PBT Holdings (JSE:PBT) Beneish M-Score: -3.00 (As of Jun. 27, 2026)


JSE:PBT PBT Holdings Ltd JSE:PBT
74 GF Score
Price R6.71
GF Value R6.96
Valuation Fairly Valued
! 2 Warning Signs
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What is PBT Holdings Beneish M-Score?

PBT Holdings JSE:PBT 74 Beneish M-Score is -3.00 as of Jun. 27, 2026. GuruFocus rates JSE:PBT with a GF Score™ of 74/100 and a GF Value™ of R6.96 (Fairly Valued). The stock has 2 warning signs investors should review. Among 2,634 Software companies, PBT Holdings ranks better than 76.58% on this metric.

The zones of discrimination for M-Score is as such:

An M-Score of equal or less than -1.78 suggests that the company is unlikely to be a manipulator.
An M-Score of greater than -1.78 signals that the company is likely to be a manipulator.

Good Sign:

Beneish M-Score -3 no higher than -1.78, which implies that the company is unlikely to be a manipulator.

The historical rank and industry rank for PBT Holdings's Beneish M-Score or its related term are showing as below:

JSE:PBT' s Beneish M-Score Range Over the Past 10 Years
Min: -6.11   Med: -2.72   Max: 3.81
Current: -3

During the past 13 years, the highest Beneish M-Score of PBT Holdings was 3.81. The lowest was -6.11. And the median was -2.72.


PBT Holdings Beneish M-Score Historical Data

* Premium members only.

The historical data trend for PBT Holdings's Beneish M-Score can be seen below:

* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD.
* For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.

PBT Holdings Beneish M-Score Chart

PBT Holdings Annual Data
Trend Mar16 Mar17 Mar18 Mar19 Mar20 Mar21 Mar22 Mar23 Mar24 Mar25
Beneish M-Score
Get a 7-Day Free Trial Premium Member Only Premium Member Only -2.57 -2.61 -2.83 -2.86 -3.00

PBT Holdings Semi-Annual Data
Mar16 Sep16 Mar17 Sep17 Mar18 Sep18 Mar19 Sep19 Mar20 Sep20 Mar21 Sep21 Mar22 Sep22 Mar23 Sep23 Mar24 Sep24 Mar25 Sep25
Beneish M-Score Get a 7-Day Free Trial Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only 0.00 -2.86 0.00 -3.00 0.00

JSE:PBT vs IBM, ACN, FISV: Beneish M-Score Comparison

For the Information Technology Services subindustry, PBT Holdings's Beneish M-Score, along with its competitors' market caps and Beneish M-Score data, can be viewed below:

* Competitive companies are chosen from companies within the same industry, with headquarter located in same country, with closest market capitalization; x-axis shows the market cap, and y-axis shows the term value; the bigger the dot, the larger the market cap. Note that "N/A" values will not show up in the chart.


PBT Holdings Beneish M-Score vs Software Industry

For the Software industry and Technology sector, PBT Holdings's Beneish M-Score distribution charts can be found below:

* The bar in red indicates where PBT Holdings's Beneish M-Score falls into.


JSE:PBT
74GF Score
PBT Holdings Ltd JSE:PBT
Beneish M-Score is just one metric. See GF Score™, valuation, warning signs, and more.
View Full Analysis

PBT Holdings Beneish M-Score Calculation

The M-score was created by Professor Messod Beneish. Instead of measuring the bankruptcy risk (Altman Z-Score) or business trend (Piotroski F-Score), M-score can be used to detect the risk of earnings manipulation. This is the original research paper on M-score.

The M-Score Variables:

The M-score of PBT Holdings for today is based on a combination of the following eight different indices:

M=-4.84+0.92 * DSRI+0.528 * GMI+0.404 * AQI+0.892 * SGI+0.115 * DEPI
=-4.84+0.92 * 0.9806+0.528 * 1.0351+0.404 * 0.945+0.892 * 1.0142+0.115 * 0.7788
-0.172 * SGAI+4.679 * TATA-0.327 * LVGI
-0.172 * 1+4.679 * -0.100453-0.327 * 1.0371
=-3.00

* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD.
* For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.

