Assay
Financial-condition grades for SEC filers
Company Report · as of Oct 9, 2026
|
| Heartland Express Inc.HTLD · other | |
|---|---|
| Grade |  Dfourth fifth of 336 graded peers; percentile 75.2, sampling error 2.6 points; lower is stronger |
| Rank | 253 of 336 |
| Profitability | Cpercentile 55.9 |
| Solvency | Cpercentile 47.7 |
| Growth and financing | Dpercentile 69.5 |
| Reliability | 0.91 AUCfailure model, filers with $591M to $2.67B assets; 95% interval 0.88 to 0.94; 160 events, 2020 to 2025 |
| Peer failure rate | 1.01% a yearItem 1.03 bankruptcies, same asset band, 2012 to 2025 |
| Size band | $591M to $2.67B assetstotal assets $1.2B[1] |
| Standard universe | insiderevenue above $1M and assets above $10M[1-2] |
| Warnings | none activenot computable: distress |
| Inputs computable | 7 of 14 |
| Graded from | filings received through Mar 3, 2026220 days before the rescan; every figure keyed to the SEC receipt date |
| Last close | $11.352026-10-08; market equity $877.7M; iex feed |
| Price used in grade | None |
| Share price, twelve months to the rescansplit-adjusted close; a lollipop at every rescan carries the letter held then; baseline ticks are SEC receipt dates of the inputs; ranges and dragging scroll the full history | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Percentile at every rescan on file, Jan 21, 2012 to Oct 9, 2026; stronger toward the top. Hover for the date. Open this report as it stood on | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Each date opens the report as it stood on that rescan. |
Business, in the company's words. Opening of Item 1 of the 10-K received Mar 3, 2026; the document on sec.gov.
Heartland Express, Inc. is a holding company incorporated in Nevada, which directly or indirectly owns all of the stock of the following legal entities: Heartland Express, Inc. of Iowa, Heartland Express Services, Inc., Heartland Express Maintenance Services, Inc. (collectively, "Heartland Express"), and Midwest Holding Group, LLC and Millis Transfer, LLC (together, "Millis Transfer"), and Smith Transport, LLC ("Smith Transport"), and certain Mexican entities. Effective December 31, 2025, we integrated and rebranded U.S. operations of Contract Freighters, Inc. ("CFI") into Heartland Express. Effective December 31, 2024, Franklin Logistics, LLC was merged into Smith Transport, LLC.
The Fourteen Inputs [top]
Lower percentile is stronger. Source numbers open the SEC filing; a range that spans filings opens the sources table.
| Input | Percentile, 0 to 100 | Value | Source | Peer median | Percentile | Peers | Period end |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Profitability, sleeve percentile 55.9 | |||||||
| Gross profitability | not computable | 27.1% | |||||
| one or more required annual facts are missing | |||||||
| Return on invested capital | (4.7%) | [3-11] | 10.0% | 89.3 | 151 | 2025-12-31 | |
| Accruals ratio | (11.2%) | [1,12-14] | (5.9%) | 22.4 | 506 | 2025-12-31 | |
| Gross margin stability, five years | not computable | 2.2 pts | |||||
| five annual gross margins are required; found 0 | |||||||
| Solvency, sleeve percentile 47.7 | |||||||
| Twelve-month failure probability | not computable | 0.04% | |||||
| four consecutive discrete net-income quarters are required; found 4 | |||||||
| Altman Z double-prime | not computable | 2.05 | |||||
| one or more required annual facts are missing | |||||||
| Net debt to EBITDA | 1.33x | [3,6,8,15] | 2.52x | 32.8 | 184 | 2025-12-31 | |
| Interest coverage | not computable | 2.18x | |||||
| one or more required annual facts are missing | |||||||
| Current ratio | 1.04x | [16-17] | 1.32x | 62.6 | 506 | 2025-12-31 | |
| Growth and financing, sleeve percentile 69.5 | |||||||
| Revenue growth, three-year compound | (5.9%) | [2,18-20] | 5.1% | 84.1 | 403 | 2025-12-31 | |
| Free cash flow growth, three-year compound | not computable | 8.7% | |||||
| current FCF must be positive and base FCF must exceed $100,000 | |||||||
| Reinvestment rate | not computable | 11.9% | |||||
| NOPAT must exceed $100,000 | |||||||
| Asset growth, three years | (10.6%) | [1,14,21-22] | 4.1% | 88.6 | 438 | 2025-12-31 | |
| Net share issuance, one year | (1.4%) | [23-24] | (0.4%) | 35.8 | 356 | 2026-02-18 | |
Gross profitability. Revenue less cost of goods sold, over total assets.
