MeritValue

BuzzFeed, Inc.

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

BuzzFeed, Inc. earns about -22% on invested capital, but has diluted owners by 35% 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$383.8M1$325.8M2$230.4M3$189.9M3$185.3M3
Net income$24.7M4−$201M5−$88.6M6−$10.1M6−$57.7M6
Operating cash flow$797,0007−$7.86M8−$6.1M9−$20.7M9−$18.7M9
Capital expenditure$4.98M10$5.42M11$964,00012$691,00012$1.96M12
Free cash flow (derived)−$4.19M7−$13.3M8−$7.07M9−$21.4M9−$20.7M9
Total debt$141.9M13$152.3M14$158.8M15$25.5M16$58.4M16
Cash & equivalents$79.7M17$55.8M18$10.6M19$22.4M19$8.47M19
Diluted shares28.0M34.5M35.8M37.4M37.8M

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
$13.05
your share of equity
Profit it earned you last year
−$15.26
Free cash flow it threw off
−$5.47
Debt you’d be carrying
$15.43

10 shares is a claim on $13.05 of net worth that earned you −$15.26 and generated −$5.47 of cash last year, against $15.43 of debt.

iii. Is this a good business?
Moat signal · return on invested capital
-22% avg · 5y
FY21 1%FY22 -27%FY23 -12%FY24 -24%FY25 -45%

It earned an average -22% 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
+35% shares · 5y

Share count is up 35% over 5 years — owners have been diluted. Worth asking what they got for it. Total debt has fallen 59% — 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 0001828972-24-000057 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  2. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001828972-25-000073 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  3. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001828972-26-000030 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  4. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001828972-24-000057 (NetIncomeLoss)
  5. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001828972-25-000073 (NetIncomeLoss)
  6. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001828972-26-000030 (NetIncomeLoss)
  7. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001828972-24-000057 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  8. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001828972-25-000073 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  9. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001828972-26-000030 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  10. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001828972-24-000057 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  11. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001828972-25-000073 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  12. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001828972-26-000030 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  13. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001828972-23-000029 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  14. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001828972-24-000057 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  15. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001828972-25-000073 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  16. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001828972-26-000030 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  17. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001828972-23-000029 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  18. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001828972-24-000057 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  19. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001828972-26-000030 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)