MeritValue

HARTE HANKS INC

HHSdata completeness 88%17 fiscal years on file
The thesis, from the filings

HARTE HANKS INC earns about -29% on invested capital, but has diluted owners by 3% 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$194.6M1$206.3M2$191.5M3$185.2M4$159.6M4
Net income$15M5$36.8M6−$1.57M7−$30.3M8−$811,0008
Operating cash flow−$1.76M9$28.8M10$10.5M11−$2.99M12−$1.74M12
Capital expenditure$3.05M13$5.8M14$2.81M15$3.75M16$2.76M16
Free cash flow (derived)−$4.81M9$23M10$7.67M11−$6.73M12−$4.49M12
Total debt$10M17$017———
Cash & equivalents$11.9M18$10.4M19$18.4M20$9.81M21$5.58M21
Diluted shares7.2M7.5M7.3M7.3M7.4M

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
$27.76
your share of equity
Profit it earned you last year
−$1.1
Free cash flow it threw off
−$6.08
Debt you’d be carrying
—

10 shares is a claim on $27.76 of net worth that earned you −$1.1 and generated −$6.08 of cash last year.

iii. Is this a good business?
Moat signal · return on invested capital
-29% avg · 5y
FY21 —FY22 232%FY23 -91%FY24 -252%FY25 -5%

It earned an average -29% 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
+3% shares · 5y

Share count is up 3% over 5 years — owners have been diluted. Worth asking what they got for it. Total debt has fallen 100% — 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 0001437749-23-008877 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  2. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0000045919-24-000014 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  3. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0000045919-25-000008 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  4. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001628280-26-018894 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  5. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001437749-23-008877 (NetIncomeLoss)
  6. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0000045919-24-000014 (NetIncomeLoss)
  7. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0000045919-25-000008 (NetIncomeLoss)
  8. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001628280-26-018894 (NetIncomeLoss)
  9. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001437749-23-008877 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  10. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0000045919-24-000014 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  11. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0000045919-25-000008 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  12. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001628280-26-018894 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  13. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001437749-23-008877 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  14. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0000045919-24-000014 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  15. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0000045919-25-000008 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  16. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001628280-26-018894 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  17. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001437749-23-008877 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  18. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001437749-23-008877 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  19. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0000045919-24-000014 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  20. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0000045919-25-000008 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  21. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001628280-26-018894 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)