Does UL Solutions Inc. have an economic moat?

Based on its FY2025 SEC filings, the Moat Index scores UL Solutions Inc. (ULS) 79.9 out of 100 — a Narrow moat. The four filters behind that score (each 0–100): pricing power 82, returns on capital 100, balance-sheet safety 78, capital discipline 49.

Is ULS stock trading below its intrinsic value?

Against a deliberately conservative owner-earnings model (9% discount rate, 4% assumed growth, capped at 4%), estimated intrinsic value is $27.67 per share versus a recent price of $87.76 — 217% above value. This is an educational estimate computed from primary SEC filings, not investment advice.

How has ULS's Moat Score changed over time?

The record logs 1 reading since Jul 18, 2026; the latest reads 79.9 out of 100 (narrow moat). No tier changes on record yet. The history is append-only — readings are only ever added, never rewritten.

The Moat Index

UL Solutions Inc.

ULS · Consumer Discretionary · $17.6B mkt cap · FY2025 filings · Narrow moat ·

On the watchlist

Narrow moat

The four filters

Pricing power82

Median gross margin 48.2% over 4y, very stable.

Returns on capital100

Median ROIC 27.4%, above the 9% hurdle in 100% of years.

Balance-sheet safety78

Net debt/EBITDA 0.3x, interest coverage 13x.

Capital discipline49

Owner earnings +3.5%/yr, share count flat.

Margin of safety

Above valueOn sale

217% above value

Owner earnings (normalized): $309.0M
Est. intrinsic value / share: $27.67
Recent price: $87.76
Discount to value: 217% above value

Conservative model: 9% discount rate, 4% assumed growth (capped at 4%), maintenance capex ≈ min(capex, D&A).

5 years of fundamentals

The business, in plain English

UL Solutions Inc. booked $3.1B of revenue in FY2025 in the Consumer Discretionary sector and kept 49.5% of it as gross profit — a solid-margin business by that measure. After every other cost, 10.6% of each revenue dollar reached the bottom line.

It earned 26.3% on invested capital in FY2025, with a median of 27.4% across 4 filed years. The Returns on Capital filter above scores it 100/100.

The balance sheet carried $491.0M of total debt in FY2025 against $325.0M of owner earnings — roughly 1.5 years of owner earnings to retire it all. Balance-Sheet Safety scores it 78/100.

Put together: Returns on Capital is the strongest of the four filters (100/100) and Capital Discipline the weakest (49/100), which is how ULS lands at 80/100 — a Narrow moat.

This breakdown is generated from the filed numbers and sub-scores above — no outside narrative, no estimates. Where a filing doesn’t disclose an input, the sentence that would need it is omitted instead of guessed.

RevenueSales, as filed$3.1B FY2025

Gross marginRevenue kept after cost of goods49.5% FY2025

Return on invested capitalOperating profit on the capital employed26.3% FY2025

Owner earningsCash an owner could take out$325.0M FY2025

Gaps in a line mean that item isn’t in ULS’s filings for that year — the series is never interpolated or estimated. The Table view lists every filed value, including operating and net margins, total debt, and share count.

Moat Score history

Moat Score over timeLast scored reading of each day, on the 0–100 scale79.9 / 100

Score history begins Jul 18, 2026 — the record builds from here and can’t be backfilled.

Tier changesSame-methodology crossings of the Wide / Narrow / Shallow bars

None yet — ULS has read Narrow moat for every logged capture since Jul 18, 2026.

Scores are logged append-only and never overwritten — this record can’t be backfilled, which is exactly why it’s worth keeping.

Track record

How UL Solutions Inc.’s moat rated in each of the years we can reconstruct from its filings — scored only on what was knowable at the time — and what its price and returns did afterward. The score never saw a price; the two are joined only in hindsight, for education, not as a signal.

As-of Moat Score (dot colored by tier)Indexed price (total-return (dividends reinvested))Rated Wide-moat that year

How to read this: each dot is what the engine would have scored ULS on that December 31; the line below is its total-return price path (dividends reinvested) in the years since.

Two tracks, one timeline: the score has its own 0–100 scale (top), the price its own 100-based scale (bottom) — never a shared axis. The price path is a total-return (dividends reinvested) index built from the same data the forward returns use; gaps in the score line are years with no reconstructed rating (see the table for why). The Table view carries every value.

What followed, in the years it rated Wide

In the reconstructed history shown, ULS did not rate Wide-moat in any year, so there is no wide-moat track record to report. That absence is itself the honest answer — we don’t manufacture a comparison where the rating never earned one.

Consumer Discretionary context

#34 of 359 scored Consumer Discretionary companies, ranked by Moat Score.

Nearest peers by Moat Score

#32FND Floor & Decor Holdings, Inc.80.9 out of 100, Wide moatWide moat
#33ROST Ross Stores, Inc.80.0 out of 100, Wide moatWide moat
#35GNTX GENTEX CORPORATION79.6 out of 100, Narrow moatNarrow moat
#36EAT BRINKER INTERNATIONAL, INC.79.5 out of 100, Narrow moatNarrow moat

Compare ULS with its nearest peers →All Consumer Discretionary companies on the Index →

Common questions about ULS

Does UL Solutions Inc. have an economic moat?: Based on its FY2025 SEC filings, the Moat Index scores UL Solutions Inc. (ULS) 79.9 out of 100 — a Narrow moat. The four filters behind that score (each 0–100): pricing power 82, returns on capital 100, balance-sheet safety 78, capital discipline 49.
Is ULS stock trading below its intrinsic value?: Against a deliberately conservative owner-earnings model (9% discount rate, 4% assumed growth, capped at 4%), estimated intrinsic value is $27.67 per share versus a recent price of $87.76 — 217% above value. This is an educational estimate computed from primary SEC filings, not investment advice.
How has ULS's Moat Score changed over time?: The record logs 1 reading since Jul 18, 2026; the latest reads 79.9 out of 100 (narrow moat). No tier changes on record yet. The history is append-only — readings are only ever added, never rewritten.

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Scored from primary SEC filings via the public methodology. Educational only — not a recommendation to buy or sell ULS. See the disclaimer.