Altman Z″
Needs current assets and current liabilities.
HINDALCO · Metals & Mining · INE038A01020
Analyst mean 2.27 · 30 analysts · 58% bullishA plain-language read of the business, how it actually earns, where the edge is, and the economics of every reported segment — taken from the annual report and investor presentation, not a one-line industry label.
Numbered markers are corporate actions and, once the filings are read, capital and governance events. Prices are split-adjusted so the series is continuous.
The three to six things that actually matter about this company, each with the exact filing and note it came from — never a fact without the context that makes it meaningful.
What the numbers mean when read together — computed from the filings, not a score.
Over the last year profit declined 3.1% even as revenue grew 20.3% — margins are compressing, and any premium being paid rests on a year that moved backwards on the bottom line.
Why this reading: Flagged because the pattern is clear, material, and not explained by the visible numbers — the kind of thing worth understanding before anything else.
Trailing revenue ₹295,537 cr (up 20.3%) but trailing profit ₹16,400 cr (down 3.1%). Rising sales with falling profit points to cost inflation not passed through, mix shift to lower-margin lines, or one-off gains in the base year.
Operating cash is 77% of trailing profit — a modest gap worth keeping an eye on.
Why this reading: Noted with caution: a mild gap that is commonly benign (working-capital timing) but worth tracking across years.
Operating cash ₹10,250 cr vs trailing profit ₹13,391 cr. Gaps in the 0.5–0.9 range are usually timing, occasionally a early tell.
Free cash flow is negative — the business consumes more than it generates once capex is paid. Fine if it is deliberate growth investment; a problem if it is structural.
Why this reading: Noted with caution — worth watching, but not yet conclusive on its own. Business has ups and downs; one soft reading is not a verdict.
Latest free cash flow ₹-19,508 cr, negative in 1 of 12 years. Check whether the burn funds expansion (dark stores, plants, ports) or merely sustains operations.
Borrowings rose 76% over two years while the company also carries ₹24,958 cr in investments. Why borrow at interest while parking money elsewhere is a fair question.
Why this reading: Noted with caution — worth watching, but not yet conclusive on its own. Business has ups and downs; one soft reading is not a verdict.
Borrowings moved to ₹99,165 cr from ₹56,356 cr. Simultaneous large investments can be legitimate treasury management, or a sign that reported cash is not freely available.
Capital work-in-progress has stayed high (38% of fixed assets) without converting to productive assets — worth checking whether projects are genuinely progressing.
Why this reading: Noted with caution — worth watching, but not yet conclusive on its own. Business has ups and downs; one soft reading is not a verdict.
CWIP ₹49,526 cr vs ₹14,867 cr two years earlier, against fixed assets ₹130,251 cr. Perennial CWIP that never becomes a fixed asset can hide stalled projects or capitalised costs that should have been expensed.
Debt rose over 3 years, and most of it (158%) has turned into fixed assets and projects under construction — the borrowing is building the business.
Why this reading: A positive signal: leverage taken on is visibly becoming productive capacity, not disappearing.
New borrowing ₹38,874 cr largely matched by an asset build of ₹61,451 cr. Debt that funds capacity is a different thing from debt that funds nothing.
Net margin improved from 3.1% to 5.5% year-on-year — the business is keeping more of each rupee.
Why this reading: A positive signal in the numbers, shown for balance alongside the concerns.
Quarter net margin 5.5% vs 3.1% four quarters earlier. Expansion from operating leverage is healthy; verify it is not a one-off gain.
Every score below is calculated here from the reported numbers — none of it is asserted. Open the notebook at the foot of the section to see each formula with this company's figures in it.
Needs current assets and current liabilities.
Piotroski F-Score — fundamental momentum — Joseph Piotroski, University of Chicago, 2000, in a study of whether accounting signals could improve returns among cheap stocks.
Nine yes-or-no tests across profitability, leverage and operating efficiency. Each pass scores one. It asks a narrow question: is this business getting better or worse on its own terms, year over year?
How to read it7 or more suggests improving fundamentals; 3 or fewer suggests deterioration. It measures direction, not quality — a weak company improving can score higher than a strong one holding steady.
