MeritValue

CATO CORP

CATOdata completeness 88%17 fiscal years on file

Data notes: no data for concept 'totalDebt'

The thesis, from the filings

CATO CORP earns about -1% on invested capital, and has bought back 11% of its shares over 5 years. 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 2022FY 2023FY 2024FY 2025FY 2026
Revenue$761.4M1$752.4M2$700.3M3$642.1M3$646.8M3
Net income$36.8M4$29,0005−$23.9M6−$18.1M6−$5.91M6
Operating cash flow$59.8M7$13.4M8$477,0009−$19.7M9−$1.46M9
Capital expenditure$4.11M10$19.4M11$12.5M12$7.87M12$3.76M12
Free cash flow (derived)$55.7M7−$6.06M8−$12.1M9−$27.6M9−$5.22M9
Total debt—————
Cash & equivalents$19.8M13$20M14$23.9M15$20.3M16$16.8M16
Diluted shares21.1M19.9M19.4M19.2M18.8M

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
$83.74
your share of equity
Profit it earned you last year
−$3.15
Free cash flow it threw off
−$2.78
Debt you’d be carrying
—

10 shares is a claim on $83.74 of net worth that earned you −$3.15 and generated −$2.78 of cash last year.

iii. Is this a good business?
Moat signal · return on invested capital
-1% avg · 5y
FY22 16%FY23 0%FY24 -6%FY25 -9%FY26 -4%

It earned an average -1% 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
−11% shares · 5y

Share count is down 11% over 5 years — management has been buying back stock, quietly handing owners a bigger slice.

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 2022-01-29 · accession 0001562762-24-000065 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerIncludingAssessedTax)
  2. 10-K · period ending 2023-01-28 · accession 0001562762-25-000062 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerIncludingAssessedTax)
  3. 10-K · period ending 2024-02-03 · accession 0001562762-26-000041 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerIncludingAssessedTax)
  4. 10-K · period ending 2022-01-29 · accession 0001562762-24-000065 (NetIncomeLoss)
  5. 10-K · period ending 2023-01-28 · accession 0001562762-25-000062 (NetIncomeLoss)
  6. 10-K · period ending 2024-02-03 · accession 0001562762-26-000041 (NetIncomeLoss)
  7. 10-K · period ending 2022-01-29 · accession 0001562762-24-000065 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  8. 10-K · period ending 2023-01-28 · accession 0001562762-25-000062 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  9. 10-K · period ending 2024-02-03 · accession 0001562762-26-000041 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  10. 10-K · period ending 2022-01-29 · accession 0001562762-24-000065 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  11. 10-K · period ending 2023-01-28 · accession 0001562762-25-000062 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  12. 10-K · period ending 2024-02-03 · accession 0001562762-26-000041 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  13. 10-K · period ending 2022-01-29 · accession 0001562762-23-000126 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  14. 10-K · period ending 2023-01-28 · accession 0001562762-24-000065 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  15. 10-K · period ending 2024-02-03 · accession 0001562762-25-000062 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  16. 10-K · period ending 2025-02-01 · accession 0001562762-26-000041 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)