MeritValue

Great Elm Capital Corp.

GECCdata completeness 63%6 fiscal years on file

Data notes: no data for concept 'capex'; no data for concept 'totalDebt'; no data for concept 'incomeTaxExpense'; no data for concept 'pretaxIncome'

The thesis, from the filings

Great Elm Capital Corp. earns about -6% on equity, but has diluted owners by 203% 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$25.3M1$24.4M2$35.8M2$39.3M2—
Net income−$10.3M3−$15.6M4$25.3M5$3.55M5−$31.8M5
Operating cash flow−$58.5M6−$41.8M7$25.7M8−$82.7M8−$2.82M8
Capital expenditure—————
Free cash flow (derived)—————
Total debt—————
Cash & equivalents$9.13M9$587,0009$953,00010$010$1.83M11
Diluted shares4.1M6.3M7.6M9.8M12.4M

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
$91.38
your share of equity
Profit it earned you last year
−$25.72
Free cash flow it threw off
—
Debt you’d be carrying
—

10 shares is a claim on $91.38 of net worth that earned you −$25.72 last year.

iii. Is this a good business?
Moat signal · return on equity
-6% avg · 5y
FY21 -14%FY22 -18%FY23 26%FY24 3%FY25 -28%

It earned an average -6% on equity over 5 years. Compare that to what it costs to fund the business.

seeing a moat in the numbers →
Management signal · capital allocation
+203% shares · 5y

Share count is up 203% over 5 years — owners have been diluted. Worth asking what they got for it.

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
only 0 years of FCF (need ≥3) — model not applicable
DCF · Growth Exit 5Y
not applicable
only 0 years of FCF (need ≥3) — model not applicable
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 0000950170-24-022642 (InterestAndDividendIncomeOperating)
  2. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0000950170-25-036517 (InterestAndDividendIncomeOperating)
  3. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0000950170-24-022642 (ProfitLoss)
  4. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0000950170-25-036517 (ProfitLoss)
  5. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001193125-26-085697 (ProfitLoss)
  6. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0000950170-24-022642 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  7. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0000950170-25-036517 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  8. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001193125-26-085697 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  9. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0000950170-24-022642 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  10. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0000950170-25-036517 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  11. 10-K · period ending 2025-12-31 · accession 0001193125-26-085697 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)