Where it failsA single year of comparison, so one unusual year distorts it. Says nothing about valuation, competitive position or management. Piotroski designed it to rank already-cheap stocks, not to judge a company in isolation.
Needs trade receivables, current assets, other expenses.
Accruals are 1.0% of assets. Free cash flow negative in 1 of 12 years.
DuPont decomposition — Devised inside the DuPont Corporation in the 1920s and still the standard way to read a return on equity.
Splits return on equity into its three sources, so the same headline number can be traced to very different businesses.
How to read itA 20% ROE built on margin and turnover is a different proposition from a 20% ROE built on 3× leverage. The first survives a downturn; the second amplifies it.
Where it failsA single year. Negative equity makes it meaningless. Leverage is structural for lenders, so the third term carries no signal there.
Capital and revenue are growing at broadly similar rates — the asset base is being used, not just added to.
cumulative operating cash flow ÷ cumulative net profit
₹179,052 cr ÷ ₹83,642 cr, over 12 years
2.14×
Above 1.0 means cash exceeds reported profit — the healthier reading.(net profit − operating cash flow) ÷ average total assets
(₹13,391 − ₹10,250) cr ÷ average assets
1.0%
The share of profit that is accounting entries rather than cash. Above ~10% is where accruals start to dominate.net margin × asset turnover × leverage
4.9% × 0.80 × 2.52
9.8%
Splits ROE into whether returns come from operations or from borrowing.EBIT ÷ finance cost
₹21,976 cr ÷ ₹3,480 cr
6.31×
How many times operating profit covers the interest bill.borrowings ÷ net worth
₹99,165 cr ÷ ₹136,583 cr
0.73×
Read against the sector — infrastructure carries more than software.growth in fixed assets + CWIP, against growth in revenue
capital +52% vs revenue +23%, FY2023 to FY2026
29pp gap
Money going in far faster than revenue coming out. For an incubator this is expected — the test is whether it eventually converts.Needs more balance-sheet detail (only 3 of 6 flags testable).
NOPAT over equity plus debt less cash, at a notional 25% tax. Incremental ROIC is the return on money put in since then — the number that decides whether growth creates value or consumes it.
Return on invested capital, and incremental ROIC — Standard in corporate finance; the incremental form was popularised by Michael Mauboussin as the test of whether growth creates value.
ROIC measures what the business earns on all the capital it employs — equity plus debt, less cash. Incremental ROIC asks a sharper question: what has it earned on the money put in since a chosen year?
How to read itROIC comfortably above the cost of capital — call it 11–13% in India — means growth compounds. Below it, growth consumes. Incremental below headline means recent investment is earning less than the legacy business.
Where it failsDistorted in the year of a large acquisition. Understated for companies mid-build, where capital is deployed but capacity has not yet been commissioned — an incubator will look poor until it does not.
Read downward. Cash can cover EBITDA and still not survive capex — the third rung is where a capital-hungry business shows itself.
The earnings quality ladder — Not a named model — the standard sequence an analyst walks when testing whether reported profit is real.
Three ratios read in order, each stricter than the last.
How to read itRead downward. Each rung failing where the one above passed tells you exactly where the cash is going.
Where it failsA single year of heavy capex depresses the third rung legitimately. Judge it across a cycle.
Against a policy rate near 6%, most sound Indian corporates borrow between 7% and 10%.
Cost of debt — Interest expense over average borrowings — the effective rate the company actually pays.
What the lenders charge, which is a market verdict on credit quality that no rating agency delay affects.
How to read itAgainst a policy rate near 6%, most sound Indian corporates borrow between 7% and 10%. Read the direction over years as much as the level.
Where it failsUnderstated where a large share of interest is capitalised into projects under construction. Not meaningful for lenders, where interest is cost of goods.
Some figures appear twice on this page with different values. That is not an error — they sit on different bases. The live feed reports a rolling twelve months; everything computed here comes from the last audited statements. Both are shown so you can see which is which.
Where the two disagree, every model, screen and ratio computed on this page uses the filed figure, because the rest of the page is on that basis.
Models that need these lines are withheld rather than estimated: net worth, current assets, current liabilities, trade receivables, inventory, net block. Nothing on this page is back-solved from a figure the company did not publish.
