GLADSTONE CAPITAL CORP

GLADdata completeness 63%5 fiscal years on file

Data notes: no data for concept 'revenue'; no data for concept 'capex'; no data for concept 'totalDebt'; no data for concept 'depreciationAmortization'; no data for concept 'gainsOnRealEstateSales'; no data for concept 'realEstateImpairment'; no data for concept 'interestExpense'; no data for concept 'pretaxIncome'

The thesis, from the filings

GLADSTONE CAPITAL CORP earns about 15% on equity, and has bought back 32% 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

Figure	FY 2021	FY 2022	FY 2023	FY 2024	FY 2025
Revenue	—	—	—	—	—
Net income	$84.3M¹	$19.9M²	$42.7M³	$94.5M³	$57.2M³
Operating cash flow	−$14.1M⁴	−$76.4M⁵	−$10.9M⁶	$3.24M⁶	−$5.49M⁶
Capital expenditure	—	—	—	—	—
Free cash flow (derived)	—	—	—	—	—
Total debt	—	—	—	—	—
Cash & equivalents	$846,000⁷	$2.01M⁸	$1.31M⁹	$2.17M⁹	$32.4M¹⁰
Diluted shares	33.2M	17.2M	18.7M	21.8M	22.7M

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

Net assets behind them

$212.7

your share of equity

Profit it earned you last year

$25.24

Free cash flow it threw off

—

Debt you’d be carrying

—

10 shares is a claim on $212.7 of net worth that earned you $25.24 last year.

iii. Is this a good business?

Moat signal · return on equity

15% avg · 5y

FY21 26%FY22 6%FY23 10%FY24 20%FY25 12%

It earned an average 15% 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

−32% shares · 5y

Share count is down 32% 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 v0.5.0

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

business development company / RIC — reported earnings are dominated by unrealised marks on private holdings, and a RIC must distribute ~90% of income so it cannot retain earnings to compound. Capitalising them would be meaningless, not merely imprecise. Price/NAV is the applicable lens.

Graham Number

not applicable

Different models answer different questions — which to trust when →

Sources — the receipts

10-K · period ending 2021-09-30 · accession 0001143513-23-000013 (NetIncomeLoss)
10-K · period ending 2022-09-30 · accession 0001143513-24-000011 (NetIncomeLoss)
10-K · period ending 2023-09-30 · accession 0001143513-25-000015 (NetIncomeLoss)
10-K · period ending 2021-09-30 · accession 0001143513-23-000013 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
10-K · period ending 2022-09-30 · accession 0001143513-24-000011 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
10-K · period ending 2023-09-30 · accession 0001143513-25-000015 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
10-K · period ending 2021-09-30 · accession 0001143513-24-000011 (CashCashEquivalentsRestrictedCashAndRestrictedCashEquivalents)
10-K · period ending 2022-09-30 · accession 0001143513-23-000013 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
10-K · period ending 2023-09-30 · accession 0001143513-24-000011 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
10-K · period ending 2025-09-30 · accession 0001143513-25-000015 (CashCashEquivalentsRestrictedCashAndRestrictedCashEquivalents)