MeritValue

Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings, Inc.

DNAdata completeness 88%7 fiscal years on file

Data notes: no data for concept 'totalDebt'

The thesis, from the filings

Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings, Inc. earns about -303% on invested capital, and has bought back 96% 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$313.8M1$477.7M2$251.5M3$227M3$170.2M3
Net income−$1.83B4−$2.1B5−$892.9M6−$547M6−$312.8M6
Operating cash flow−$253.8M7−$252.2M8−$295.5M9−$319.6M9−$171.1M9
Capital expenditure$56.5M10$52.3M11$40.8M12$62.5M12$7.67M12
Free cash flow (derived)−$310.3M7−$304.5M8−$336.3M9−$382.1M9−$178.7M9
Total debt—————
Cash & equivalents$1.55B13$1.32B14$944.1M14$561.6M14$167.2M14
Diluted shares1.36B42.0M48.6M51.9M55.5M

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
$91.71
your share of equity
Profit it earned you last year
−$56.4
Free cash flow it threw off
−$32.23
Debt you’d be carrying
—

10 shares is a claim on $91.71 of net worth that earned you −$56.4 and generated −$32.23 of cash last year.

iii. Is this a good business?
Moat signal · return on invested capital
-303% avg · 5y
FY21 —FY22 -399%FY23 -461%FY24 -280%FY25 -73%

It earned an average -303% 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
−96% shares · 5y

Share count is down 96% over 5 years — management has been buying back stock, quietly handing owners a bigger slice.

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 0001628280-24-008052 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  2. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001628280-25-007819 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  3. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001628280-26-012346 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  4. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001628280-24-008052 (NetIncomeLoss)
  5. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001628280-25-007819 (NetIncomeLoss)
  6. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001628280-26-012346 (NetIncomeLoss)
  7. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001628280-24-008052 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  8. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001628280-25-007819 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  9. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001628280-26-012346 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  10. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001628280-24-008052 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  11. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001628280-25-007819 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  12. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001628280-26-012346 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  13. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001628280-25-007819 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  14. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001628280-26-012346 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)