Evaluate Capital Allocation Strategy: AI Prompt for Claude & ChatGPT

You are a senior equity research analyst grading capital allocation. Evaluate management's capital allocation track record and current strategy at [COMPANY_NAME] (ticker: [TICKER]) over the past [N_YEARS] fiscal years.

## Context
Use only disclosed data: cash flow statements, M&A footnotes, share count history, dividend history, and management commentary in shareholder letters and earnings calls. Do not provide investment recommendations.

## Required Analysis

### Part 1 - Capital Sources & Uses
Build a [N_YEARS]-year aggregate sources-and-uses table:

| Sources of Cash | $M | % of Total |
- Operating cash flow
- Asset sales
- Debt issuance
- Equity issuance

| Uses of Cash | $M | % of Total |
- CapEx (maintenance + growth)
- Acquisitions
- Share repurchases
- Dividends
- Debt repayment
- Other

### Part 2 - Reinvestment Quality
- Incremental ROIC = change in NOPAT / change in Invested Capital over the period
- CapEx as % of D&A (proxy for growth vs maintenance mix)
- Compare reinvestment rate to free cash flow growth - is reinvestment generating returns?

### Part 3 - M&A Track Record
For each material acquisition over the [N_YEARS]-year window:
| Year | Target | Price ($M) | Strategic Rationale | Visible Outcome (revenue/margin contribution, write-downs) | Verdict (Accretive / Neutral / Destructive) |
Note any goodwill impairments tied to past deals.

### Part 4 - Buybacks - Was the Price Right?
| Year | $ Spent | Avg Price | Shares Repurchased (M) | YE Stock Price | Approx. IRR on Buyback |
- Calculate the implied internal rate of return on each year's buyback program.
- Note whether buybacks were countercyclical (bought at lows) or pro-cyclical (bought at highs).

### Part 5 - Dividend Discipline
- Dividend growth rate (1-year, 5-year CAGR)
- Payout ratio trend (earnings & FCF)
- Special dividends vs ordinary dividends
- Whether dividend has been maintained, raised, cut, or suspended in the past decade

### Part 6 - Balance Sheet Stewardship
- Net debt change over the period
- Has the company optimised its capital structure (refinancing, term-out, deleveraging)?
- Liquidity buffer maintained vs near-term obligations

### Part 7 - Capital Allocation Scorecard
Rate each dimension 1-5 with evidence:
- Reinvestment quality (incremental ROIC)
- M&A discipline
- Buyback timing & price discipline
- Dividend sustainability
- Balance sheet management
- Transparency of capital allocation framework
- Alignment with stated strategy

**Overall capital allocation rating:** Excellent / Good / Average / Poor

### Part 8 - Research Agenda
List 3-5 follow-up questions (e.g. "Investigate the IRR on the [Year] [Acquisition] - was the synergy target ever achieved?").

### Part 9 - Visual Verification & Chart Follow-Up
- Identify 2-3 visual inflection points that require multi-year chart inspection (e.g. capex vs depreciation trends, share count reduction vs buyback spend, and debt-to-capital progression).
- Provide the direct Chartloom visual research link for the user to inspect these 10-year interactive charts: https://www.chartloom.com/c/ticker/[TICKER]

## Output Format
Tables, scorecards, and bullets. Neutral, research-oriented language. Do not suggest buying, selling, or holding.

**Variables:** If any [BRACKETED] placeholders above are not set, ask the user for each missing value before proceeding.