Accruals ratio. Net income less operating cash flow, over average assets; lower is stronger.
Gross margin stability, five years. Standard deviation of gross margin; lower is stronger.
Twelve-month failure probability. CHS model; lower is stronger.
Net debt to EBITDA. Lower is stronger.
Net share issuance, one year. Split-adjusted; lower is stronger.
Sleeves are equal-weighted; within a sleeve each computable input carries equal weight. Composite 0.168; sampling error 2.6 percentile points on 336 peers.
Among 336 Peers [top]
Composite score of every graded peer, smoothed. Vertical rules are the letter band edges at the 20th, 40th, 60th and 80th percentiles. Small dots are the six largest peers by market equity.
| Rank | Company | Percentile | Letter | Warnings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 248 | Groupon, Inc. (GRPN) Groupon, Inc. (GRPN) Dfourth fifth; percentile 73.7 Nasdaq · Services-Advertising Agencies market equity $777.5M; last close $19.10 No active warnings; 9 of 14 inputs | 73.7 | D | |
| 249 | Insperity, Inc. (NSP) Insperity, Inc. (NSP) Dfourth fifth; percentile 74.0 NYSE · Services-Help Supply Services market equity $1.9B; last close $49.76 No active warnings; 8 of 14 inputs | 74.0 | D | |
| 250 | Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (WH) Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (WH) Dfourth fifth; percentile 74.3 NYSE · Hotels & Motels market equity $5.4B; last close $73.36 No active warnings; 11 of 14 inputs | 74.3 | D | |
| 251 | AIR T Inc. (AIRT) AIR T Inc. (AIRT) Dfourth fifth; percentile 74.8 Nasdaq · Air Courier Services last close $30.29 No active warnings; 8 of 14 inputs | 74.8 | D | |
| 252 | AIR T Inc. (AIRTP) AIR T Inc. (AIRTP) Dfourth fifth; percentile 74.8 Nasdaq · Air Courier Services last close $18.94 No active warnings; 8 of 14 inputs | 74.8 | D | |
| 253 | Heartland Express Inc. (HTLD) Heartland Express Inc. (HTLD) Dfourth fifth; percentile 75.2 Nasdaq · Trucking (No Local) market equity $877.7M; last close $11.35 No active warnings; 7 of 14 inputs | 75.2 | D | |
| 254 | WillScot Holdings Corp. (WSC) WillScot Holdings Corp. (WSC) Dfourth fifth; percentile 75.5 Nasdaq · Services-Miscellaneous Equipment Rental & Leasing market equity $3.1B; last close $16.85 No active warnings; 10 of 14 inputs | 75.5 | D | |
| 255 | Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd/Cn (CP) Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd/Cn (CP) Dfourth fifth; percentile 75.8 NYSE · Railroads, Line-Haul Operating market equity $74.2B; last close $84.39 No active warnings; 10 of 14 inputs | 75.8 | D | |
| 256 | ADT Inc. (ADT) ADT Inc. (ADT) Dfourth fifth; percentile 76.1 NYSE · Services-Detective, Guard & Armored Car Services market equity $5.0B; last close $6.50 No active warnings; 9 of 14 inputs | 76.1 | D | |
| 257 | Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NCLH) Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NCLH) Dfourth fifth; percentile 76.4 NYSE · Water Transportation market equity $7.1B; last close $15.48 No active warnings; 11 of 14 inputs | 76.4 | D | |
| 258 | Radiant Logistics, Inc. (RLGT) Radiant Logistics, Inc. (RLGT) Dfourth fifth; percentile 76.7 NYSE · Arrangement of Transportation of Freight & Cargo market equity $442.2M; last close $9.43 No active warnings; 8 of 14 inputs | 76.7 | D |
| Peer policy | Letter | Percentile | Peers |
|---|---|---|---|
| all graded filers, equal sleeves | D | 76.7 | 2204 |
| sector peers, equal sleeves (the grade) | D | 75.2 | 336 |
| same exchange, equal sleeves | D | 76.4 | 1219 |
| sector peers, equal inputs | D/E | 80.0 | 336 |
Each letter is one fifth of the 336 graded peers, about 67 companies. A boundary letter (A/B, B/C, C/D, D/E) marks a percentile within one sampling error of a band edge.
