137
144
152
161
171
9.7%
130
135
142
150
158
10.2%
123
128
134
140
148
10.7%
117
121
126
132
138
11.2%
111
115
120
124
130
Year-one growth and the final margin
margin ↓ · growth →
3.0%
5.0%
7.0%
9.0%
11.0%
17.3%
101
108
116
124
133
19.5%
108
116
125
134
143
21.7%
116
124
134
144
154
23.8%
123
133
143
153
165
26.0%
131
141
152
163
176
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%, 3.2%, 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$105.78
Median$133.89
90th percentile$174.40
$100.00$150.00$200.00
Half of the simulations land between <b>$117.79</b> and <b>$152.42</b>; one in ten below $105.78, one in ten above $174.40.
Does the long run make sense?
6.2×The terminal value prices the business in year 10 at 6.2 times that year's EBITDA.
7%To grow 2.5% forever while reinvesting 38% of its after-tax operating profit, the business must earn 7% on the new capital — it has earned 13% on average over the last five years.
50%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: 13.17% × (1 − 21.5%) = <strong>10.34%</strong>.
Weighted by how much of each the company uses (book value (no price given)): <strong>10.19%</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.
Every Form 4 filed in the last twelve months, read line by line: 6 filings by 5 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$372,2332 sale(s) by 1 insider(s)
Under pre-arranged plans0%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.