Each framework below is a set of stated, mechanical criteria from published work, run against this company's own filed numbers. Passing or failing a screen is not a verdict — different frameworks disagree by design, and that disagreement is itself informative.
Benjamin Graham's stated criteria for a defensive stock, applied to the filed numbers. A company failing several is not disqualified — Graham designed these to be deliberately strict.
Two ratios only: what the business earns on its capital, and what you pay for those earnings. Designed to be ranked across a universe rather than read in isolation.
The fundamental half of William O'Neil's framework. The market and leadership components are judgement calls and are not scored here.
The characteristics long-term holders commonly look for: cash-backed earnings, high returns on capital, and debt that never forces a decision.
Median of the companies we hold in the same sector (Metals & Mining). Every figure on both sides is the live feed's trailing twelve months, so the two are measured the same way whatever depth of extraction this company has had. A number only means something next to something else — expensive against the market and cheap against peers are different facts.
Bars are revenue; the line is net margin. Revenue rising while the line falls is the shape worth noticing.
Operating cash first, then what the business spent and raised.
One year is a snapshot. These are the two lines that matter across a cycle.
Rising debtor or inventory days against flat sales is the earliest visible sign of stress.
Set your own assumptions and watch the numbers move. A scenario calculator — the outputs are the arithmetic of your inputs.
One canonical set of figures — the same numbers used everywhere else on this page and on the screener.
How the register has moved over recent quarters — the direction matters more than the level.
Promoter held steady from 34.64% to 34.66% across these quarters.
FII rose from 28.13% to 31.41% across these quarters.
MF trimmed from 12.90% to 10.05% across these quarters.
Other trimmed from 24.33% to 23.88% across these quarters.
Where cash gets stuck. A rising inventory or debtor line against flat sales is the earliest sign of trouble in the numbers.
| Measure | FY2019 | FY2020 | FY2021 | FY2022 | FY2023 | FY2024 | FY2025 | FY2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Debtor days
How long customers take to pay | 32 | 29 | 36 | 39 | 27 | 28 | 30 | 36 |
| Inventory days
How long stock sits before it sells | 103 | 120 | 146 | 138 | 111 | 111 | 121 | 156 |
| Payable days
How long the company takes to pay suppliers | 96 | 98 | 135 | 128 | 93 | 94 | 100 | 127 |
| Cash conversion cycle
Debtor + inventory − payable days | 39 | 51 | 47 | 49 | 45 | 45 | 51 | 65 |
| Working capital days | 18 | 3 | 3 | -3 | 13 | 9 | 23 | 2 |
| ROCE %
Return on capital employed | 11.0% | 9.0% | 9.0% | 17.0% | 11.0% | 11.0% | 15.0% | 13.0% |
| Metric | Q2 FY27 | Q2 FY26 |
|---|---|---|
| Production (mt) | 337 | 332 |
| Sales volume (mt) | 945 | 945 |
| EBITDA per tonne (₹) | 510 | 510 |
| Net debt (₹ cr) | 95,929 | — |
From the quarterly results and the earnings call, read by FinMinutes. Latest quarter, read in full.
Read using the Metals and mining framework (named in the filing read). Primary valuation lens: EV/EBITDA on mid-cycle earnings.
Read more closely in this sector: Capacity announced against commissioned · Inventory gains in margin.
The shape of the business over time (annual) — read the direction, not the single print.
| Line | FY2021 | FY2022 | FY2023 | FY2024 | FY2025 | FY2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue from operations | 132,008 | 195,059 | 223,202 | 215,962 | 238,496 | 274,944 |
| Other income | -987 | 1,253 | 1,307 | 1,519 | 1,832 | -4,074 |
| Depreciation | 6,628 | 6,729 | 7,086 | 7,521 | 7,881 | 8,830 |
| Finance cost | 3,738 | 3,768 | 3,646 | 3,858 | 3,419 | 3,480 |
| Profit before tax | 6,206 | 19,103 | 13,241 | 14,012 | 22,337 | 18,496 |
| Net profit (owners) | 3,483 | 13,730 | 10,097 | 10,155 | 16,002 | 13,391 |
| EPS (₹) | 15.50 | 61.10 | 44.93 | 45.19 | 71.20 | 59.59 |
Exceptional items, total income and EBITDA are read from the filed statements.