This Year (Mar25) TTM:Last Year (Mar24) TTM:
Total Receivables was R151 Mil.
Revenue was R1,087 Mil.
Gross Profit was R254 Mil.
Total Current Assets was R221 Mil.
Total Assets was R381 Mil.
Property, Plant and Equipment(Net PPE) was R10 Mil.
Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization(DDA) was R6 Mil.
Selling, General, & Admin. Expense(SGA) was R0 Mil.
Total Current Liabilities was R94 Mil.
Long-Term Debt & Capital Lease Obligation was R6 Mil.
Net Income was R65 Mil.
Gross Profit was R0 Mil.
Cash Flow from Operations was R103 Mil.
Total Receivables was R152 Mil.
Revenue was R1,072 Mil.
Gross Profit was R259 Mil.
Total Current Assets was R202 Mil.
Total Assets was R372 Mil.
Property, Plant and Equipment(Net PPE) was R15 Mil.
Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization(DDA) was R6 Mil.
Selling, General, & Admin. Expense(SGA) was R0 Mil.
Total Current Liabilities was R84 Mil.
Long-Term Debt & Capital Lease Obligation was R10 Mil.




1. DSRI = Days Sales in Receivables Index

Measured as the ratio of Revenue in Total Receivables in year t to year t-1.

A large increase in DSR could be indicative of revenue inflation.

DSRI=(Receivables_t / Revenue_t) / (Receivables_t-1 / Revenue_t-1)
=(151.178 / 1087.321) / (152.008 / 1072.092)
=0.139037 / 0.141786
=0.9806

2. GMI = Gross Margin Index

Measured as the ratio of gross margin in year t-1 to gross margin in year t.

Gross margin has deteriorated when this index is above 1. A firm with poorer prospects is more likely to manipulate earnings.

GMI=GrossMargin_t-1 / GrossMargin_t
=(GrossProfit_t-1 / Revenue_t-1) / (GrossProfit_t / Revenue_t)
=(259.339 / 1072.092) / (254.097 / 1087.321)
=0.2419 / 0.233691
=1.0351

3. AQI = Asset Quality Index

AQI is the ratio of asset quality in year t to year t-1.

Asset quality is measured as the ratio of non-current assets other than Property, Plant and Equipment to Total Assets.

AQI=(1 - (CurrentAssets_t + PPE_t) / TotalAssets_t) / (1 - (CurrentAssets_t-1 + PPE_t-1) / TotalAssets_t-1)
=(1 - (221.076 + 10.128) / 381.014) / (1 - (201.896 + 15.323) / 371.991)
=0.393188 / 0.416064
=0.945

4. SGI = Sales Growth Index

Ratio of Revenue in year t to sales in year t-1.

Sales growth is not itself a measure of manipulation. However, growth companies are likely to find themselves under pressure to manipulate in order to keep up appearances.

SGI=Sales_t / Sales_t-1
=Revenue_t / Revenue_t-1
=1087.321 / 1072.092
=1.0142

5. DEPI = Depreciation Index

Measured as the ratio of the rate of Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization in year t-1 to the corresponding rate in year t.

DEPI greater than 1 indicates that assets are being depreciated at a slower rate. This suggests that the firm might be revising useful asset life assumptions upwards, or adopting a new method that is income friendly.

DEPI=(Depreciation_t-1 / (Depreciaton_t-1 + PPE_t-1)) / (Depreciation_t / (Depreciaton_t + PPE_t))
=(6.36 / (6.36 + 15.323)) / (6.119 / (6.119 + 10.128))
=0.293317 / 0.376623
=0.7788

Note: If the Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization data is not available, we assume that the depreciation rate is constant and set the Depreciation Index to 1.

6. SGAI = Sales, General and Administrative expenses Index

The ratio of Selling, General, & Admin. Expense(SGA) to Sales in year t relative to year t-1.

SGA expenses index > 1 means that the company is becoming less efficient in generate sales.

SGAI=(SGA_t / Sales_t) / (SGA_t-1 /Sales_t-1)
=(0 / 1087.321) / (0 / 1072.092)
=0 / 0
=1

7. LVGI = Leverage Index

The ratio of total debt to Total Assets in year t relative to yeat t-1.

An LVGI > 1 indicates an increase in leverage

LVGI=((LTD_t + CurrentLiabilities_t) / TotalAssets_t) / ((LTD_t-1 + CurrentLiabilities_t-1) / TotalAssets_t-1)
=((6.12 + 94.079) / 381.014) / ((10.127 + 84.197) / 371.991)
=0.26298 / 0.253565
=1.0371

8. TATA = Total Accruals to Total Assets

Total accruals calculated as the change in working capital accounts other than cash less depreciation.

TATA=(IncomefromContinuingOperations_t - CashFlowsfromOperations_t) / TotalAssets_t
=(NetIncome_t - NonOperatingIncome_t - CashFlowsfromOperations_t) / TotalAssets_t
=(64.882 - 0 - 103.156) / 381.014
=-0.100453

An M-Score of equal or less than -1.78 suggests that the company is unlikely to be a manipulator. An M-Score of greater than -1.78 signals that the company is likely to be a manipulator.

