Investors were disappointed with InMode Ltd.'s (NASDAQ:INMD) recent earnings. We think there is more to the story than simply soft profit numbers. Our analysis shows that there are some other factors of concern.

We've found 21 US stocks that are forecast to pay a dividend yield of over 6% next year. See the full list for free.

Zooming In On InMode's Earnings

Many investors haven't heard of the accrual ratio from cashflow, but it is actually a useful measure of how well a company's profit is backed up by free cash flow (FCF) during a given period. The accrual ratio subtracts the FCF from the profit for a given period, and divides the result by the average operating assets of the company over that time. You could think of the accrual ratio from cashflow as the 'non-FCF profit ratio'.

Therefore, it's actually considered a good thing when a company has a negative accrual ratio, but a bad thing if its accrual ratio is positive. While having an accrual ratio above zero is of little concern, we do think it's worth noting when a company has a relatively high accrual ratio. Notably, there is some academic evidence that suggests that a high accrual ratio is a bad sign for near-term profits, generally speaking.

Over the twelve months to March 2025, InMode recorded an accrual ratio of 0.71. Ergo, its free cash flow is significantly weaker than its profit. Statistically speaking, that's a real negative for future earnings. To wit, it produced free cash flow of US$122m during the period, falling well short of its reported profit of US$175.8m. InMode's free cash flow actually declined over the last year, but it may bounce back next year, since free cash flow is often more volatile than accounting profits. Importantly, we note an unusual tax situation, which we discuss below, has impacted the accruals ratio. This would partially explain why the accrual ratio was so poor.

That might leave you wondering what analysts are forecasting in terms of future profitability. Luckily, you can click here to see an interactive graph depicting future profitability, based on their estimates.

An Unusual Tax Situation

Moving on from the accrual ratio, we note that InMode profited from a tax benefit which contributed US$36m to profit. It's always a bit noteworthy when a company is paid by the tax man, rather than paying the tax man. Of course, prima facie it's great to receive a tax benefit. However, the devil in the detail is that these kind of benefits only impact in the year they are booked, and are often one-off in nature. In the likely event the tax benefit is not repeated, we'd expect to see its statutory profit levels drop, at least in the absence of strong growth. So while we think it's great to receive a tax benefit, it does tend to imply an increased risk that the statutory profit overstates the sustainable earnings power of the business.