Is BLBD a high-quality business?

AlphaMadera's AlphaQuality grade scores Blue Bird Corporation on six pillars — profitability, capital efficiency, balance-sheet strength, growth durability, cash generation, and shareholder yield. The composite letter grade reflects how BLBD compares to a Buffett-style quality bar.

What is Blue Bird Corporation's AlphaQuality grade?

AlphaQuality assigns a letter grade (A through F) to BLBD based on a six-pillar quantitative model. The live page shows the composite grade plus each pillar's individual score with the underlying metrics.

What makes BLBD a quality stock?

AlphaQuality looks at return on capital, free-cash-flow margins, debt-to-equity, revenue stability, dividend and buyback policy, and operating-margin trend. Stocks scoring well across all six pillars earn higher grades — the methodology favors compounders over cyclicals.

BLBD - Blue Bird Corporation

Price: -- -- | CONSENSUS: Buy DETAILS | PRICE TARGET: $79.00 DETAILS

AlphaQuality

Quantitative six-pillar business-quality grade

Cyclical & Capital-Intensive

AlphaQuality — archetype-weighted quantitative grade

B 72.8 / 100 composite

Composite Grade

Composite of six pillars weighted for cyclical & capital-intensive businesses. Purely quantitative — no stock price or analyst input.

Profitability

Weight: 15%

A- 83.9

5yr Avg ROIC 14.1% 77/100
Operating Margin Trend +3.61 pp/yr 100/100

Capital Efficiency

Weight: 15%

C 54.7

5yr Avg ROE 16.5% 84/100
5yr Share-Count CAGR 4.9% 1/100

Growth Quality

Weight: 10%

A+ 96.0

5yr Revenue CAGR 21.3% 100/100
5yr EPS CAGR 129.0% 100/100
Revenue-Growth Years (5) 4/5 80/100

Cash Generation

Weight: 15%

C 55.5

5yr FCF Margin 2.7% 39/100
5yr FCF/NI Conversion 2.26x 76/100

Balance Sheet

Weight: 25%

A+ 99.4

Net Debt / EBITDA -0.72x 99/100
Interest Coverage (EBIT/Int) 24.54x 100/100
Altman Z-Score 6.81 100/100

Stability

Weight: 20%

C- 46.7

EPS Volatility (σ/μ) 1.02 0/100
Piotroski F-Score 8 89/100
Negative-Revenue Years (5) 1/5 80/100

3 of 4 gurus held; 1 added; 2 trimmed; 1 full exit.

Holders: 3 -1
Avg Δ position: -17.5%
New buys: 0
Full exits: 1

Laffont sold -100%
Wood decreased -41%
Greenblatt decreased -16%

How this is calculated

AlphaQuality grades six pillars from 0-100 and weights each by archetype:

Profitability (15%) — 5yr Avg ROIC, Operating Margin Trend
Capital Efficiency (15%) — 5yr Avg ROE, 5yr Share-Count CAGR
Growth Quality (10%) — 5yr Revenue CAGR, 5yr EPS CAGR, Revenue-Growth Years (5)
Cash Generation (15%) — 5yr FCF Margin, 5yr FCF/NI Conversion
Balance Sheet (25%) — Net Debt / EBITDA, Interest Coverage (EBIT/Int), Altman Z-Score
Stability (20%) — EPS Volatility (σ/μ), Piotroski F-Score, Negative-Revenue Years (5)

We deliberately ignore stock price, analyst targets, and consensus ratings so the grade is suitable for backtesting forward returns. A minimum of 5 fiscal years of audited statements is required; distressed and highly leveraged infrastructure businesses are declared ungradable rather than forced into a numeric score.