PBT Holdings has a M-score of -3.00 suggests that the company is unlikely to be a manipulator.

Frequently Asked Questions Learn more about Beneish M-Score →
What does a Beneish M-Score of -3.00 mean?
PBT Holdings (JSE:PBT) has a Beneish M-Score of -3.00 as of Jun. 27, 2026. The Beneish M-score measures the likelihood of earnings manipulation. View historical data on PBT Holdings and its competitors. According to the industry distribution chart, PBT Holdings ranks #617 out of 2634 companies in the Software industry, placing it in the top 23.4%.
Is PBT Holdings' Beneish M-Score too high?
PBT Holdings' current Beneish M-Score is -3.00. Based on the distribution chart, PBT Holdings ranks #617 out of 2634 companies in the Software industry, which is in the top quartile — a strong position relative to peers. Overall, PBT Holdings has a GF Score™ of 74/100 and is considered Fairly Valued, reflecting its overall financial health beyond just this single metric.
How does PBT Holdings' Beneish M-Score compare to IBM and ACN?
According to the Software industry distribution chart, PBT Holdings ranks #617 out of 2634 companies for Beneish M-Score. This places PBT Holdings in the top 23% of its industry — outperforming the majority of peers. See the competitive comparison table and distribution chart on this page for a detailed peer-by-peer breakdown.
What is a good Beneish M-Score for a Software company?
A good Beneish M-Score depends on the Software industry context. However, Beneish M-Score should not be evaluated in isolation — investors should consider it alongside profitability, growth, and financial strength metrics. Use the industry distribution chart on this page to see where any company falls relative to its peers.
What does a high Beneish M-Score mean?
A high Beneish M-Score can signal that a stock is expensive relative to its fundamentals. The Beneish M-score measures the likelihood of earnings manipulation. View historical data on PBT Holdings and its competitors. PBT Holdings's current Beneish M-Score is -3.00. However, context matters — high-growth companies often justify higher valuations. Always evaluate alongside other metrics like GF Score™ and GF Value™.
Is PBT Holdings stock overvalued right now?
Based on GuruFocus' analysis, PBT Holdings (JSE:PBT) is currently considered Fairly Valued. The stock's GF Value™ is R6.96, compared to a current price of R6.71 — trading 3.6% below its estimated fair value. The current Beneish M-Score is -3.00. PBT Holdings' overall GF Score™ is 74/100 with 2 warning signs to review. Investors should evaluate multiple metrics — including profitability, growth, and financial strength — before making a decision.
How is Beneish M-Score calculated?
Beneish M-Score is calculated from a company's financial statements. For PBT Holdings (JSE:PBT), the current Beneish M-Score is -3.00 as of Jun. 27, 2026. GuruFocus calculates this using data sourced from SEC filings and annual reports. See the calculation section and 30-year financial data on this page for the full breakdown.

Is PBT Holdings (JSE:PBT) Overvalued in 2026?

Based on GuruFocus' analysis, PBT Holdings stock appears to be undervalued. The current stock price of R6.71 is trading 3.6% below its estimated GF Value™ of R6.96. GuruFocus considers PBT Holdings to be Fairly Valued.

Key valuation signals for JSE:PBT:

  • Beneish M-Score: -3.00
  • GF Value™: R6.96 vs. price of R6.71 (3.6% below fair value)
  • GF Score™: 74/100 with 2 warning signs

No single metric tells the full story. See the JSE:PBT stock analysis page for a complete view including 30-year financials, guru trades, and insider activity.


PBT Holdings Business Description

Address 2 Mews Close, Waterford Mews, PBT House, Century City, Cape Town, WC, ZAF, 7441
PBT Holdings Ltd, formerly known as PBT Group Ltd, is a South African-based company that offers information management and data analytics services. It serves finance, insurance, telecommunications, retail, petroleum and medical healthcare industries. The services provided by the company include data engineering, analytics and visualization, artificial intelligence, managed solutions, advisory and strategic services, application development and others. Its operating segments are based on geographical locations namely South Africa, Europe and the United Kingdom. The segment includes consulting and implementation of data, management information software and healthcare administration services provided in the Republic of South Africa, Europe, the United Kingdom, and also Australia.
74GF Score

Get the complete analysis for JSE:PBT

Beneish M-Score is just one metric. See GF Value™, 30-year financials, guru trades, warning signs, and more.

R6.71
Price
R6.96
GF Value