MeritValue

Brighthouse Financial, Inc.

BHFdata completeness 88%11 fiscal years on file

Data notes: no data for concept 'capex'

The thesis, from the filings

Brighthouse Financial, Inc. earns about 21% on invested capital, and has bought back 31% of its shares over 5 years. The applicable estimate puts fair value near $77.44 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$4.98B1$6.87B2$4.12B3$4.72B3$6.77B3
Net income$1.64B4$3.88B5−$1.11B6$388M6$433M6
Operating cash flow$641M7−$1.23B8−$137M9−$290M9$259M9
Capital expenditure—————
Free cash flow (derived)—————
Total debt$3.16B10$3.16B11$3.16B12$3.16B13$3.16B13
Cash & equivalents$4.47B14$4.12B15$3.85B15$5.05B15$5.39B15
Diluted shares84.5M73.6M66.0M61.6M57.9M

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
$1,168.11
your share of equity
Profit it earned you last year
$74.73
Free cash flow it threw off
—
Debt you’d be carrying
$544.53

10 shares is a claim on $1,168.11 of net worth that earned you $74.73 last year, against $544.53 of debt.

iii. Is this a good business?
Moat signal · return on invested capital
21% avg · 5y
FY21 12%FY22 88%FY23 -25%FY24 17%FY25 13%

It earned an average 21% on invested capital over 5 years. Compare that to what it costs to fund the business.

seeing a moat in the numbers →
Management signal · capital allocation
−31% shares · 5y

Share count is down 31% over 5 years — management has been buying back stock, quietly handing owners a bigger slice. Total debt has held roughly steady.

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
DCF · Growth Exit 10Y
not applicable
only 0 years of FCF (need ≥3) — model not applicable
DCF · Growth Exit 5Y
not applicable
only 0 years of FCF (need ≥3) — model not applicable
Earnings Power Value
$77.44
assumptions (8)
  • riskFreeRate4.7%
  • equityRiskPremium5.0%
  • beta100.0%
  • equityWeight85.0%
  • costOfDebtSpread1.5%
  • taxRate21.0%
  • normalizedEarnings$433M
  • growthAssumed0.0%
Graham Number
$122.5
assumptions (1)
  • grahamMultiplier2250.0%

Different models answer different questions — which to trust when →

Sources — the receipts
  1. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001685040-24-000007 (Revenues)
  2. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001685040-25-000010 (Revenues)
  3. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001685040-26-000011 (Revenues)
  4. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001685040-24-000007 (NetIncomeLoss)
  5. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001685040-25-000010 (NetIncomeLoss)
  6. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001685040-26-000011 (NetIncomeLoss)
  7. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001685040-24-000007 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  8. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001685040-25-000010 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  9. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001685040-26-000011 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  10. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001685040-23-000011 (LongTermDebt)
  11. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001685040-24-000007 (LongTermDebt)
  12. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001685040-25-000010 (LongTermDebt)
  13. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001685040-26-000011 (LongTermDebt)
  14. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001685040-22-000006 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  15. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001685040-26-000011 (CashCashEquivalentsRestrictedCashAndRestrictedCashEquivalents)