MeritValue

EchoStar CORP

ECHOdata completeness 88%18 fiscal years on file
The thesis, from the filings

EchoStar CORP earns about -67% on invested capital, and has bought back 8% 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$19.8B1$18.6B2$17B3$15.8B3$15B3
Net income$2.52B4$2.54B5−$1.7B6−$119.5M6−$14.5B6
Operating cash flow$4.66B7$3.62B8$2.43B9$1.25B9−$99.4M9
Capital expenditure$1.62B10$3.05B11$3.1B12$1.54B12$965.7M12
Free cash flow (derived)$3.04B7$570.7M8−$668.3M9−$292.2M9−$1.07B9
Total debt$2.99B13$1.5B14———
Cash & equivalents$535.9M15$2.5B16$1.82B17$4.31B18$1.88B18
Diluted shares313.1M307.7M270.8M274.1M287.6M

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
$200.49
your share of equity
Profit it earned you last year
−$504.09
Free cash flow it threw off
−$37.04
Debt you’d be carrying
—

10 shares is a claim on $200.49 of net worth that earned you −$504.09 and generated −$37.04 of cash last year.

iii. Is this a good business?
Moat signal · return on invested capital
-67% avg · 5y
FY21 45%FY22 13%FY23 -8%FY24 -0%FY25 -384%

It earned an average -67% 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
−8% shares · 5y

Share count is down 8% over 5 years — management has been buying back stock, quietly handing owners a bigger slice. Total debt has fallen 50% — 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 0001558370-24-002209 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  2. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001558370-25-001663 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  3. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001104659-26-021817 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  4. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001558370-24-002209 (ProfitLoss)
  5. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001558370-25-001663 (ProfitLoss)
  6. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001104659-26-021817 (NetIncomeLoss)
  7. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001558370-24-002209 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  8. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001558370-25-001663 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  9. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001104659-26-021817 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  10. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001558370-24-002209 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  11. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001558370-25-001663 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  12. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001104659-26-021817 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  13. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001415404-22-000005 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  14. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001415404-23-000005 (LongTermDebt)
  15. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001415404-23-000005 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  16. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001558370-24-002209 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  17. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001558370-25-001663 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  18. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001104659-26-021817 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)