MeritValue

Fluent, Inc.

FLNTdata completeness 100%17 fiscal years on file
The thesis, from the filings

Fluent, Inc. earns about -35% on invested capital, and has bought back 68% 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$329.3M1$361.1M2$298.4M3$254.6M4$208.8M4
Net income−$10.1M5−$123.3M6−$63.2M7−$29.3M8−$27.2M8
Operating cash flow$12.4M9$1.96M10$8.14M11−$14.1M12−$1.47M12
Capital expenditure$36,00013$17,00014$25,00015$13,00016$69,00016
Free cash flow (derived)$12.4M9$1.95M10$8.11M11−$14.1M12−$1.54M12
Total debt$90.7M17$81.2M18$61M19$71.2M20$69.2M20
Cash & equivalents$34.5M21$25.5M22$15.8M23$9.44M24$12.9M24
Diluted shares80.0M81.4M13.8M16.3M26.0M

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
$7.01
your share of equity
Profit it earned you last year
−$10.46
Free cash flow it threw off
−$0.59
Debt you’d be carrying
$26.63

10 shares is a claim on $7.01 of net worth that earned you −$10.46 and generated −$0.59 of cash last year, against $26.63 of debt.

iii. Is this a good business?
Moat signal · return on invested capital
-35% avg · 5y
FY21 -2%FY22 -63%FY23 -60%FY24 -24%FY25 -26%

It earned an average -35% 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
−68% shares · 5y

Share count is down 68% over 5 years — management has been buying back stock, quietly handing owners a bigger slice. Total debt has fallen 24% — 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 0001437749-23-006714 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  2. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001437749-24-010639 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  3. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001437749-25-010194 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  4. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001437749-26-010679 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  5. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001437749-23-006714 (NetIncomeLoss)
  6. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001437749-24-010639 (NetIncomeLoss)
  7. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001437749-25-010194 (NetIncomeLoss)
  8. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001437749-26-010679 (NetIncomeLoss)
  9. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001437749-23-006714 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  10. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001437749-24-010639 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  11. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001437749-25-010194 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  12. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001437749-26-010679 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  13. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001437749-23-006714 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  14. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001437749-24-010639 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  15. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001437749-25-010194 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  16. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001437749-26-010679 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  17. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001437749-23-006714 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  18. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001437749-24-010639 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  19. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001437749-25-010194 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  20. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001437749-26-010679 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  21. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001437749-23-006714 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  22. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001437749-24-010639 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  23. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001437749-25-010194 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  24. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001437749-26-010679 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)