China Automotive Systems, Inc.

CAASdata completeness 100%3 fiscal years on file

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

The thesis, from the filings

China Automotive Systems, Inc. earns about 15% on invested capital, comfortably above its ~9% cost of capital, with a roughly flat share count — a real edge showing up in the numbers. The estimate methods put fair value between $0.29 and $12.88 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 2023FY 2024FY 2025
Revenue$576.4M1$650.9M1$765.7M1
Net income$37.7M2$30M2$42.8M2
Operating cash flow$19.9M3$9.78M3$111.6M3
Capital expenditure$18.2M4$43.7M4$37.2M4
Free cash flow (derived)$1.67M3−$33.9M3$74.4M3
Total debt$145.1M5$162.7M6
Cash & equivalents$155.2M7$57M8$142M8
Diluted shares30.2M30.2M30.2M

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
$133.02
your share of equity
Profit it earned you last year
$14.2
Free cash flow it threw off
$24.67
Debt you’d be carrying
$53.92

10 shares is a claim on $133.02 of net worth that earned you $14.2 and generated $24.67 of cash last year, against $53.92 of debt.

iii. Is this a good business?
Moat signal · return on invested capital
15% avg · 3y
FY23 23%FY24 9%FY25 12%

It earned about 15% on invested capital against a ~9% cost of capital — comfortably above the cost of funding, a moderate advantage.

seeing a moat in the numbers →
Management signal · capital allocation
−0% shares · 3y

Share count is roughly flat over 3 years — little dilution, little buyback. Total debt has risen 12% over the same window.

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 $0.29 and $12.88 a share. They rest on different assumptions, so where they diverge is the story; the Graham Number is a stricter floor, not a target.

DCF · Growth Exit 10Y
$0.37
assumptions (10)
  • riskFreeRate4.7%
  • equityRiskPremium5.0%
  • beta100.0%
  • equityWeight85.0%
  • costOfDebtSpread1.5%
  • taxRate21.0%
  • terminalGrowth2.5%
  • projectionYears10
  • fcfGrowth5.0%
  • fcfBase$1.67M
DCF · Growth Exit 5Y
$0.29
assumptions (10)
  • riskFreeRate4.7%
  • equityRiskPremium5.0%
  • beta100.0%
  • equityWeight85.0%
  • costOfDebtSpread1.5%
  • taxRate21.0%
  • terminalGrowth2.5%
  • projectionYears5
  • fcfGrowth5.0%
  • fcfBase$1.67M
Earnings Power Value
$12.88
assumptions (8)
  • riskFreeRate4.7%
  • equityRiskPremium5.0%
  • beta100.0%
  • equityWeight85.0%
  • costOfDebtSpread1.5%
  • taxRate21.0%
  • normalizedEarnings$37.7M
  • growthAssumed0.0%
Graham Number
$20.62
assumptions (1)
  • grahamMultiplier2250.0%

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 years5.0%
Discount rate (WACC)8.97%
Terminal growth2.5%
At your growth, a share is worth $0.29
The three cases
Bear0.0%$0.1
Base5.0%$0.29
Bull10.0%$0.52

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

Default growth 5.0%= 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. 20-F · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001104659-26-046434 (Revenues)
  2. 20-F · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001104659-26-046434 (NetIncomeLoss)
  3. 20-F · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001104659-26-046434 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  4. 20-F · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001104659-26-046434 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  5. 20-F · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001104659-26-046434 (LongTermDebtCurrent)
  6. 20-F · period ending 2025-12-31 · accession 0001104659-26-046434 (ShortTermBorrowings)
  7. 20-F · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001104659-26-046434 (CashCashEquivalentsRestrictedCashAndRestrictedCashEquivalents)
  8. 20-F · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001104659-26-046434 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)