MeritValue

CLPS Inc

CLPSdata completeness 100%10 fiscal years on file
The thesis, from the filings

CLPS Inc earns about 3% on invested capital, below its ~9% cost of capital, but has diluted owners by 57% over 5 years — no moat visible in the numbers. The estimate methods put fair value between $0.07 and $4.69 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 2021FY 2022FY 2023FY 2024FY 2025
Revenue$126.1M1$152M2$150.4M3$142.8M3$164.5M3
Net income$6.82M4$4.46M5$192,5296−$2.33M6−$7.05M6
Operating cash flow−$2.61M7$3.2M8$9.71M9$8.93M9−$2.54M9
Capital expenditure$1.07M10$20.8M11$519,28212$2.12M12$1.26M12
Free cash flow (derived)−$3.68M7−$17.5M8$9.19M9$6.81M9−$3.8M9
Total debt$15.1M13$28.9M14$10.6M15$23.2M16$30.2M16
Cash & equivalents$24.7M17$18.4M18$22.2M19$29.1M19$28.2M19
Diluted shares17.6M21.1M23.2M25.2M27.5M

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
$20.17
your share of equity
Profit it earned you last year
−$2.56
Free cash flow it threw off
−$1.38
Debt you’d be carrying
$10.97

10 shares is a claim on $20.17 of net worth that earned you −$2.56 and generated −$1.38 of cash last year, against $10.97 of debt.

iii. Is this a good business?
Moat signal · return on invested capital
3% avg · 5y
FY21 15%FY22 6%FY23 1%FY24 -3%FY25 -7%

It earned about 3% on invested capital against a ~9% cost of capital — below the cost of funding. The numbers show no moat.

seeing a moat in the numbers →
Management signal · capital allocation
+57% shares · 5y

Share count is up 57% over 5 years — owners have been diluted. Worth asking what they got for it. Total debt has risen 100% 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

The 3 estimate methods that apply put fair value between $0.07 and $4.69 a share. They rest on different assumptions, so where they diverge is the story.

DCF · Growth Exit 10Y
$4.69
assumptions (10)
  • riskFreeRate4.7%
  • equityRiskPremium5.0%
  • beta100.0%
  • equityWeight85.0%
  • costOfDebtSpread1.5%
  • taxRate21.0%
  • terminalGrowth2.5%
  • projectionYears10
  • fcfGrowth5.0%
  • fcfBase$6.81M
DCF · Growth Exit 5Y
$4.31
assumptions (10)
  • riskFreeRate4.7%
  • equityRiskPremium5.0%
  • beta100.0%
  • equityWeight85.0%
  • costOfDebtSpread1.5%
  • taxRate21.0%
  • terminalGrowth2.5%
  • projectionYears5
  • fcfGrowth5.0%
  • fcfBase$6.81M
Earnings Power Value
$0.07
assumptions (8)
  • riskFreeRate4.7%
  • equityRiskPremium5.0%
  • beta100.0%
  • equityWeight85.0%
  • costOfDebtSpread1.5%
  • taxRate21.0%
  • normalizedEarnings$192,529
  • growthAssumed0.0%
Graham Number
not applicable
diluted EPS missing or non-positive — Graham Number undefined

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)8.93%
Terminal growth2.5%
At your growth, a share is worth $4.31
The three cases
Bear0.0%$3.46
Base5.0%$4.31
Bull10.0%$5.34

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 2021-06-30 · accession 0001013762-23-004641 (Revenues)
  2. 20-F · period ending 2022-06-30 · accession 0001213900-24-088712 (Revenues)
  3. 20-F · period ending 2023-06-30 · accession 0001213900-25-099739 (Revenues)
  4. 20-F · period ending 2021-06-30 · accession 0001013762-23-004641 (NetIncomeLoss)
  5. 20-F · period ending 2022-06-30 · accession 0001213900-24-088712 (NetIncomeLoss)
  6. 20-F · period ending 2023-06-30 · accession 0001213900-25-099739 (NetIncomeLoss)
  7. 20-F · period ending 2021-06-30 · accession 0001013762-23-004641 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  8. 20-F · period ending 2022-06-30 · accession 0001213900-24-088712 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  9. 20-F · period ending 2023-06-30 · accession 0001213900-25-099739 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  10. 20-F · period ending 2021-06-30 · accession 0001013762-23-004641 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  11. 20-F · period ending 2022-06-30 · accession 0001213900-24-088712 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  12. 20-F · period ending 2023-06-30 · accession 0001213900-25-099739 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  13. 20-F · period ending 2021-06-30 · accession 0001213900-22-065082 (LongTermDebtCurrent)
  14. 20-F · period ending 2022-06-30 · accession 0001213900-22-065082 (ShortTermBorrowings)
  15. 20-F · period ending 2023-06-30 · accession 0001213900-24-088712 (DebtCurrent)
  16. 20-F · period ending 2024-06-30 · accession 0001213900-25-099739 (DebtCurrent)
  17. 20-F · period ending 2021-06-30 · accession 0001013762-23-004641 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  18. 20-F · period ending 2022-06-30 · accession 0001213900-24-088712 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  19. 20-F · period ending 2023-06-30 · accession 0001213900-25-099739 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)