A.O. Smith Corporation (AOS) — RQD Stock Rating Cockpit

Per the Roarable RQD rating, AOS scores 80 out of 100 (grade B+, verdict "Roarable Buy — Very Good Cash & Smart-Money Inflow"). The five pillars are:

• Fundamental Cash Engine: 19 / 20. Per the RQD rating, this pillar reflects ROIC of 32% and an FCF yield of 5.15%. For an investor, this is the strongest component: the business converts capital into returns at a high rate and produces cash relative to its market value.
• Whale 13F Flow: 12 / 20. Per the RQD rating, this covers institutional accumulation and options positioning. The score is moderate, suggesting institutional signals are supportive but not dominant. The source data does not itemize the underlying 13F or options detail.
• Insider Conviction: 18 / 20. Per the RQD rating, this reflects an SEC Form 4 and Congressional PTR cluster-flow reading. The score is high, though the source data does not list individual transactions (see the Analyst View section).
• Macro Regime Fit: 13 / 20. Per the RQD rating, this reflects Beta of 1.11 and sector sensitivity. The score indicates moderate exposure to broad market swings; a prospective investor should expect the stock to move somewhat more than the market on average.
• Forensic Balance Sheet: 18 / 20. Per the RQD rating, this reflects Altman Z of 7.94, Piotroski F of 8/9, and Debt/Equity of 0.06. These readings point to a low-leverage balance sheet with strong financial-health indicators.

Investor implications. The high cash-engine and balance-sheet scores are the main upside drivers in the rating. The valuation tradeoff is that the stock trades at a P/E (TTM) of 15.8 and EV/EBITDA of 9.8 per the market data, which is not an extreme multiple given the reported returns, but the price already reflects a recovery toward the upper part of its 52-week range. The moderate macro-fit score (Beta 1.11) means drawdowns in a risk-off market could be larger than the stock's own fundamentals alone would suggest. The rating is a summary of the data provided and is not personalized financial advice.

A.O. Smith Corporation (AOS) is a NYSE-listed company classified in the Consumer Discretionary sector and the Consumer Electronics/Appliances industry, per the company profile. The profile describes it as a Consumer Discretionary issuer with a market capitalization of $8.6B. Per the market data, the company reports gross margin of 38.8%, operating margin of 19%, and net margin of 14.3%. Not available in source data: product line details, customer segments, and revenue mix by channel or geography.

Per the SEC financials, revenue was broadly flat across the three reported periods, while operating income and net income moved in a narrow band. Per the market data, ROIC is 32%, and per the RQD rating, the Altman Z-Score is 7.94 and the Piotroski F-Score is 8/9. Per the RQD rating, Debt/Equity is 0.06, consistent with a low-leverage posture. Reported debt declined from $1110.5M (FY 2023) to $112.7M (FY 2025) per the SEC financials. Not available in source data: EPS for any reported period in the financials section.

Per the recent news and catalysts section, the feed contains six items, all tagged to AOS and marked with a YELLOW light and "MARKET WIRE" impact label. The headlines reference:

• Restructuring of the water treatment business, framed as a question of whether it can earn better returns beyond water heaters.
• A report on the company's Q3 2026 earnings expectations.
• A reported agreement to transfer a majority stake in the China business.
• Investor-oriented coverage on retaining the stock, and general stock price and forecast pages.

Risk watch items: the China business transfer and the water treatment restructuring are both structural changes whose financial effects are not quantified in the source data. Proprietary signals: none are listed in the Butterfly Supply-Chain Graph. Not available in source data: transaction values, timing, or expected financial impact of the China transfer.

Per the Butterfly Supply-Chain Graph, the supply chain is recorded as "NONE," with no butterfly links and no proprietary signals. Accordingly, upstream and downstream dependencies, sector correlations, and second-order bottlenecks cannot be mapped from the source data. The only sector context available is the classification of Consumer Discretionary / Consumer Electronics/Appliances per the profile. Watch items an investor would need to research separately include the water treatment restructuring and the China business transfer, both of which could create ripple effects, but the source data does not quantify them.

• What is the financial scale and timing of the reported China business transfer, and how will it affect revenue and margins?
• What EPS figures apply to FY 2023–FY 2025, given that the financials section lists EPS as N/A for every period?
• Why did cash for FY 2023 and debt for FY 2023 appear as N/A and $1110.5M, respectively, and is the debt decline from FY 2023 to FY 2025 driven by repayment or reclassification?
• Which specific insider, 13F, and Congressional transactions underlie the Insider Conviction and Whale Flow pillar scores?
• How will the water treatment restructuring affect segment returns, and what is the expected impact on the Q3 2026 results referenced in the news feed?