What the Price Implies [top]
Market measures at the 2026-10-08 close. None enters the grade. Percentile among graded peers with the same measure.
| Measure | Value | Peer median | Percentile | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Twelve-month price change, skipping the latest month | 48.1% | 2.0% | 83 | hotter than 83 of 100 peers |
| Distance from 52-week high | (30.0%) | (26.8%) | 43 | closer to its high than 43 of 100 peers |
| EBIT to enterprise value | (5.9%) | 4.4% | 11 | pricier than 89 of 100 peers |
| Free cash flow yield | (7.6%) | 4.1% | 14 | pricier than 86 of 100 peers |
| Book value to price | 0.86 | 0.34 | 83 | pricier than 17 of 100 peers |
| Sales to price | 0.92 | 0.70 | 58 | pricier than 42 of 100 peers |
| Composite equity issuance, five years | (9.7%) | (8.8%) | 48 | more equity-funded than 48 of 100 peers |
| Relative strength against the sector, log excess return | 0.25 | (0.13) | 83 | ahead of 83 of 100 peers |
Inputs: market equity $877.7M; EBIT -$57.4M; free cash flow -$66.9M; book equity $756.3M; sales $805.7M; debt $154.1M; cash $62.4M[25].
Diagnostics [top]
Diagnostics do not feed the grade.
| Piotroski F-score: None of 9, period end 2025-12-31 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Return on assets above zero | (3.9%) | ✗ fail[12,14] |
| Operating cash flow above zero | $89.3M | ✓ pass[13] |
| Return on assets improved | (2.0 pts) | ✗ fail[12,14,21,26] |
| Operating cash flow exceeds net income | $141.8M | ✓ pass[12-13] |
| Long-term leverage fell | (1.3 pts) | ✓ pass[1,14,21,27-28] |
| Current ratio improved | (4.2 pts) | ✗ fail[16-17,29-30] |
| No new shares issued | (1.4%) | ✓ pass[23-24] |
| Gross margin improved | n/a | |
| Asset turnover improved | (9.0 pts) | ✗ fail[2,14,18,21] |
| Cash, filings, liquidity | |
|---|---|
| Cash and equivalents | $62.4M[31] |
| Operating cash flow, four quarters | $78.5M[13,31-35] |
| Months of runway | not finite |
| trailing operating cash flow is nonnegative, so runway is not finite | |
| Late filings, two years | 0 |
| NT 10-K or NT 10-Q | |
| Days since last periodic filing | 60 |
| 10-Q received Aug 10, 2026 | |
| Median daily dollar volume | $8.8M |
| 63 sessions | |
| Days since newest grade input | 220 |
Downloads [top]
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Sources [top]
Every citation on this page. Filing opens the SEC index page for that submission; viewer opens the SEC interactive data for the same filing; series opens the SEC XBRL API record for that tag and company.
| # | Concept | XBRL tag | Value | Period end | Received | Form | Links |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | assets | us-gaap:Assets | $1.2B | 2025-12-31 | 2026-03-03 | 10-K | filing · viewer · series |
| 2 | revenue | us-gaap:Revenues | $805.7M | 2025-12-31 | 2026-03-03 | 10-K | filing · viewer · series |
| 3 | operating income | us-gaap:OperatingIncomeLoss | -$57.4M | 2025-12-31 | 2026-03-03 | 10-K | filing · viewer · series |
| 4 | pretax income | us-gaap:IncomeLossFromContinuingOperationsBeforeIncomeTaxesExtraordinaryItemsNoncontrollingInterest | -$68.1M | 2025-12-31 | 2026-03-03 | 10-K | filing · viewer · series |
| 5 | income tax | us-gaap:IncomeTaxExpenseBenefit | -$15.7M | 2025-12-31 | 2026-03-03 | 10-K | filing · viewer · series |
| 6 | total debt | us-gaap:LongTermDebt | $154.1M | 2025-12-31 | 2026-03-03 | 10-K | filing · viewer · series |
| 7 | book equity | us-gaap:StockholdersEquity | $755.3M | 2025-12-31 | 2026-03-03 | 10-K | filing · viewer · series |
| 8 | cash | us-gaap:CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue | $18.5M | 2025-12-31 | 2026-03-03 | 10-K | filing · viewer · series |
| 9 | total debt | us-gaap:LongTermDebt | $187.9M | 2024-12-31 | 2025-02-18 | 10-K | filing · viewer · series |
| 10 | book equity | us-gaap:StockholdersEquity | $822.6M | 2024-12-31 | 2026-03-03 | 10-K | filing · viewer · series |
| 11 | cash | us-gaap:CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue | $12.8M | 2024-12-31 | 2026-03-03 | 10-K | filing · viewer · series |
| 12 | net income | us-gaap:NetIncomeLoss | -$52.5M | 2025-12-31 | 2026-03-03 | 10-K | filing · viewer · series |
