Quality Investor
MarketsPortfolioEvidenceTestedCompareWatchlistAbout 

HNI Corporation

Rank #279Capital ReturnWatchlistCompare with other stocks

HNI · NYSE · Consumer Cyclical

HNI Corporation (HNI) — Rank #279 by gross profitability (GP/assets 0.24) · ROE 3.0% · Piotroski F-Score 5 / 9.

As-of 2026-10-30 · CIK 0000048287 · all metrics point-in-time as of the filing date.

About

HNI Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture, sale, and marketing of workplace furnishings and residential building products primarily in the United States and Canada.

Show more

The company operates in two segments, Workplace Furnishings and Residential Building Products. The Workplace Furnishings segment offers panel-based and freestanding furniture systems, seating, benching, tables, architectural products, storage, ancillary products, hospitality products, and social collaborative items through a system of independent dealers, company-owned dealers, and office product distributors, as well as directly to end-user customers and governments. The Residential Building Products segment provides various gas, wood, electric, and pellet-fueled fireplaces; and inserts, stoves, facings, outdoor fire pits and fire tables, and accessories through independent dealers and distributors, as well as corporation-owned installing distribution and retail outlets. It sells its products under the Allsteel, AMQ, Beyond, Coalesse, D'style, David Edward, Designtex, Gunlocke, HALCON, HBF, HBF Textiles, HON, Interwoven, Kimball, Kimball Hospitality, National, Orangebox, Smith System, Steelcase, and Viccarbe brand names.

The company was incorporated in 1944 and is headquartered in Muscatine, Iowa.

Industry
Furnishings, Fixtures & Appliances
Sector
Consumer Cyclical
State
IA
Filer Category
Large accelerated filer
Fiscal Year End
January 2

Company Snapshot

P/E and reverse DCF are the primary valuation lenses at this stage.

Market Cap

—

P/E (annual)

—

P/S (annual)

—

P/B

—

P/OCF (annual)

—

Shareholder Yield

—

Employees

18,500

Industry

Furnishings, Fixtures & Appliances

Exchange

NYSE

10/12

Flags passed

HNI fails 2 critical flags

Passes 10 of 12 quality flags

  • FAIL
    Operating margin declining

    Operating margin lower than prior year

  • FAIL
    Balance sheet deteriorating

    Net cash collapsed with receivables or inventory outpacing revenue

  • PASS
    Gross margin holding
  • PASS
    Dilution within 2%
  • PASS
    FCF not negative from investment
  • PASS
    Disclosure consistent
  • PASS
    Revenue not declining
  • PASS
    Free cash flow intact
  • PASS
    Passes safety gate
  • PASS
    No competitive retreat
  • PASS
    SBC not compressing margin
  • PASS
    No valuation convergence

Strengths Revenue growth accelerating · Deferred revenue growing · Sequential beat (rev + EPS)

A count of the 12 warning flags that could be evaluated. Unweighted: colour follows the worst flag.

Quality Profile

Profitability

1/1 pass
GP / assets
0.24
Return on equity
3.0%
Gross margin trend
PASS

Safety

1/1 pass
Balance-sheet safety
PASS
Debt / equity
1.67
Current ratio
1.36×
Net cash
-$1.26B

Cash Flow

3/3 pass
Positive FCF
PASS
Cash-backed earnings
PASS
Accruals healthy
PASS
SBC / revenue
0.9%

Growth

2/2 pass
Revenue growth
12.4%
Piotroski F-Score
5 / 9
Share dilution
0.8%

FCF yield, shareholder yield, and buyback activity are the primary reads at this stage.

Profitability

Does it make money well?

Warning: Operating margin declining · GP/assets 0.24

Gross profitability (GP / assets)

0.24

Primary signal (Novy-Marx).

6th of 6 SIC 25 peers

Return on equity

3.0%

Gross margin

41.4%

4th of 6 SIC 25 peers

Revenue growth (YoY)

12.4%

Gross margin improving

Margin trend vs prior year.

PASS

Operating Leverage

2022202320242026
Revenue vs COGS
Revenue vs OpEx
Op. Income vs Revenue

Growth

Revenue CAGR (3Y)

6.3%

Revenue CAGR (5Y)

7.7%

Earnings CAGR (3Y)

-24.1%

FCF CAGR (3Y)

153.5%

Cash Flow Health

Is the cash real?

No warning flags · FCF 285% above net income

Free cash flow

$208.50M

Operating cash flow minus capex.

Positive free cash flow

PASS

FCF vs net income

284.7%

(FCF − net income) ÷ |net income|. Positive: cash above earnings. Negative: below.

FCF not below net income

Fails when free cash flow is below net income (yellow flag).

PASS

Accruals healthy

Cash-backed earnings.

PASS

SBC / revenue

0.9%

Stock-based comp intensity.

Balance Sheet Strength

Can it survive a storm?

Warning: Balance sheet deteriorating · net debt $1.26B, F-Score 5/9

Balance-sheet safety

Composite anti-fragile check.

PASS

Debt / equity

1.67

6th of 6 SIC 25 peers (best = lowest)

Current ratio

1.36×

6th of 6 SIC 25 peers

Quick ratio

—

Net cash

-$1.26B

Cash & equivalents minus total debt.

Piotroski F-Score

5 / 9

Fundamental-strength score (0-9).

Valuation

Is the price reasonable?

No warning flags

Dividend safety

Composite score

1.5 / 5

Weak
Payout ratio
116.4%0/5 Weak
FCF coverage
3.30×5/5 Strong
Dividend growth streak
0 yr0/5 Weak
Balance-sheet health
D/E 1.67 · IC N/A1/5 Weak

Capital allocation quality

Composite score

0.7 / 5

Weak
Share count trend
0.8%2/5 Fair
Buyback timing
N/AN/A
Dividend growth consistency(non-payer or broken streak)
0 yr0/5 Weak
Net debt trajectory
-15.4%0/5 Weak

Lifecycle Phase History

20212026
Decline
Capital Return

Price History

HNI+50.7% · +8.5% CAGRSPY+82.9% · +12.8% CAGR

View full financial statements →

Source filings on SEC EDGAR: 10-K annual reports · 10-Q quarterly reports