Catalyst Bancorp, Inc.

CLSTdata completeness 100%6 fiscal years on file
The thesis, from the filings

Catalyst Bancorp, Inc. earns about 6% on invested capital, below its ~9% cost of capital, but has diluted owners by 75378% over 5 years — no moat visible in the numbers. The estimate methods put fair value between $1.48 and $47.35 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$7.7M1$8.01M2$9.66M3$13.9M4$13.9M4
Net income$1.92M5$180,0006$526,0007−$3.09M8$2.05M8
Operating cash flow$3.43M9$772,00010$2.01M11$3.17M12$3.29M12
Capital expenditure$1.51M13$252,00014$172,00015$430,00016$188,00016
Free cash flow (derived)$1.92M9$520,00010$1.84M11$2.74M12$3.1M12
Total debt$9.02M17$9.2M18$19.4M19$9.56M20$14.7M20
Cash & equivalents$40.9M21$13.5M22$19M23$44.3M24$25.2M24
Diluted shares4,8694.9M4.4M3.9M3.7M

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
$222.38
your share of equity
Profit it earned you last year
$5.58
Free cash flow it threw off
$8.43
Debt you’d be carrying
$40.09

10 shares is a claim on $222.38 of net worth that earned you $5.58 and generated $8.43 of cash last year, against $40.09 of debt.

iii. Is this a good business?
Moat signal · return on invested capital
6% avg · 5y
FY21 4%FY22 1%FY23 3%FY24 10%FY25 14%

It earned about 6% 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
+75378% shares · 5y

Share count is up 75378% over 5 years — owners have been diluted. Worth asking what they got for it. Total debt has risen 63% 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 $1.48 and $47.35 a share. They rest on different assumptions, so where they diverge is the story; the Graham Number is a stricter floor, not a target.

DCF · Growth Exit 10Y
$47.35
assumptions (10)
  • riskFreeRate4.7%
  • equityRiskPremium5.0%
  • beta100.0%
  • equityWeight85.0%
  • costOfDebtSpread1.5%
  • taxRate21.0%
  • terminalGrowth2.5%
  • projectionYears10
  • fcfGrowth20.0%
  • fcfBase$2.74M
DCF · Growth Exit 5Y
$27.18
assumptions (10)
  • riskFreeRate4.7%
  • equityRiskPremium5.0%
  • beta100.0%
  • equityWeight85.0%
  • costOfDebtSpread1.5%
  • taxRate21.0%
  • terminalGrowth2.5%
  • projectionYears5
  • fcfGrowth20.0%
  • fcfBase$2.74M
Earnings Power Value
$1.48
assumptions (8)
  • riskFreeRate4.7%
  • equityRiskPremium5.0%
  • beta100.0%
  • equityWeight85.0%
  • costOfDebtSpread1.5%
  • taxRate21.0%
  • normalizedEarnings$526,000
  • growthAssumed0.0%
Graham Number
$16.74
assumptions (1)
  • grahamMultiplier2250.0%

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 years20.0%
Discount rate (WACC)8.93%
Terminal growth2.5%
At your growth, a share is worth $27.18
The three cases
Bear0.0%$13.51
Base20.0%$27.18
Bull20.0%$27.18

Bear/base/bull growth = 0% / filed history / history + 5pp. Type a price to see the return each case implies.

Default growth 20.0%= 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. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001558370-23-005015 (InterestAndDividendIncomeOperating)
  2. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001558370-24-004220 (InterestAndDividendIncomeOperating)
  3. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001558370-25-003964 (InterestAndDividendIncomeOperating)
  4. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001104659-26-037676 (InterestAndDividendIncomeOperating)
  5. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001558370-23-005015 (NetIncomeLoss)
  6. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001558370-24-004220 (NetIncomeLoss)
  7. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001558370-25-003964 (NetIncomeLoss)
  8. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001104659-26-037676 (NetIncomeLoss)
  9. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001558370-23-005015 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  10. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001558370-24-004220 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  11. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001558370-25-003964 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  12. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001104659-26-037676 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  13. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001558370-23-005015 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  14. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001558370-24-004220 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  15. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001558370-25-003964 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  16. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001104659-26-037676 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  17. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001558370-23-005015 (LongTermDebt)
  18. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001558370-24-004220 (LongTermDebt)
  19. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001558370-25-003964 (LongTermDebt)
  20. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001104659-26-037676 (LongTermDebt)
  21. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001558370-23-005015 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  22. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001558370-24-004220 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  23. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001558370-25-003964 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  24. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001104659-26-037676 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)