MeritValue

ARK RESTAURANTS CORP

ARKRdata completeness 88%16 fiscal years on file
The thesis, from the filings

ARK RESTAURANTS CORP earns about 9% on invested capital, barely covering its ~9% cost of capital, with a roughly flat share count. The estimate methods put fair value between $11.16 and $11.82 a share.Whether it’s worth owning at today’s price is the last question — and yours to answer, below.

i. The business — what you’d actually own
FigureFY 2021FY 2022FY 2023FY 2024FY 2025
Revenue$131.9M1$183.7M2$184.8M3$183.5M4$165.8M4
Net income$12.9M5$9.28M6−$5.93M7−$3.9M8−$11.5M8
Operating cash flow$9.29M9$20.3M10$8.39M11$4.65M12$1.75M12
Capital expenditure$2.14M13$2.7M14$3.86M15$2.47M16$3.25M16
Free cash flow (derived)$7.16M9$17.6M10$4.53M11$2.19M12−$1.5M12
Total debt—————
Cash & equivalents$19.2M17$23.4M18$13.4M19$10.3M20$11.3M20
Diluted shares3.6M3.6M3.6M3.6M3.6M

Superscripts are receipts. Each links to the SEC filing the number came from (full list at the bottom).

ii. Your slice — ownership made literal
If you owned
shares
Net assets behind them
$90.78
your share of equity
Profit it earned you last year
−$31.81
Free cash flow it threw off
−$4.15
Debt you’d be carrying
—

10 shares is a claim on $90.78 of net worth that earned you −$31.81 and generated −$4.15 of cash last year.

iii. Is this a good business?
Moat signal · return on invested capital
9% avg · 5y
FY21 49%FY22 31%FY23 -9%FY24 -11%FY25 -14%

It earned about 9% on invested capital against a ~9% cost of capital — roughly what it costs to fund the business, so the numbers show no clear edge.

seeing a moat in the numbers →
Management signal · capital allocation
+0% shares · 5y

Share count is roughly flat over 5 years — little dilution, little buyback.

reading capital allocation →

Signals, not verdicts — read from the filings above. Numbers don’t prove a moat; they show its footprint. You decide.

iv. What it’s worth — engine v0.1.0

The 2 estimate methods that apply put fair value between $11.16 and $11.82 a share. They rest on different assumptions, so where they diverge is the story.

DCF · Growth Exit 10Y
$11.16
assumptions (10)
  • riskFreeRate4.7%
  • equityRiskPremium5.0%
  • beta100.0%
  • equityWeight85.0%
  • costOfDebtSpread1.5%
  • taxRate21.0%
  • terminalGrowth2.5%
  • projectionYears10
  • fcfGrowth0.0%
  • fcfBase$2.19M
DCF · Growth Exit 5Y
$11.82
assumptions (10)
  • riskFreeRate4.7%
  • equityRiskPremium5.0%
  • beta100.0%
  • equityWeight85.0%
  • costOfDebtSpread1.5%
  • taxRate21.0%
  • terminalGrowth2.5%
  • projectionYears5
  • fcfGrowth0.0%
  • fcfBase$2.19M
Earnings Power Value
not applicable
normalized (5y-median) earnings non-positive — EPV undefined
Graham Number
not applicable
diluted EPS missing or non-positive — Graham Number undefined

Different models answer different questions — which to trust when →

v. The price question — last, on purpose
Is today’s price fair?
See live price ↗
Type a price. The ledger answers.
Or set your own belief
FCF growth, next 5 years0.0%
Discount rate (WACC)8.93%
Terminal growth2.5%
At your growth, a share is worth $11.82
The three cases
Bear0.0%$11.82
Base0.0%$11.82
Bull5.0%$13.92

Bear/base/bull growth = 0% / filed history / history + 5pp. Type a price to see the return each case implies.

Default growth 0.0%= this company’s own filed history (median-to-median FCF CAGR, clamped 0–20%). Your adjustments are recorded anonymously. They become the “what do owners actually believe” dataset.

Sources — the receipts
  1. 10-K · period ending 2021-10-02 · accession 0000779544-22-000043 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  2. 10-K · period ending 2022-10-01 · accession 0000779544-23-000044 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  3. 10-K · period ending 2023-09-30 · accession 0000779544-24-000052 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  4. 10-K · period ending 2024-09-28 · accession 0000779544-25-000055 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  5. 10-K · period ending 2021-10-02 · accession 0000779544-22-000043 (NetIncomeLoss)
  6. 10-K · period ending 2022-10-01 · accession 0000779544-23-000044 (NetIncomeLoss)
  7. 10-K · period ending 2023-09-30 · accession 0000779544-24-000052 (NetIncomeLoss)
  8. 10-K · period ending 2024-09-28 · accession 0000779544-25-000055 (NetIncomeLoss)
  9. 10-K · period ending 2021-10-02 · accession 0000779544-22-000043 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  10. 10-K · period ending 2022-10-01 · accession 0000779544-23-000044 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  11. 10-K · period ending 2023-09-30 · accession 0000779544-24-000052 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  12. 10-K · period ending 2024-09-28 · accession 0000779544-25-000055 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  13. 10-K · period ending 2021-10-02 · accession 0000779544-22-000043 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  14. 10-K · period ending 2022-10-01 · accession 0000779544-23-000044 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  15. 10-K · period ending 2023-09-30 · accession 0000779544-24-000052 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  16. 10-K · period ending 2024-09-28 · accession 0000779544-25-000055 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  17. 10-K · period ending 2021-10-02 · accession 0000779544-22-000043 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  18. 10-K · period ending 2022-10-01 · accession 0000779544-23-000044 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  19. 10-K · period ending 2023-09-30 · accession 0000779544-24-000052 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  20. 10-K · period ending 2024-09-28 · accession 0000779544-25-000055 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)