MeritValue

METHODE ELECTRONICS INC

MEIdata completeness 100%17 fiscal years on file
The thesis, from the filings

METHODE ELECTRONICS INC earns about -0% on invested capital, and has bought back 6% 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 2022FY 2023FY 2024FY 2025FY 2026
Revenue$1.16B1$1.18B2$1.11B3$1.05B3$1.02B3
Net income$102.2M4$77.1M5−$123.3M6−$62.6M6−$35.7M6
Operating cash flow$98.8M7$132.8M8$47.5M9$26.4M9$38M9
Capital expenditure$38M10$42M11$50.2M12$41.6M12$22.4M12
Free cash flow (derived)$60.8M7$90.8M8−$2.7M9−$15.2M9$15.6M9
Total debt$421M13$613.6M14$661.8M15$635.2M16$650M16
Cash & equivalents$172M17$157M18$161.5M19$103.6M20$139.6M20
Diluted shares37.8M36.8M35.5M35.3M35.5M

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
$190.73
your share of equity
Profit it earned you last year
−$10.05
Free cash flow it threw off
$4.39
Debt you’d be carrying
$182.99

10 shares is a claim on $190.73 of net worth that earned you −$10.05 and generated $4.39 of cash last year, against $182.99 of debt.

iii. Is this a good business?
Moat signal · return on invested capital
-0% avg · 5y
FY22 9%FY23 5%FY24 -9%FY25 -5%FY26 -2%

It earned an average -0% 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
−6% shares · 5y

Share count is down 6% over 5 years — management has been buying back stock, quietly handing owners a bigger slice. Total debt has risen 54% 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 2022-04-30 · accession 0000950170-24-082852 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  2. 10-K · period ending 2023-04-29 · accession 0000950170-25-094822 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  3. 10-K · period ending 2024-04-27 · accession 0000065270-26-000031 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  4. 10-K · period ending 2022-04-30 · accession 0000950170-24-082852 (NetIncomeLoss)
  5. 10-K · period ending 2023-04-29 · accession 0000950170-25-094822 (NetIncomeLoss)
  6. 10-K · period ending 2024-04-27 · accession 0000065270-26-000031 (NetIncomeLoss)
  7. 10-K · period ending 2022-04-30 · accession 0000950170-24-082852 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  8. 10-K · period ending 2023-04-29 · accession 0000950170-25-094822 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  9. 10-K · period ending 2024-04-27 · accession 0000065270-26-000031 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  10. 10-K · period ending 2022-04-30 · accession 0000950170-24-082852 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  11. 10-K · period ending 2023-04-29 · accession 0000950170-25-094822 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  12. 10-K · period ending 2024-04-27 · accession 0000065270-26-000031 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  13. 10-K · period ending 2022-04-30 · accession 0000950170-23-030121 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  14. 10-K · period ending 2023-04-29 · accession 0000950170-24-082852 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  15. 10-K · period ending 2024-04-27 · accession 0000950170-25-094822 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  16. 10-K · period ending 2025-05-03 · accession 0000065270-26-000031 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  17. 10-K · period ending 2022-04-30 · accession 0000950170-23-030121 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  18. 10-K · period ending 2023-04-29 · accession 0000950170-24-082852 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  19. 10-K · period ending 2024-04-27 · accession 0000950170-25-094822 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  20. 10-K · period ending 2025-05-03 · accession 0000065270-26-000031 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)