MeritValue

Bridgeline Digital, Inc.

BLINdata completeness 100%16 fiscal years on file
The thesis, from the filings

Bridgeline Digital, Inc. earns about -34% on invested capital, but has diluted owners by 89% over 5 years — worth asking whether the growth reaches owners. The cash-flow models don't apply cleanly here — the ledger says why below.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$13.3M1$16.8M2$15.9M3$15.4M4$15.4M4
Net income−$6.69M5$2.15M6−$9.44M7−$1.96M8−$2.52M8
Operating cash flow−$989,0009−$134,00010$277,00011−$765,00012−$1.1M12
Capital expenditure$79,00013$117,00014$25,00015$29,00016$18,00016
Free cash flow (derived)−$1.07M9−$251,00010$252,00011−$794,00012−$1.12M12
Total debt$1.9M17$1M18$700,00019$500,00020$326,00020
Cash & equivalents$8.85M21$2.86M22$2.38M23$1.39M24$1.63M24
Diluted shares5.9M10.4M10.4M10.4M11.2M

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
$8.52
your share of equity
Profit it earned you last year
−$2.24
Free cash flow it threw off
−$1
Debt you’d be carrying
$0.29

10 shares is a claim on $8.52 of net worth that earned you −$2.24 and generated −$1 of cash last year, against $0.29 of debt.

iii. Is this a good business?
Moat signal · return on invested capital
-34% avg · 5y
FY21 -65%FY22 12%FY23 -77%FY24 -17%FY25 -24%

It earned an average -34% 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
+89% shares · 5y

Share count is up 89% over 5 years — owners have been diluted. Worth asking what they got for it. Total debt has fallen 83% — deleveraging.

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
3y-median FCF non-positive — growth-exit DCF not applicable (see EPV)
DCF · Growth Exit 5Y
not applicable
3y-median FCF non-positive — growth-exit DCF not applicable (see EPV)
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 →

Sources — the receipts
  1. 10-K · period ending 2021-09-30 · accession 0001437749-22-029477 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  2. 10-K · period ending 2022-09-30 · accession 0001437749-23-035439 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  3. 10-K · period ending 2023-09-30 · accession 0001437749-24-038328 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  4. 10-K · period ending 2024-09-30 · accession 0001437749-25-038337 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  5. 10-K · period ending 2021-09-30 · accession 0001437749-22-029477 (NetIncomeLoss)
  6. 10-K · period ending 2022-09-30 · accession 0001437749-23-035439 (NetIncomeLoss)
  7. 10-K · period ending 2023-09-30 · accession 0001437749-24-038328 (NetIncomeLoss)
  8. 10-K · period ending 2024-09-30 · accession 0001437749-25-038337 (NetIncomeLoss)
  9. 10-K · period ending 2021-09-30 · accession 0001437749-22-029477 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  10. 10-K · period ending 2022-09-30 · accession 0001437749-23-035439 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  11. 10-K · period ending 2023-09-30 · accession 0001437749-24-038328 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  12. 10-K · period ending 2024-09-30 · accession 0001437749-25-038337 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  13. 10-K · period ending 2021-09-30 · accession 0001437749-22-029477 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  14. 10-K · period ending 2022-09-30 · accession 0001437749-23-035439 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  15. 10-K · period ending 2023-09-30 · accession 0001437749-24-038328 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  16. 10-K · period ending 2024-09-30 · accession 0001437749-25-038337 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  17. 10-K · period ending 2021-09-30 · accession 0001437749-22-029477 (LongTermDebt)
  18. 10-K · period ending 2022-09-30 · accession 0001437749-23-035439 (LongTermDebt)
  19. 10-K · period ending 2023-09-30 · accession 0001437749-24-038328 (LongTermDebt)
  20. 10-K · period ending 2024-09-30 · accession 0001437749-25-038337 (LongTermDebt)
  21. 10-K · period ending 2021-09-30 · accession 0001437749-22-029477 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  22. 10-K · period ending 2022-09-30 · accession 0001437749-23-035439 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  23. 10-K · period ending 2023-09-30 · accession 0001437749-24-038328 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  24. 10-K · period ending 2024-09-30 · accession 0001437749-25-038337 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)