First Advantage Corporation FA

Competitive advantage analysis · industrials

Corporate Default
Overall moat score
49/100
Developing

Ranked against 40 peers in Specialty Business Services

About First Advantage Corporation

First Advantage Corporation provides employment background screening, identity, and verification solutions worldwide. It offers pre-onboarding products and solutions, such as criminal background checks, drug/health screening, extended workforce screening, FBI channeling, identity checks and biometric fraud mitigation tools, education/work history verification, driver records and compliance, healthcare credentials, executive screening, and other screening products. The company also provides post-onboarding solutions, including criminal … Full FA analysis →

Key strengths

  • Operating Expense Control OpEx growth is controlled (score 0.65), demonstrating operating leverage.
  • Strong Liquidity Buffer Liquidity position is strong (score 0.80), providing operational cushion.

Key risks

  • ROIC Below WACC or Peers ROIC at 39.5th percentile suggests inefficient capital deployment.
  • Elevated Debt Risk Debt serviceability is weak (score 0.21), raising refinancing risk.

The dashed ring is the peer median. Defense scores are percentile ranks against peers, so 50 is roughly the typical company in this group.

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Pricing Power

Moderate
51
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Signals, strengths and risks for Pricing Power

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Signals, strengths and risks for Cost Advantage

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Signals, strengths and risks for Customer Stickiness

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Signals, strengths and risks for Capital Efficiency

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Signals, strengths and risks for Resilience

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Signals, strengths and risks for Scale & Market Position

Where FA ranks in Specialty Business Services

First Advantage Corporation ranks #23 of 41 scored companies in Specialty Business Services by moat score — the top 56%. The widest moat in the group is Copart, Inc. (CPRT) at 81/100.

# Company Moat score Rating
19 ABM Industries Incorporated ABM 53/100 Moderate
20 Quad Graphics, Inc QUAD 52/100 Moderate
21 Aramark ARMK 52/100 Moderate
22 CBIZ, Inc. CBZ 51/100 Moderate
23 First Advantage Corporation FA 49/100 Developing
24 YSX Tech. Co., Ltd YSXT 48/100 Developing
25 DLH Holdings Corp. DLHC 46/100 Developing
26 Eastman Kodak Company KODK 46/100 Developing
27 Team, Inc. TISI 41/100 Developing

See every General Corporate company ranked by moat score →

How FA scores on the Corporate Default defenses

Pricing Power

Score 51 · 20% of the moat score

Pricing power is the ability to raise prices without losing volume.

Cost Advantage

Score 70 · 15% of the moat score

A cost advantage means delivering the same product for structurally less — better purchasing, denser distribution, a more automated process.

Customer Stickiness

Score 47 · 15% of the moat score

Stickiness is what makes revenue repeat without being re-won every year.

Capital Efficiency

Score 33 · 18% of the moat score

Capital efficiency asks what the company earns on the money tied up in the business.

Resilience

Score 47 · 17% of the moat score

Resilience is the capacity to get through a bad year on its own terms — enough liquidity, enough interest cover, and enough cash generation to avoid a rescue financing or a forced sale.

Scale & Market Position

Score 50 · 15% of the moat score

Scale matters only when it converts into economics.

How each Corporate Default defense is measured, in full →

Understanding FA's moat

What is First Advantage Corporation's moat score?

First Advantage Corporation (FA) scores 49 out of 100 on the StatsAlpha Moat Map, which rates its competitive advantage as developing. It ranks #23 of 41 scored companies in Specialty Business Services, the top 56%. The score is a weighted composite of 6 competitive defenses, each measured against industry peers of 40 companies in Specialty Business Services. Its strongest defense is Cost Advantage (70/100) and its weakest is Capital Efficiency (33/100).

How does First Advantage Corporation compare with other Specialty Business Services companies?

First Advantage Corporation ranks #23 of 41 scored companies in Specialty Business Services by moat score. The widest moat in Specialty Business Services is Copart, Inc. (CPRT) at 81/100. The companies ranked closest are CBIZ, Inc. (CBZ) at 51 just above it and YSX Tech. Co., Ltd (YSXT) at 48 just below it.

How is the moat score calculated?

Each company is scored with an industry-specific template — Corporate Default in this case, chosen because the defenses that matter to a bank are not the ones that matter to a software company. Every defense combines several financial signals, and each signal is measured as a percentile against a peer group of 40 companies in Specialty Business Services. The defenses are then weighted to produce the overall score out of 100.

Why is First Advantage Corporation scored with the Corporate Default template?

Most public companies sell a product or a service at a margin, so the moat question is whether that margin survives contact with competitors. The Corporate template scores the six defenses that show up in a general operating company's financial signature: whether it can hold price, produce more cheaply than rivals, keep its customers, earn a return above its cost of capital, withstand a downturn, and turn size into economics.

Which competitive defenses are measured for First Advantage Corporation?

The Corporate Default template measures 6 defenses, and FA scores: Pricing Power (51), Cost Advantage (70), Customer Stickiness (47), Capital Efficiency (33), Resilience (47), Scale & Market Position (50). Each is scored independently as a percentile against peers, so a company can be strong on one and weak on another — the overall score reflects how those defenses are weighted for this industry.

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