| Metric | Sep 2023 | Dec 2023 | Mar 2024 | Jun 2024 | Sep 2024 | Dec 2024 | Mar 2025 | Jun 2025 | Sep 2025 | Dec 2025 | Mar 2026 | Jun 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 54,169 | 52,808 | 55,994 | 57,013 | 58,203 | 58,390 | 64,890 | 64,232 | 66,058 | 66,521 | 78,133 | 84,825 |
| Other Income | 496 | 281 | 362 | 96 | 561 | 469 | 706 | 604 | 532 | -2,061 | -3,146 | -1,236 |
| Expenses | 48,557 | 46,943 | 49,314 | 49,510 | 50,320 | 50,807 | 56,054 | 56,326 | 57,092 | 58,530 | 68,119 | 70,893 |
| Depreciation | 1,843 | 1,874 | 2,018 | 1,892 | 1,932 | 1,939 | 2,118 | 2,080 | 2,155 | 2,220 | 2,375 | 2,337 |
| Finance cost | 1,034 | 944 | 888 | 859 | 869 | 817 | 874 | 754 | 803 | 881 | 1,042 | 966 |
| Profit before tax | 3,231 | 3,328 | 4,136 | 4,848 | 5,643 | 5,296 | 6,550 | 5,676 | 6,540 | 2,829 | 3,451 | 9,393 |
| Net Profit | 2,196 | 2,331 | 3,174 | 3,074 | 3,909 | 3,735 | 5,284 | 4,004 | 4,741 | 2,049 | 2,597 | 7,013 |
| EPS | 9.77 | 10.37 | 14.12 | 13.68 | 17.39 | 16.62 | 23.51 | 17.82 | 21.10 | 9.12 | 11.56 | 31.21 |
| Item | FY2021 | FY2022 | FY2023 | FY2024 | FY2025 | FY2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Equity Capital | 222 | 222 | 222 | 222 | 222 | 222 |
| Reserves | 66,311 | 77,969 | 94,584 | 105,924 | 123,487 | 136,361 |
| Borrowings | 67,206 | 64,486 | 60,291 | 56,356 | 65,642 | 99,165 |
| Net block | 100,269 | 106,874 | 110,626 | 111,810 | 116,556 | 130,251 |
| CWIP | 10,202 | 4,945 | 7,700 | 14,867 | 27,397 | 49,526 |
| Investments | 17,133 | 14,119 | 14,116 | 15,444 | 24,158 | 24,958 |
| Total Assets | 188,822 | 221,855 | 223,489 | 230,723 | 264,300 | 344,681 |
| Line | FY2021 | FY2022 | FY2023 | FY2024 | FY2025 | FY2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash from operations | 17,232 | 16,838 | 19,208 | 24,056 | 24,410 | 10,250 |
| Cash from investing | -25,280 | -6,773 | -7,559 | -14,267 | -24,609 | -25,783 |
| Cash from financing | -4,882 | -6,765 | -10,450 | -10,817 | -1,816 | 20,087 |
| Free cash flow | 11,715 | 11,483 | 9,571 | 8,378 | 4,006 | -19,508 |
| Net change in cash | -12,930 | 3,300 | 1,199 | -1,028 | -2,015 | 4,554 |
Cash from operations is the number profit has to answer to. Free cash flow is what remains after the business pays for its own growth.
The part no one reads: the auditor's opinion, the contingent liabilities buried in the notes, the covenants, and the claims in the deck placed beside the figures that test them.
Where analysts pressed management on the earnings call, and exactly how management answered — the questions that were hardest to answer are usually the ones that matter.
These are coverage counts, not ratings. Each one asks a fixed set of questions of the filings and reports how many the company answered. A company that discloses nothing counts nothing here — that is a statement about the disclosure, not about the business.
The same read, applied to the companies this one competes with.
Hindalco Industries Ltd. reported revenue of ₹91,708 cr for July to September 2026, +38.8% on the year and +8.1% on the quarter. That is faster than this quarter has grown in recent years (+10.5% on average), so the year-on-year number is not just the season. It is the highest quarterly revenue in the last 12 quarters on record. Over the last four quarters revenue comes to ₹3.21 lakh cr, +26.7% on the four before.
