MeritValue

CLEARONE INC

CLROdata completeness 75%16 fiscal years on file
The thesis, from the filings

CLEARONE INC earns about 3% on invested capital, and has bought back 91% 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 2021FY 2022FY 2023FY 2024FY 2025
Revenue$29M1$25.2M2$18.7M3$04$04
Net income−$7.69M5$20.6M6−$560,0007−$8.98M8−$26.1M8
Operating cash flow−$4.39M9−$4.18M10$54.6M11−$6.12M11−$14.6M12
Capital expenditure$221,00013$51,00014$375,00015$196,00015—
Free cash flow (derived)−$4.62M9−$4.23M10$54.3M11−$6.31M11—
Total debt$5.02M16$3.73M17$017——
Cash & equivalents$1.07M18$984,00019$17.8M20$1.42M21$220,00021
Diluted shares19.9M25.2M24.0M1.6M1.8M

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
−$4.04
your share of equity
Profit it earned you last year
−$147.73
Free cash flow it threw off
—
Debt you’d be carrying
—

10 shares is a claim on −$4.04 of net worth that earned you −$147.73 last year.

iii. Is this a good business?
Moat signal · return on invested capital
3% avg · 5y
FY21 -11%FY22 27%FY23 1%FY24 -7%FY25 —

It earned an average 3% 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
−91% shares · 5y

Share count is down 91% over 5 years — management has been buying back stock, quietly handing owners a bigger slice. Total debt has fallen 100% — deleveraging.

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 0001753926-23-000346 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerIncludingAssessedTax)
  2. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001753926-24-000656 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerIncludingAssessedTax)
  3. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001753926-25-000516 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerIncludingAssessedTax)
  4. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001753926-26-000600 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerIncludingAssessedTax)
  5. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001753926-23-000346 (NetIncomeLoss)
  6. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001753926-24-000656 (NetIncomeLoss)
  7. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001753926-25-000516 (NetIncomeLoss)
  8. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001753926-26-000600 (NetIncomeLoss)
  9. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001753926-23-000346 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  10. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001753926-24-000656 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  11. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001753926-25-000516 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  12. 10-K · period ending 2025-12-31 · accession 0001753926-26-000600 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivitiesContinuingOperations)
  13. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001753926-23-000346 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  14. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001753926-24-000656 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  15. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001753926-25-000516 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  16. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001753926-23-000346 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  17. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001753926-24-000656 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  18. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001753926-23-000346 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  19. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001753926-24-000656 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  20. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001753926-25-000516 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  21. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001753926-26-000600 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)