Is DUK a high-quality business?

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

What is Duke Energy Corporation's AlphaQuality grade?

AlphaQuality assigns a letter grade (A through F) to DUK 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 DUK 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.

DUK - Duke Energy Corporation

Price: -- -- | CONSENSUS: Hold DETAILS | PRICE TARGET: $135.40 DETAILS

AlphaQuality

Quantitative six-pillar business-quality grade

Stable Earnings Power

AlphaQuality — archetype-weighted quantitative grade

D+ 43.1 / 100 composite

Composite Grade

Composite of six pillars weighted for stable earnings power businesses. Purely quantitative — no stock price or analyst input.

Profitability

Weight: 20%

C- 50.9

5yr Avg ROIC 4.8% 34/100
Operating Margin Trend +1.37 pp/yr 91/100

Capital Efficiency

Weight: 15%

C 52.8

5yr Avg ROE 7.8% 49/100
5yr Share-Count CAGR 0.3% 60/100

Growth Quality

Weight: 15%

B 73.0

5yr Revenue CAGR 7.0% 70/100
5yr EPS CAGR 6.3% 62/100
Revenue-Growth Years (5) 5/5 100/100

Cash Generation

Weight: 15%

F 0.0

5yr FCF Margin -7.8% 0/100
5yr FCF/NI Conversion -0.69x 0/100

Balance Sheet

Weight: 20%

F 18.2

Net Debt / EBITDA 5.78x 9/100
Interest Coverage (EBIT/Int) 2.57x 38/100
Altman Z-Score 0.74 11/100

Stability

Weight: 15%

B 69.9

EPS Volatility (σ/μ) 0.31 55/100
Piotroski F-Score 6 67/100
Negative-Revenue Years (5) 0/5 100/100

3 of 3 gurus held; 3 trimmed; 1 full exit.

Holders: 3
Avg Δ position: -33.0%
New buys: 0
Full exits: 1

Dalio sold -100%
Cooperman decreased -46%
Wood decreased -41%

How this is calculated

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

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