MeritValue

Energy Services of America CORP

ESOAdata completeness 88%16 fiscal years on file
The thesis, from the filings

Energy Services of America CORP earns about 6% on invested capital, below its ~9% cost of capital, with a roughly flat share count — no moat visible in the numbers. The estimate methods put fair value between $10.15 and $26.23 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$122.5M1$197.6M2$304.1M3$351.9M4$411M4
Net income—————
Operating cash flow$798,9395$8.28M6$21.1M7$18.7M8$4.14M8
Capital expenditure$6.05M9$5.31M10$10.8M11$8.76M12$6.35M12
Free cash flow (derived)−$5.25M5$2.98M6$10.2M7$9.92M8−$2.22M8
Total debt$73.3M13$108.7M14$115.6M15$84.4M16$166.4M16
Cash & equivalents$8.23M17$7.43M18$16.4M19$12.9M20$12.2M20
Diluted shares17.0M16.3M16.7M16.6M16.7M

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
$35.5
your share of equity
Profit it earned you last year
—
Free cash flow it threw off
−$1.33
Debt you’d be carrying
$99.7

10 shares is a claim on $35.5 of net worth that generated −$1.33 of cash last year, against $99.7 of debt.

iii. Is this a good business?
Moat signal · return on invested capital
6% avg · 5y
FY21 -0%FY22 3%FY23 7%FY24 19%FY25 0%

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
−2% shares · 5y

Share count is roughly flat over 5 years — little dilution, little buyback. Total debt has risen 127% 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 2 estimate methods that apply put fair value between $10.15 and $26.23 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
$26.23
assumptions (10)
  • riskFreeRate4.7%
  • equityRiskPremium5.0%
  • beta100.0%
  • equityWeight85.0%
  • costOfDebtSpread1.5%
  • taxRate21.0%
  • terminalGrowth2.5%
  • projectionYears10
  • fcfGrowth20.0%
  • fcfBase$9.92M
DCF · Growth Exit 5Y
$10.15
assumptions (10)
  • riskFreeRate4.7%
  • equityRiskPremium5.0%
  • beta100.0%
  • equityWeight85.0%
  • costOfDebtSpread1.5%
  • taxRate21.0%
  • terminalGrowth2.5%
  • projectionYears5
  • fcfGrowth20.0%
  • fcfBase$9.92M
Earnings Power Value
not applicable
only 0 years of net income (need ≥3)
Graham Number
$1.26
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 $10.15
The three cases
Bear0.0%−$0.74
Base20.0%$10.15
Bull20.0%$10.15

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/A · period ending 2021-09-30 · accession 0001410578-23-001401 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerIncludingAssessedTax)
  2. 10-K · period ending 2022-09-30 · accession 0001410578-24-000014 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerIncludingAssessedTax)
  3. 10-K · period ending 2023-09-30 · accession 0001410578-24-002104 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerIncludingAssessedTax)
  4. 10-K · period ending 2024-09-30 · accession 0001104659-25-121185 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  5. 10-K/A · period ending 2021-09-30 · accession 0001410578-23-001401 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  6. 10-K · period ending 2022-09-30 · accession 0001410578-24-000014 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  7. 10-K · period ending 2023-09-30 · accession 0001410578-24-002104 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  8. 10-K · period ending 2024-09-30 · accession 0001104659-25-121185 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  9. 10-K/A · period ending 2021-09-30 · accession 0001410578-23-001401 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  10. 10-K · period ending 2022-09-30 · accession 0001410578-24-000014 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  11. 10-K · period ending 2023-09-30 · accession 0001410578-24-002104 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  12. 10-K · period ending 2024-09-30 · accession 0001104659-25-121185 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  13. 10-K/A · period ending 2021-09-30 · accession 0001410578-23-001401 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  14. 10-K · period ending 2022-09-30 · accession 0001410578-24-000014 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  15. 10-K · period ending 2023-09-30 · accession 0001410578-24-002104 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  16. 10-K · period ending 2024-09-30 · accession 0001104659-25-121185 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  17. 10-K/A · period ending 2021-09-30 · accession 0001410578-23-001401 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  18. 10-K · period ending 2022-09-30 · accession 0001410578-24-000014 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  19. 10-K · period ending 2023-09-30 · accession 0001410578-24-002104 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  20. 10-K · period ending 2024-09-30 · accession 0001104659-25-121185 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)