Quality Investor

Acuity Inc.

Rank #107Hypergrowth

AYI · NYSE · Industrials

Acuity Inc. (AYI) — Rank #107 by gross profitability (GP/assets 0.45) · ROE 13.9% · Piotroski F-Score 6 / 9.

As-of 2026-09-15 · CIK 0001144215 · all metrics point-in-time as of the filing date.

About

Acuity Inc. provides lighting, lighting controls, building management system, and an audio, video, and control platform in the United States and internationally.

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It operates in two segments, Acuity Brands Lighting (ABL); and the Acuity Intelligent Spaces (AIS). The ABL segment provides lighting solutions and luminaires with advanced electronics under the Aculux, American Electric Lighting, Cyclone, Dark to Light, eldoLED, Eureka, Fresco, Gotham, Healthcare Lighting, Holophane, Hydrel, IOTA, Juno, Lithonia Lighting, Luminaire LED, Luminis, Mark Architectural Lighting, Nightingale, nLight, Peerless, RELOC Wiring Solutions, and SensorSwitch brand names. This segment serves electrical distributors, consumer retailers, large corporate accounts, and original equipment manufacturer customers. The AIS segment offers Distech Controls intelligent Building Management Systems (BMS), such as products for controlling heating, ventilation, air conditioning, lighting, shades, refrigeration, and building access that prioritize end-user outcomes; Q-SYS, a full-stack audio, video, and control platform, and QSC Audio, an audio technology for live entertainers and sound reinforcement professionals. This segment serves retail stores, airports, universities, enterprise campuses, sports venues, themed entertainment, and hospitality sectors through system integrators. It offers its products and solutions under the Atrius, Distech Controls, QSC, and KE2 Therm Solutions brands. Acuity Inc. was formerly known as Acuity Brands, Inc. and changed its name to Acuity Inc. in March 2025. Acuity Inc.

was incorporated in 2001 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

Industry
Electrical Equipment & Parts
Sector
Industrials
State
DE
Filer Category
Large accelerated filer
Fiscal Year End
August 31

Price History

AYI+82.4% · +12.8% CAGRSPY+80.5% · +12.5% CAGR

Company Snapshot

P/S is the primary valuation lens — earnings are reinvested, not available for P/E.

Market Cap

$8.96B

P/E (annual)

23.9

P/S (annual)

2.1

P/B

3.1

P/OCF (annual)

14.9

Shareholder Yield

20.3%

Employees

13,800

Industry

Electrical Equipment & Parts

Exchange

NYSE

Signal Flags

4 green1 yellow1 red
Revenue growth acceleratingGrowth rate increasing year over year
Operating leverage expandingOperating income growing faster than revenue
Deferred revenue growingRevenue and deferred revenue both growing — retention signal
Sequential beat (rev + EPS)Both revenue and EPS exceeded prior quarter — 3-quarter streak
Disclosure regressionA previously-disclosed line item is no longer reported — worth checking the filing for why
Balance sheet deterioratingNet cash collapsed with receivables or inventory outpacing revenue

Quality Profile

Profitability

1/1 pass
GP / assets
0.45
Return on equity
13.9%
Gross margin trend
PASS

Safety

1/1 pass
Balance-sheet safety
PASS
Debt / equity
0.63
Current ratio
2.05×
Net cash
-$385.40M

Cash Flow

3/3 pass
Positive FCF
PASS
Cash-backed earnings
PASS
Accruals healthy
PASS
SBC / revenue
1.0%

Growth

2/2 pass
Revenue growth
30.6%
Piotroski F-Score
6 / 9
Share dilution
-20.1%

Terry Smith quality gate

Passes 1/5 Terry Smith thresholds

1 of 5 threshold not computable from filed data.

What Growth Is Priced In

Implied revenue growth (10Y)

6.1%

incredible deal

The annual FCF growth rate today's price requires over a 10-year horizon (discount rate 10%, terminal growth 2.5%).

Buyback tailwind: -20.1% — per-share value needs a total required return of -14.0% once share-count change is priced in.

vs. own 6-year median revenue growth: 4.5%

within its own history

Cost-of-equity sensitivity (implied growth at different discount rates)

r = 8%

1.9%

r = 10% (base)

6.1%

r = 12%

9.8%

Net debt / market cap: 4.1%

Base FCF: $533M3Y mean FCF: $418.8M

Valuation History

Current multiple vs historical range at each filing date. Band spans 25th-75th percentile.

P / E

Price / diluted EPS

24.3xExpensive
14.0xmed 15.7x24.3x

P / S

Price / revenue per share

2.2xExpensive
1.1xmed 1.4x2.2x

P / B

Price / book value per share

3.6xExpensive
1.8xmed 3.0x3.6x

P / GP

Price / gross profit per share

5.0xExpensive
2.7xmed 3.5x5.0x

P / FCF

Price / free cash flow per share

20.4xExpensive
8.3xmed 16.5x20.4x

Revenue growth and the path to profitability (margin trend) are the primary reads at this stage.

Profitability

Gross profitability (GP / assets)

0.45

Primary signal (Novy-Marx).

90th pctl of 43 SIC 36 peers

Return on equity

13.9%

Gross margin

47.8%

62nd pctl of 43 SIC 36 peers

Revenue growth (YoY)

30.6%

Gross margin improving

Margin trend vs prior year.

PASS

Operating Leverage

2018201920202021
Revenue vs COGS
Revenue vs OpEx
Op. Income vs Revenue

Growth

Revenue CAGR (3Y)

Revenue CAGR (5Y)

Earnings CAGR (3Y)

1.1%

FCF CAGR (3Y)

Anti-fragile safety

Balance-sheet safety

Composite anti-fragile check.

PASS

Debt / equity

0.63

50th pctl of 41 SIC 36 peers (best = lowest)

Current ratio

2.05×

29th pctl of 43 SIC 36 peers

Quick ratio

1.30×

Net cash

-$385.40M

Cash & equivalents minus total debt.

Cash-flow health

Free cash flow

$533.00M

Operating cash flow minus capex.

Positive free cash flow

PASS

FCF / net income

0.34

Cash-backing of earnings.

FCF/NI divergence

Unfavorable divergence (yellow flag).

PASS

Accruals healthy

Cash-backed earnings.

PASS

SBC / revenue

1.0%

Stock-based comp intensity.

Dividend safety

Composite score

3.2 / 5

Good
Payout ratio
5.2%5/5 Strong
FCF coverage
25.87×5/5 Strong
Dividend growth streak
2 yr1/5 Weak
Balance-sheet health
D/E 0.63 · IC N/A2/5 Fair

Piotroski F-Score

F-Score

6 / 9

Fundamental-strength score (0-9).

Lifecycle Phase History

20162021
Capital Return
Value
Decline