| 13 | operating cash flow | us-gaap:NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities | $89.3M | 2025-12-31 | 2026-03-03 | 10-K | filing · viewer · series |
| 14 | assets | us-gaap:Assets | $1.3B | 2024-12-31 | 2026-03-03 | 10-K | filing · viewer · series |
| 15 | depreciation amortization | us-gaap:DepreciationDepletionAndAmortization | $159.2M | 2025-12-31 | 2026-03-03 | 10-K | filing · viewer · series |
| 16 | current assets | us-gaap:AssetsCurrent | $114.6M | 2025-12-31 | 2026-03-03 | 10-K | filing · viewer · series |
| 17 | current liabilities | us-gaap:LiabilitiesCurrent | $110.2M | 2025-12-31 | 2026-03-03 | 10-K | filing · viewer · series |
| 18 | revenue | us-gaap:Revenues | $1.0B | 2024-12-31 | 2026-03-03 | 10-K | filing · viewer · series |
| 19 | revenue | us-gaap:Revenues | $1.2B | 2023-12-31 | 2026-03-03 | 10-K | filing · viewer · series |
| 20 | revenue | us-gaap:Revenues | $968.0M | 2022-12-31 | 2025-02-18 | 10-K | filing · viewer · series |
| 21 | assets | us-gaap:Assets | $1.5B | 2023-12-31 | 2025-02-18 | 10-K | filing · viewer · series |
| 22 | assets | us-gaap:Assets | $1.7B | 2022-12-31 | 2024-02-28 | 10-K | filing · viewer · series |
| 23 | shares outstanding | dei:EntityCommonStockSharesOutstanding | 77,454,920 | 2026-02-18 | 2026-03-03 | 10-K | filing · viewer · series |
| 24 | shares outstanding | dei:EntityCommonStockSharesOutstanding | 78,549,761 | 2025-02-15 | 2025-02-18 | 10-K | filing · viewer · series |
| 25 | shares outstanding | dei:EntityCommonStockSharesOutstanding | 77,332,611 | 2026-08-06 | 2026-08-10 | 10-Q | filing · viewer · series |
| 26 | net income | us-gaap:NetIncomeLoss | -$29.7M | 2024-12-31 | 2026-03-03 | 10-K | filing · viewer · series |
| 27 | long term debt | us-gaap:LongTermDebtNoncurrent | $154.1M | 2025-12-31 | 2026-03-03 | 10-K | filing · viewer · series |
| 28 | long term debt | us-gaap:LongTermDebtNoncurrent | $191.7M | 2024-12-31 | 2026-03-03 | 10-K | filing · viewer · series |
| 29 | current assets | us-gaap:AssetsCurrent | $129.4M | 2024-12-31 | 2026-03-03 | 10-K | filing · viewer · series |
| 30 | current liabilities | us-gaap:LiabilitiesCurrent | $119.6M | 2024-12-31 | 2026-03-03 | 10-K | filing · viewer · series |
| 31 | cash | us-gaap:CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue | $62.4M | 2026-06-30 | 2026-08-10 | 10-Q | filing · viewer · series |
| 32 | operating cash flow | us-gaap:NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities | $36.0M | 2026-06-30 | 2026-08-10 | 10-Q | filing · viewer · series |
| 33 | operating cash flow | us-gaap:NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities | $23.2M | 2026-03-31 | 2026-05-11 | 10-Q | filing · viewer · series |
| 34 | operating cash flow | us-gaap:NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities | $74.4M | 2025-09-30 | 2025-11-10 | 10-Q | filing · viewer · series |
| 35 | operating cash flow | us-gaap:NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities | $46.8M | 2025-06-30 | 2026-08-10 | 10-Q | filing · viewer · series |
Limitations [top]
Grade boundary. Percentile 75.2 is 4.8 points from the nearest band edge; sampling error is 2.6 points.
Peer group. Sector assignment from four-digit SIC codes, hand-tuned and published. The grade under three alternative peer policies is tabled above.
Size. Within a sector the letter tracks size. Among graded filers in the smallest asset band, 72% grade E and 0% grade A; in the largest, 13% grade E and 21% grade A. Universe as of Oct 9, 2026.
Failure model. filings 2012-01-01 to 2019-12-31 fit, filings 2020-01-01 to 2025-12-31 test; status post hoc pending confirmation. pre-registered on 2026 filings once their 12-month outcome windows close; supported if the paired per-quintile gain over the pooled model has a lower bound above 0.05.
Input validity. Revenue or total assets at or below $100,000 sets the degenerate-inputs flag. An input whose denominator is at or below $100,000 is left not computable rather than ranked.
Returns. No input on this page has a post-2015 confidence interval on returns that excludes zero. The grade ranks reported financial condition and is not a return forecast.
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