MeritValue

LM FUNDING AMERICA, INC.

LMFAdata completeness 88%12 fiscal years on file
The thesis, from the filings

LM FUNDING AMERICA, INC. earns about -27% on invested capital, but has diluted owners by 10% 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$898,9411$1.73M2$13M3$11M4$8.84M4
Net income$4.76M5−$29.2M6−$15.9M7−$7.32M8−$26.9M8
Operating cash flow$2.7M9−$9.14M10−$3.4M11−$11.9M12−$14M12
Capital expenditure$14,41113$15,38214$1.63M15$1.73M16$2.21M16
Free cash flow (derived)$2.69M9−$9.15M10−$5.03M11−$13.7M12−$16.2M12
Total debt$114,68817$475,77518$567,58619$386,31220$7.01M20
Cash & equivalents$32.6M21————
Diluted shares7.9M2.2M2.3M2.8M8.7M

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
shares
Net assets behind them
$35.19
your share of equity
Profit it earned you last year
−$30.94
Free cash flow it threw off
−$18.61
Debt you’d be carrying
$8.05

10 shares is a claim on $35.19 of net worth that earned you −$30.94 and generated −$18.61 of cash last year, against $8.05 of debt.

iii. Is this a good business?
Moat signal · return on invested capital
-27% avg · 5y
FY21 18%FY22 -42%FY23 -40%FY24 -15%FY25 -54%

It earned an average -27% 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
+10% shares · 5y

Share count is up 10% over 5 years — owners have been diluted. Worth asking what they got for it. Total debt has risen 6010% over the same window.

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 0000950170-23-011149 (Revenues)
  2. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0000950170-24-038953 (Revenues)
  3. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0000950170-25-047901 (Revenues)
  4. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001193125-26-133333 (Revenues)
  5. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0000950170-23-011149 (NetIncomeLoss)
  6. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0000950170-24-038953 (NetIncomeLoss)
  7. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0000950170-25-047901 (NetIncomeLoss)
  8. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001193125-26-133333 (NetIncomeLoss)
  9. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0000950170-23-011149 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  10. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0000950170-24-038953 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  11. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0000950170-25-047901 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  12. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001193125-26-133333 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  13. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0000950170-23-011149 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  14. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0000950170-24-038953 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  15. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0000950170-25-047901 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  16. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001193125-26-133333 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  17. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0000950170-23-011149 (ShortTermBorrowings)
  18. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0000950170-24-038953 (ShortTermBorrowings)
  19. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0000950170-25-047901 (ShortTermBorrowings)
  20. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001193125-26-133333 (ShortTermBorrowings)
  21. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001564590-22-013045 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)