Operating profit (EBITDA) was ₹12,814 cr, a margin of 14.0%, +40 bps on the year and −245 bps on the quarter. Over the last 8 quarters the margin has ranged from 12.0% to 16.4%, averaging 13.5%. Operating costs grew +38.2% against revenue growth of +38.8%, so more of each rupee of sales reached operating profit.
Net profit was ₹7,533 cr, +58.9% on the year and +7.4% on the quarter, with earnings per share of ₹33.93. Profit before other income, one-offs and tax grew 55.9%, so 3 points of the headline growth came from outside the core business. The tax rate of 29% is in line with its recent average. Profit over the last four quarters totals ₹19,192 cr, +8.0% on the four before.
Of the 6 companies in Metals and mining that have reported Q2 FY27 so far, Hindalco Industries Ltd. ranks 4th on revenue growth; the sector median is +55.3%. Its margin moved +40 bps on the year against a sector median of +180 bps.
Hindalco Industries Ltd. is a Nifty 50 company. Of the 30 Nifty 50 companies reported so far, the median profit growth is +21.2%; Hindalco Industries Ltd.'s +58.9% puts it above that.
Metal margins move with the spread between product prices and coal and ore costs, so large quarterly swings are normal here and say more about prices than about the business.
On earnings per share of ₹86.19 over the last four quarters, the stock at ₹902.70 trades at 10.5 times trailing earnings.
Less than half the profit turned into operating cash. Working capital, or something else?
Operating cash flow for the first half ₹2,825 cr against profit of ₹14,546 cr.
Source: Cash flow statement
Could not run on this quarter: IPO money used as stated, Related-party transactions, Promoter pledges and allotments, Earlier promises against delivery. The filing did not carry these lines.
Net profit a year ago, each driver's change, and net profit now. Blue added profit, red took it away.
| Balance sheet | Sep '26 | Last year end | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trade receivables | ₹28,110 cr | ₹27,222 cr | ▲ 3.3% |
| Inventory | ₹86,413 cr | ₹75,517 cr | ▲ 14.4% |
| Cash | ₹13,028 cr | ₹14,350 cr | ▼ 9.2% |
| Bank balances | ₹1,571 cr | ₹458 cr | ▲ 243.0% |
| Long-term borrowings | ₹81,014 cr | ₹75,595 cr | ▲ 7.2% |
| Short-term borrowings | ₹29,514 cr | ₹21,064 cr | ▲ 40.1% |
| Trade payables | ₹58,431 cr | ₹61,624 cr | ▼ 5.2% |
| Net block | ₹95,743 cr | ₹94,278 cr | ▲ 1.6% |
| Capital work in progress | ₹62,917 cr | ₹47,569 cr | ▲ 32.3% |
| Equity | ₹1.60 lakh cr | ₹1.37 lakh cr | ▲ 16.9% |
| Total assets | ₹3.79 lakh cr | ₹3.48 lakh cr | ▲ 8.9% |
| Cash flow, year to date | This year | Last year |
|---|---|---|
| Operating cash flow | ₹2,825 cr | ₹8,016 cr |
| Capital expenditure | −₹19,344 cr | −₹10,685 cr |
| Investing cash flow | −₹17,362 cr | −₹12,663 cr |
| Financing cash flow | ₹12,882 cr | ₹5,285 cr |
| Dividends paid | −₹1,110 cr | −₹1,110 cr |
Operating cash flow was 0.19× profit. Receivables at 29 days of sales (−7 days against the last year end). Inventory at 89 days of sales (−11 days).
No emphasis of matter.
Mutual agreement with AluChem Companies, Inc. to terminate the acquisition agreement entered into by Hindalco Specialty Alumina LLC on September 29, 2025, due to…
Tax: Consolidated tax expense of ₹3,061.00 crore (current tax ₹2,679.00 crore, deferred tax ₹382.00 crore) on Profit before tax of ₹10,594.00 crore for Q2 FY27
| Metric | Q2 FY27 | Q2 FY26 |
|---|---|---|
| Production (mt) | 337 | 332 |
| Sales volume (mt) | 945 | 945 |
| EBITDA per tonne (₹) | 510 | 510 |
| Net debt (₹ cr) | 95,929 | — |
Worked out from filed numbers. Consolidated Net Debt: Gross debt (₹110,528.00 crore) - Cash & Bank balances (₹14,599.00 crore) = ₹95,929.00 crore as of Sept 30, 2026
Execution on track for ongoing growth capex including Novelis Bay Minette greenfield project (2,000 ktpa capacity under construction) and Hindalco's Silvassa and Sambalpur expansion projects.
