MeritValue

CVD EQUIPMENT CORP

CVVdata completeness 100%16 fiscal years on file
The thesis, from the filings

CVD EQUIPMENT CORP earns about -3% on invested capital, but has diluted owners by 3% 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$16.4M1$25.8M2$24.1M3$26.9M4$25.8M4
Net income$4.75M5−$224,0006−$4.18M7−$1.9M8−$1.59M8
Operating cash flow−$4.27M9$194,00010−$206,00011−$1.49M12−$3.68M12
Capital expenditure$236,00013$665,00014$418,00015$106,00016$48,00016
Free cash flow (derived)−$4.51M9−$471,00010−$624,00011−$1.6M12−$3.73M12
Total debt$3.53M17$852,00018$698,00019$536,00020$181,00021
Cash & equivalents$16.7M22$14.4M23$14M24$12.6M25$8.73M25
Diluted shares6.7M6,7346.8M6.8M6.9M

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
$35.96
your share of equity
Profit it earned you last year
−$2.31
Free cash flow it threw off
−$5.42
Debt you’d be carrying
$0.26

10 shares is a claim on $35.96 of net worth that earned you −$2.31 and generated −$5.42 of cash last year, against $0.26 of debt.

iii. Is this a good business?
Moat signal · return on invested capital
-3% avg · 5y
FY21 31%FY22 -1%FY23 -26%FY24 -11%FY25 -8%

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
+3% shares · 5y

Share count is up 3% over 5 years — owners have been diluted. Worth asking what they got for it. Total debt has fallen 95% — 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 0001437749-23-008062 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerIncludingAssessedTax)
  2. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001493152-24-011730 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  3. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001493152-25-010917 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  4. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001493152-26-013567 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  5. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001437749-23-008062 (NetIncomeLoss)
  6. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001493152-24-011730 (NetIncomeLoss)
  7. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001493152-25-010917 (NetIncomeLoss)
  8. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001493152-26-013567 (NetIncomeLoss)
  9. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001437749-23-008062 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  10. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001493152-24-011730 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  11. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001493152-25-010917 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  12. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001493152-26-013567 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  13. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001437749-23-008062 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  14. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001493152-24-011730 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  15. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001493152-25-010917 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  16. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001493152-26-013567 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  17. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001437749-23-008062 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  18. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001493152-24-011730 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  19. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001493152-25-010917 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  20. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001493152-26-013567 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  21. 10-K · period ending 2025-12-31 · accession 0001493152-26-013567 (LongTermDebtCurrent)
  22. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001437749-23-008062 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  23. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001493152-24-011730 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  24. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001493152-25-010917 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  25. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001493152-26-013567 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)