Is WLFC a high-quality business?

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

What is Willis Lease Finance Corporation's AlphaQuality grade?

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

WLFC - Willis Lease Finance Corporation

Price: -- -- | CONSENSUS: Buy DETAILS

AlphaQuality

Quantitative six-pillar business-quality grade

Stable Earnings Power

AlphaQuality — archetype-weighted quantitative grade

D 38.4 / 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- 48.2

5yr Avg ROIC 3.2% 26/100
Operating Margin Trend +8.06 pp/yr 100/100

Capital Efficiency

Weight: 15%

D+ 40.1

5yr Avg ROE 7.6% 48/100
5yr Share-Count CAGR 2.6% 26/100

Growth Quality

Weight: 15%

A+ 96.0

5yr Revenue CAGR 25.3% 100/100
5yr EPS CAGR 761.0% 100/100
Revenue-Growth Years (5) 4/5 80/100

Cash Generation

Weight: 15%

F 0.0

5yr FCF Margin -41.5% 0/100
5yr FCF/NI Conversion -13.61x 0/100

Balance Sheet

Weight: 20%

F 11.1

Net Debt / EBITDA 8.18x 0/100
Interest Coverage (EBIT/Int) 1.58x 21/100
Altman Z-Score 1.16 19/100

Stability

Weight: 15%

D+ 41.1

EPS Volatility (σ/μ) 0.94 2/100
Piotroski F-Score 6 67/100
Negative-Revenue Years (5) 1/5 80/100

0 of 2 gurus held; 2 full exits.

Holders: 0 -2
Avg Δ position: —
New buys: 0
Full exits: 2

Cooperman sold -100%
Wood sold -100%

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.