MeritValue

BRADY CORP

BRCdata completeness 100%17 fiscal years on file

Data notes: no data for concept 'investmentsAtFairValue'; no data for concept 'netInvestmentIncome'; no data for concept 'realEstateImpairment'; no data for concept 'epsDiluted'

The thesis, from the filings

BRADY CORP earns about 19% on invested capital, far above its ~9% cost of capital, and has bought back 8% of its shares over 5 years — the marks of a durable business run for its owners. The estimate methods put fair value between $37.33 and $154.32 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$1.14B1$1.3B2$1.33B3$1.34B3$1.51B3
Net income$129.7M4$150M4$174.9M4$197.2M4$189.3M4
Operating cash flow$205.7M5$118.4M6$209.1M7$255.1M7$181.2M7
Capital expenditure$27.2M8$43.1M9$19.2M10$79.9M10$27.6M10
Free cash flow (derived)$178.5M5$75.3M6$189.9M7$175.2M7$153.6M7
Total debt———$90.9M11$99.8M11
Cash & equivalents$147.3M12$114.1M13$151.5M14$250.1M15$174.3M15
Diluted shares52.4M51.7M49.9M48.5M48.1M

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
$247.9
your share of equity
Profit it earned you last year
$39.35
Free cash flow it threw off
$31.94
Debt you’d be carrying
$20.74

10 shares is a claim on $247.9 of net worth that earned you $39.35 and generated $31.94 of cash last year, against $20.74 of debt.

iii. Is this a good business?
Moat signal · return on invested capital
19% avg · 5y
FY21 17%FY22 19%FY23 21%FY24 22%FY25 17%

It earned about 19% on invested capital, year after year, against a ~9% cost of capital — the footprint of real pricing power. Competition usually drags returns like this back down; here it hasn't.

seeing a moat in the numbers →
Management signal · capital allocation
−8% shares · 5y

Share count is down 8% 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 v0.5.0

The 3 estimate methods that apply put fair value between $37.33 and $154.32 a share. They rest on different assumptions, so where they diverge is the story.

DCF · Growth Exit 10Y
$154.32
assumptions (10)
  • riskFreeRate4.7%
  • equityRiskPremium5.0%
  • beta100.0%
  • equityWeight85.0%
  • costOfDebtSpread1.5%
  • taxRate21.0%
  • terminalGrowth2.5%
  • projectionYears10
  • fcfGrowth15.5%
  • fcfBase$175.2M
DCF · Growth Exit 5Y
$99.73
assumptions (10)
  • riskFreeRate4.7%
  • equityRiskPremium5.0%
  • beta100.0%
  • equityWeight85.0%
  • costOfDebtSpread1.5%
  • taxRate21.0%
  • terminalGrowth2.5%
  • projectionYears5
  • fcfGrowth15.5%
  • fcfBase$175.2M
Earnings Power Value
$37.33
assumptions (8)
  • riskFreeRate4.7%
  • equityRiskPremium5.0%
  • beta100.0%
  • equityWeight85.0%
  • costOfDebtSpread1.5%
  • taxRate21.0%
  • normalizedEarnings$174.9M
  • growthAssumed0.0%
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 years15.5%
Discount rate (WACC)9.02%
Terminal growth2.5%
At your growth, a share is worth $99.73
The three cases
Bear0.0%$52.91
Base15.5%$99.73
Bull20.0%$118.62

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

Default growth 15.5%= 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 2021-07-31 · accession 0000746598-23-000058 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  2. 10-K · period ending 2022-07-31 · accession 0000746598-24-000065 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  3. 10-K · period ending 2023-07-31 · accession 0000746598-25-000045 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  4. 10-K · period ending 2021-07-31 · accession 0000746598-25-000045 (NetIncomeLoss)
  5. 10-K · period ending 2021-07-31 · accession 0000746598-23-000058 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  6. 10-K · period ending 2022-07-31 · accession 0000746598-24-000065 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  7. 10-K · period ending 2023-07-31 · accession 0000746598-25-000045 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  8. 10-K · period ending 2021-07-31 · accession 0000746598-23-000058 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  9. 10-K · period ending 2022-07-31 · accession 0000746598-24-000065 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  10. 10-K · period ending 2023-07-31 · accession 0000746598-25-000045 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  11. 10-K · period ending 2024-07-31 · accession 0000746598-25-000045 (LongTermDebt)
  12. 10-K · period ending 2021-07-31 · accession 0000746598-22-000067 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  13. 10-K · period ending 2022-07-31 · accession 0000746598-23-000058 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  14. 10-K · period ending 2023-07-31 · accession 0000746598-24-000065 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  15. 10-K · period ending 2024-07-31 · accession 0000746598-25-000045 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)