Gaotu Techedu Inc.

GOTUdata completeness 100%7 fiscal years on file

Data notes: no data for concept 'interestExpense'

The thesis, from the filings

Gaotu Techedu Inc. earns about -56% on invested capital, below its ~9% cost of capital, and has bought back 4% of its shares over 5 years — no moat visible in the numbers. The estimate methods put fair value between $7.46 and $13.3 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$1.03B1$362.2M2$417M3$623.8M4$879M5
Net income−$487M6$1.91M7−$1.03M8−$143.7M9−$46.2M10
Operating cash flow−$656.8M11$7.91M12$49.8M13$35.3M14$59.5M15
Capital expenditure$42.7M16$2.75M17$5.75M18$24.4M19$24.2M20
Free cash flow (derived)−$699.6M11$5.16M12$44.1M13$10.9M14$35.3M15
Total debt$18.9M21
Cash & equivalents$114.4M22$118.9M23$89.6M24$181M25$85.3M26
Diluted shares170.8M176.0M173.7M171.4M163.1M

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
$10.99
your share of equity
Profit it earned you last year
−$2.83
Free cash flow it threw off
$2.16
Debt you’d be carrying
$1.16

10 shares is a claim on $10.99 of net worth that earned you −$2.83 and generated $2.16 of cash last year, against $1.16 of debt.

iii. Is this a good business?
Moat signal · return on invested capital
-56% avg · 5y
FY21 -112%FY22 -0%FY23 0%FY24 -134%FY25 -33%

It earned about -56% 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
−4% shares · 5y

Share count is down 4% over 5 years — management has been buying back stock, quietly handing owners a bigger slice. Total debt has held roughly steady.

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 $7.46 and $13.3 a share. They rest on different assumptions, so where they diverge is the story.

DCF · Growth Exit 10Y
$13.3
assumptions (10)
  • riskFreeRate4.7%
  • equityRiskPremium5.0%
  • beta100.0%
  • equityWeight85.0%
  • costOfDebtSpread1.5%
  • taxRate21.0%
  • terminalGrowth2.5%
  • projectionYears10
  • fcfGrowth20.0%
  • fcfBase$35.3M
DCF · Growth Exit 5Y
$7.46
assumptions (10)
  • riskFreeRate4.7%
  • equityRiskPremium5.0%
  • beta100.0%
  • equityWeight85.0%
  • costOfDebtSpread1.5%
  • taxRate21.0%
  • terminalGrowth2.5%
  • projectionYears5
  • fcfGrowth20.0%
  • fcfBase$35.3M
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 →

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 $7.46
The three cases
Bear0.0%$3.5
Base20.0%$7.46
Bull20.0%$7.46

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. 20-F · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0000950170-22-006141 (Revenues)
  2. 20-F · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0000950170-23-013156 (Revenues)
  3. 20-F · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0000950170-24-047938 (Revenues)
  4. 20-F · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0000950170-25-056468 (Revenues)
  5. 20-F · period ending 2025-12-31 · accession 0001193125-26-168211 (Revenues)
  6. 20-F · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0000950170-22-006141 (NetIncomeLoss)
  7. 20-F · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0000950170-23-013156 (NetIncomeLoss)
  8. 20-F · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0000950170-24-047938 (NetIncomeLoss)
  9. 20-F · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0000950170-25-056468 (NetIncomeLoss)
  10. 20-F · period ending 2025-12-31 · accession 0001193125-26-168211 (NetIncomeLoss)
  11. 20-F · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0000950170-22-006141 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  12. 20-F · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0000950170-23-013156 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  13. 20-F · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0000950170-24-047938 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  14. 20-F · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0000950170-25-056468 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  15. 20-F · period ending 2025-12-31 · accession 0001193125-26-168211 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  16. 20-F · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0000950170-22-006141 (PaymentsToAcquireProductiveAssets)
  17. 20-F · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0000950170-23-013156 (PaymentsToAcquireProductiveAssets)
  18. 20-F · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0000950170-24-047938 (PaymentsToAcquireProductiveAssets)
  19. 20-F · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0000950170-25-056468 (PaymentsToAcquireProductiveAssets)
  20. 20-F · period ending 2025-12-31 · accession 0001193125-26-168211 (PaymentsToAcquireProductiveAssets)
  21. 20-F · period ending 2025-12-31 · accession 0001193125-26-168211 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  22. 20-F · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0000950170-22-006141 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  23. 20-F · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0000950170-23-013156 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  24. 20-F · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0000950170-24-047938 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  25. 20-F · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0000950170-25-056468 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  26. 20-F · period ending 2025-12-31 · accession 0001193125-26-168211 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)