MeritValue

Clean Energy Fuels Corp.

CLNEdata completeness 100%17 fiscal years on file

Data notes: no data for concept 'interestExpense'

The thesis, from the filings

Clean Energy Fuels Corp. earns about -10% on invested capital, but has diluted owners by 4% 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$255.6M1$420.2M2$425.2M3$415.9M3$424.8M3
Net income−$93.1M4−$58.7M5−$99.5M6−$83.1M6−$222M6
Operating cash flow$41.3M7$66.7M8$43.8M9$64.6M9$85.5M9
Capital expenditure$23.1M10$44.5M11$100.9M12$65M12$25.7M12
Free cash flow (derived)$18.2M7$22.2M8−$57.2M9−$418,0009$59.9M9
Total debt$72.1M13$291.1M14$522.3M15$530.7M16$453.6M16
Cash & equivalents$99.4M17$124M18$104.9M19$89.5M20$155.6M20
Diluted shares213.1M222.4M222.9M223.3M220.6M

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
$25.35
your share of equity
Profit it earned you last year
−$10.06
Free cash flow it threw off
$2.71
Debt you’d be carrying
$20.56

10 shares is a claim on $25.35 of net worth that earned you −$10.06 and generated $2.71 of cash last year, against $20.56 of debt.

iii. Is this a good business?
Moat signal · return on invested capital
-10% avg · 5y
FY21 -10%FY22 -5%FY23 -7%FY24 -6%FY25 -21%

It earned an average -10% 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
+4% shares · 5y

Share count is up 4% over 5 years — owners have been diluted. Worth asking what they got for it. Total debt has risen 529% 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 v0.1.0
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 0001558370-24-002174 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  2. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001558370-25-001390 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  3. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001104659-26-019215 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  4. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001558370-24-002174 (NetIncomeLoss)
  5. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001558370-25-001390 (NetIncomeLoss)
  6. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001104659-26-019215 (NetIncomeLoss)
  7. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001558370-24-002174 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  8. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001558370-25-001390 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  9. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001104659-26-019215 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  10. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001558370-24-002174 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  11. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001558370-25-001390 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  12. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001104659-26-019215 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  13. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001558370-23-002365 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  14. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001558370-24-002174 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  15. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001558370-25-001390 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  16. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001104659-26-019215 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  17. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001558370-23-002365 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  18. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001558370-24-002174 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  19. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001558370-25-001390 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  20. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001104659-26-019215 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)