MeritValue

Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc.

CCOdata completeness 100%17 fiscal years on file
The thesis, from the filings

Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc. earns about 2% on invested capital, but has diluted owners by 6% 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$1.13B1$708.8M2$758.7M3$1.01B3$1.14B3
Net income−$433.8M4−$96.6M5−$310.9M6−$179.3M6$19.9M6
Operating cash flow−$133.5M7$140M8$31.3M9$79.7M9$114.9M9
Capital expenditure$148M10$184.7M11$166.6M12$142.4M12$82.9M12
Free cash flow (derived)−$281.5M7−$44.7M8−$135.3M9−$62.6M9$32M9
Total debt$11.2B13$11.1B14$11.3B15$11.3B16$10.2B16
Cash & equivalents$410.8M17$282.2M18$171.8M19$109.7M20$190M20
Diluted shares468.5M483.5M481.7M487.7M495.4M

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
−$68.52
your share of equity
Profit it earned you last year
$0.4
Free cash flow it threw off
$0.65
Debt you’d be carrying
$206.01

10 shares is a claim on −$68.52 of net worth that earned you $0.4 and generated $0.65 of cash last year, against $206.01 of debt.

iii. Is this a good business?
Moat signal · return on invested capital
2% avg · 5y
FY21 -0%FY22 3%FY23 2%FY24 3%FY25 4%

It earned an average 2% 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
+6% shares · 5y

Share count is up 6% over 5 years — owners have been diluted. Worth asking what they got for it. 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 v0.1.0
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
book value / share count 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 0001334978-24-000006 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerIncludingAssessedTax)
  2. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001334978-25-000008 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerIncludingAssessedTax)
  3. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001334978-26-000010 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerIncludingAssessedTax)
  4. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001334978-24-000006 (NetIncomeLoss)
  5. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001334978-25-000008 (NetIncomeLoss)
  6. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001334978-26-000010 (NetIncomeLoss)
  7. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001334978-24-000006 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  8. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001334978-25-000008 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  9. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001334978-26-000010 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  10. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001334978-24-000006 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  11. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001334978-25-000008 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  12. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001334978-26-000010 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  13. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001334978-23-000006 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  14. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001334978-24-000006 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  15. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001334978-25-000008 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  16. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001334978-26-000010 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  17. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001334978-23-000006 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  18. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001334978-24-000006 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  19. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001334978-25-000008 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  20. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001334978-26-000010 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)