MeritValue

Professional Diversity Network, Inc.

IPDNdata completeness 88%14 fiscal years on file

Data notes: no data for concept 'totalDebt'

The thesis, from the filings

Professional Diversity Network, Inc. earns about -109% on invested capital, and has bought back 57% 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$6.1M1$8.31M2$7.7M3$6.73M4$6.55M4
Net income−$2.76M5−$2.6M6−$4.31M7−$2.51M8−$6.45M8
Operating cash flow−$1.87M9−$2.25M10−$3.03M11−$2.5M12−$2.09M12
Capital expenditure$24,94013$15,60214$30,42615$20,87316$3,99516
Free cash flow (derived)−$1.9M9−$2.27M10−$3.06M11−$2.52M12−$2.09M12
Total debt—————
Cash & equivalents$3.4M17$1.24M18$627,64119$1.73M20$216,95420
Diluted shares7.2M8.2M1.1M1.3M3.1M

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
$38.14
your share of equity
Profit it earned you last year
−$20.94
Free cash flow it threw off
−$6.79
Debt you’d be carrying
—

10 shares is a claim on $38.14 of net worth that earned you −$20.94 and generated −$6.79 of cash last year.

iii. Is this a good business?
Moat signal · return on invested capital
-109% avg · 5y
FY21 —FY22 -188%FY23 -147%FY24 -57%FY25 -45%

It earned an average -109% 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
−57% shares · 5y

Share count is down 57% 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 v0.1.0
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 0001493152-23-010178 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  2. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001437749-24-010111 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  3. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001437749-25-010108 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  4. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001437749-26-010515 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  5. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001493152-23-010178 (NetIncomeLoss)
  6. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001437749-24-010111 (NetIncomeLoss)
  7. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001437749-25-010108 (NetIncomeLoss)
  8. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001437749-26-010515 (NetIncomeLoss)
  9. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001493152-23-010178 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  10. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001437749-24-010111 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  11. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001437749-25-010108 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  12. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001437749-26-010515 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  13. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001493152-23-010178 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  14. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001437749-24-010111 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  15. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001437749-25-010108 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  16. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001437749-26-010515 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  17. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001493152-23-010178 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  18. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001437749-24-010111 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  19. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001437749-25-010108 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  20. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001437749-26-010515 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)