MeritValue

Blend Labs, Inc.

BLNDdata completeness 100%7 fiscal years on file
The thesis, from the filings

Blend Labs, Inc. earns about -135% on invested capital, but has diluted owners by 96% 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$234.5M1$235.2M2$109.5M3$115.8M3$123.6M3
Net income−$169.9M4−$720.2M5−$178.7M6−$43.3M6−$6.8M6
Operating cash flow−$127.5M7−$190.4M8−$127.6M9−$13M9$11.5M9
Capital expenditure$1.73M10$2.07M11$35,00012$9.74M12$11.6M12
Free cash flow (derived)−$129.2M7−$192.5M8−$127.7M9−$22.8M9−$81,0009
Total debt$213.8M13$216.8M14$138.3M15$016$016
Cash & equivalents$213.1M17$124.2M18$23.5M19$38M19$43.6M19
Diluted shares132.0M234.2M245.2M253.9M258.9M

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
−$1.18
your share of equity
Profit it earned you last year
−$0.26
Free cash flow it threw off
−$0
Debt you’d be carrying
$0

10 shares is a claim on −$1.18 of net worth that earned you −$0.26 and generated −$0 of cash last year, against $0 of debt.

iii. Is this a good business?
Moat signal · return on invested capital
-135% avg · 5y
FY21 -20%FY22 -271%FY23 -113%FY24 —FY25 —

It earned an average -135% 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
+96% shares · 5y

Share count is up 96% over 5 years — owners have been diluted. Worth asking what they got for it. Total debt has fallen 100% — 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 2021-12-31 · accession 0001855747-24-000015 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  2. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001855747-25-000017 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  3. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001855747-26-000016 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  4. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001855747-24-000015 (NetIncomeLoss)
  5. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001855747-25-000017 (NetIncomeLoss)
  6. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001855747-26-000016 (NetIncomeLoss)
  7. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001855747-24-000015 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  8. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001855747-25-000017 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  9. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001855747-26-000016 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  10. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001855747-22-000013 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  11. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001855747-25-000017 (PaymentsToAcquireProductiveAssets)
  12. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001855747-26-000016 (PaymentsToAcquireProductiveAssets)
  13. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001855747-23-000016 (LongTermDebt)
  14. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001855747-24-000015 (LongTermDebt)
  15. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001855747-25-000017 (LongTermDebt)
  16. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001855747-26-000016 (LongTermDebt)
  17. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001855747-24-000015 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  18. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001855747-25-000017 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  19. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001855747-26-000016 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)