Major strategic capital expenditure projects progressing as planned to expand long-term aluminium recycling and rolling capacity.
Novelis and Hindalco domestic business reported strong operational EBITDA performance supported by favorable metal price realizations (LME) and operational efficiencies, with stable inventory holding levels.
EBITDA expansion was primarily driven by higher realized LME prices and strong operational throughput across aluminium and copper businesses.
Read using the Metals and mining framework (named in the filing read). Primary valuation lens: EV/EBITDA on mid-cycle earnings.
Read more closely in this sector: Capacity announced against commissioned · Inventory gains in margin.
| Metric | Guidance | For | Against earlier guidance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Novelis Bay Minette Greenfield Project Capex Target | 4.10 | FY2026-28 | unchanged or first given |
| Medium-term Renewable Energy Integration Capacity Target | 300.00 | Medium term | unchanged or first given |
Held for next quarter's said-then-did check.
| Segment | Revenue | YoY | Result | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Novelis | ₹56,798 cr | ▲ 37.1% | ₹4,858 cr | ▲ 31.8% |
| Aluminium upstream | ₹13,364 cr | ▲ 32.6% | ₹7,009 cr | ▲ 54.9% |
| Aluminium downstream | ₹5,511 cr | ▲ 44.7% | ₹329 cr | ▲ 26.1% |
| Copper | ₹21,374 cr | ▲ 46.8% | ₹1,673 cr | ▲ 163.9% |
| Q3 FY24 | Q4 FY24 | Q1 FY25 | Q2 FY25 | Q3 FY25 | Q4 FY25 | Q1 FY26 | Q2 FY26 | Q3 FY26 | Q4 FY26 | Q1 FY27 | Q2 FY27 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | ₹52,808 cr | ₹55,994 cr | ₹57,013 cr | ₹58,203 cr | ₹58,390 cr | ₹64,890 cr | ₹64,232 cr | ₹66,058 cr | ₹66,521 cr | ₹78,133 cr | ₹84,825 cr | ₹91,708 cr |
| YoY | — | — | +8% | +7% | +11% | +16% | +13% | +13% | +14% | +20% | +32% | +39% |
| EBITDA margin | 11.1% | 11.9% | 13.2% | 13.5% | 13.0% | 13.6% | 12.3% | 13.6% | 12.0% | 12.8% | 16.4% | 14.0% |
| Other income, % of PBT | 8% | 9% | 2% | 10% | 9% | 11% | 11% | 11% | −73% | −91% | 11% | 9% |
| Exceptional items | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | −₹182 cr | — | — | −₹2,299 cr | ₹284 cr |
| Tax rate | 30% | 23% | 37% | 31% | 29% | 19% | 29% | 28% | 28% | 25% | 25% | 29% |
| Net profit | ₹2,331 cr | ₹3,174 cr | ₹3,074 cr | ₹3,909 cr | ₹3,735 cr | ₹5,284 cr | ₹4,004 cr | ₹4,741 cr | ₹2,049 cr | ₹2,597 cr | ₹7,013 cr | ₹7,533 cr |
| YoY | — | — | +25% | +78% | +60% | +66% | +30% | +21% | −45% | −51% | +75% | +59% |
| Core profit YoY | — | — | +62% | +86% | +58% | +55% | +7% | +18% | +1% | +13% | +110% | +56% |
| EPS | ₹10.37 | ₹14.12 | ₹13.68 | ₹17.39 | ₹16.62 | ₹23.51 | ₹17.82 | ₹21.35 | ₹9.12 | ₹11.56 | ₹31.58 | ₹33.93 |
| Flags | · | · | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | 1 | 1 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | 1 | 1 |
Each quarter is read with the same rules. Balance-sheet and cash checks run on half-year and annual quarters; filing-read checks run where a read exists.