Chemed

None of the warning signs we check for were found.

We look for five warning signs: doubt it can keep going, weak checks on its own accounts, a notice that its past accounts can't be relied on, a change of auditor, and one customer bringing in a big share of sales. We don't check lawsuits, investigations or debt yet.

We checked the auditor's report, internal controls, restatement notices, auditor changes and big customers in the 10-K filed 27 Feb 2026, plus the 10-Q filed 31 Jul 2026 and 4 later 8-Ks.

Cheap for a reason is the question the numbers cannot answer.

Whether the price already reflects the risks is what the deep dive is for.

• Significant Tariffs Could Increase Costs, Decrease Margin, and Materially Adversely Affect the Business.

  Could happen

  Both Roto-Rooter’s and VITAS’s primary businesses are the provision of services within the United States. Accordingly, they are likely to be less affected by the impact of specific or wide-ranging tariffs than many other entities in the United States and Global economies. However, significant tariffs on certain products, such as steel for Roto-Rooter’s cabling machines and pharmaceuticals utilized by VITAS, could materially increase the costs of Roto-Rooter and VITAS. Additionally, because our service businesses heavily rely on delivering service to customers or patients in their residences, increases in the costs of vehicle acquisition, maintenance, repair, and reimbursement for employees’ use of personal vehicles, could have a significant increase on our expenses.

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• Significant Tariffs Could Increase Costs, Decrease Margin, and Materially Adversely Affect the Business.

  Could happen

  If, as a result of tariffs, the United States’ economy experiences a recession or other economic slowdown, the demand for Roto-Rooter’s non-emergency services may decline materially.

• Liability claims may have an adverse effect on VITAS, and its insurance coverage may be inadequate.

  Already happened

  Despite significant safeguards, including active intrusion protection, firewalls and virus detection software, as discussed in greater detail on Item 1C below, in October of 2025, access to our systems was gained by a threat actor in a cybersecurity attack. The threat actor was able to access a significant amount of Protected Health Information (“PHI”); however, despite repeated attempts, was not able to insert a tool often used by threat actors into our system. Our response plan was effective in identifying, quarantining, and eliminating the third-party intrusion, but not before access to PHI was gained.

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• Significant Tariffs Could Increase Costs, Decrease Margin, and Materially Adversely Affect the Business.

  Could happen

  To the extent that tariffs cause any adverse impacts on global supply chains, it could further materially affect the ability of both businesses to timely source critical supplies, which may affect our delivery of services.

• Significant Tariffs Could Increase Costs, Decrease Margin, and Materially Adversely Affect the Business.

  Could happen

  These additional costs, in the case of VITAS, cannot be passed along to our patients because of the structure of hospice reimbursement, and in the case of Roto-Rooter, may not be able to be fully passed along to our customers. These additional costs could materially adversely affect our margins.

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