Shareholders appeared to be happy with Exponent, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:EXPO) solid earnings report last week. According to our analysis of the report, the strong headline profit numbers are supported by strong earnings fundamentals.

Zooming In On Exponent's Earnings

One key financial ratio used to measure how well a company converts its profit to free cash flow (FCF) is the accrual ratio. In plain english, this ratio subtracts FCF from net profit, and divides that number by the company's average operating assets over that period. The ratio shows us how much a company's profit exceeds its FCF.

As a result, a negative accrual ratio is a positive for the company, and a positive accrual ratio is a negative. While having an accrual ratio above zero is of little concern, we do think it's worth noting when a company has a relatively high accrual ratio. That's because some academic studies have suggested that high accruals ratios tend to lead to lower profit or less profit growth.

Over the twelve months to March 2024, Exponent recorded an accrual ratio of -0.15. Therefore, its statutory earnings were very significantly less than its free cashflow. In fact, it had free cash flow of US$132m in the last year, which was a lot more than its statutory profit of US$101.4m. Exponent shareholders are no doubt pleased that free cash flow improved over the last twelve months.

That might leave you wondering what analysts are forecasting in terms of future profitability. Luckily, you can click here to see an interactive graph depicting future profitability, based on their estimates.

Our Take On Exponent's Profit Performance

As we discussed above, Exponent has perfectly satisfactory free cash flow relative to profit. Because of this, we think Exponent's earnings potential is at least as good as it seems, and maybe even better! And the EPS is up 19% annually, over the last three years. The goal of this article has been to assess how well we can rely on the statutory earnings to reflect the company's potential, but there is plenty more to consider. If you'd like to know more about Exponent as a business, it's important to be aware of any risks it's facing. While conducting our analysis, we found that Exponent has 1 warning sign and it would be unwise to ignore it.

This note has only looked at a single factor that sheds light on the nature of Exponent's profit. But there are plenty of other ways to inform your opinion of a company. For example, many people consider a high return on equity as an indication of favorable business economics, while others like to 'follow the money' and search out stocks that insiders are buying. So you may wish to see this free collection of companies boasting high return on equity, or this list of stocks that insiders are buying.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.