MeritValue

Cannae Holdings, Inc.

CNNEdata completeness 100%11 fiscal years on file
The thesis, from the filings

Cannae Holdings, Inc. earns about -10% on invested capital, and has bought back 37% 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$742.2M1$662.1M2$570M3$452.5M3$423.6M3
Net income−$287M4−$428.1M5−$313.4M6−$304.6M6−$513.2M6
Operating cash flow−$176.1M7−$205.1M8−$87.8M9−$90.1M9−$18.1M9
Capital expenditure$13.7M10$14.3M11$10M12$7M12$10.4M12
Free cash flow (derived)−$189.8M7−$219.4M8−$97.8M9−$97.1M9−$28.5M9
Total debt$32.8M13$194.8M14$210M15$362M16$141.6M16
Cash & equivalents$85.8M17$247.7M18$106.2M19$131.5M20$182M20
Diluted shares90.1M81.6M73.4M64.4M56.5M

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
$181.2
your share of equity
Profit it earned you last year
−$90.83
Free cash flow it threw off
−$5.04
Debt you’d be carrying
$25.06

10 shares is a claim on $181.2 of net worth that earned you −$90.83 and generated −$5.04 of cash last year, against $25.06 of debt.

iii. Is this a good business?
Moat signal · return on invested capital
-10% avg · 5y
FY21 -10%FY22 -10%FY23 -6%FY24 -10%FY25 -15%

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
−37% shares · 5y

Share count is down 37% over 5 years — management has been buying back stock, quietly handing owners a bigger slice. Total debt has risen 332% 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 0001704720-24-000030 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  2. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001704720-25-000015 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  3. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001704720-26-000045 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  4. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001704720-24-000030 (NetIncomeLoss)
  5. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001704720-25-000015 (NetIncomeLoss)
  6. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001704720-26-000045 (NetIncomeLoss)
  7. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001704720-24-000030 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  8. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001704720-25-000015 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  9. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001704720-26-000045 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  10. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001704720-24-000030 (PaymentsToAcquireProductiveAssets)
  11. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001704720-25-000015 (PaymentsToAcquireProductiveAssets)
  12. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001704720-26-000045 (PaymentsToAcquireProductiveAssets)
  13. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001704720-23-000025 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  14. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001704720-24-000030 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  15. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001704720-25-000015 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  16. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001704720-26-000045 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  17. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001704720-23-000025 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  18. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001704720-24-000030 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  19. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001704720-25-000015 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  20. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001704720-26-000045 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)