MeritValue

NORDSON CORP

NDSNdata completeness 100%18 fiscal years on file
The thesis, from the filings

NORDSON CORP earns about 10% on invested capital, barely covering its ~9% cost of capital, and has bought back 3% of its shares over 5 years. The estimate methods put fair value between $88.21 and $221.11 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$2.36B1$2.59B2$2.63B3$2.69B3$2.79B3
Net income$454.4M4$513.1M5$487.5M6$467.3M6$484.5M6
Operating cash flow$545.9M7$513.1M8$641.3M9$556.2M9$719.2M9
Capital expenditure$38.3M10$51.4M11$34.6M12$64.4M12$58.1M12
Free cash flow (derived)$507.6M7$461.7M8$606.7M9$491.8M9$661.1M9
Total debt$1.63B13$1.48B14$3.47B15$4.39B16$3.99B16
Cash & equivalents$300M17$163.5M18$115.7M19$116M20$108.4M20
Diluted shares58.7M58.2M57.6M57.6M56.9M

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
$534.75
your share of equity
Profit it earned you last year
$85.12
Free cash flow it threw off
$116.16
Debt you’d be carrying
$701.47

10 shares is a claim on $534.75 of net worth that earned you $85.12 and generated $116.16 of cash last year, against $701.47 of debt.

iii. Is this a good business?
Moat signal · return on invested capital
10% avg · 5y
FY21 14%FY22 15%FY23 9%FY24 6%FY25 7%

It earned about 10% on invested capital against a ~9% cost of capital — roughly what it costs to fund the business, so the numbers show no clear edge.

seeing a moat in the numbers →
Management signal · capital allocation
−3% shares · 5y

Share count is down 3% over 5 years — management has been buying back stock, quietly handing owners a bigger slice. Total debt has risen 145% 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

The 3 estimate methods that apply put fair value between $88.21 and $221.11 a share. They rest on different assumptions, so where they diverge is the story; the Graham Number is a stricter floor, not a target.

DCF · Growth Exit 10Y
$221.11
assumptions (10)
  • riskFreeRate4.7%
  • equityRiskPremium5.0%
  • beta100.0%
  • equityWeight85.0%
  • costOfDebtSpread1.5%
  • taxRate21.0%
  • terminalGrowth2.5%
  • projectionYears10
  • fcfGrowth9.5%
  • fcfBase$606.7M
DCF · Growth Exit 5Y
$160.56
assumptions (10)
  • riskFreeRate4.7%
  • equityRiskPremium5.0%
  • beta100.0%
  • equityWeight85.0%
  • costOfDebtSpread1.5%
  • taxRate21.0%
  • terminalGrowth2.5%
  • projectionYears5
  • fcfGrowth9.5%
  • fcfBase$606.7M
Earnings Power Value
$88.21
assumptions (8)
  • riskFreeRate4.7%
  • equityRiskPremium5.0%
  • beta100.0%
  • equityWeight85.0%
  • costOfDebtSpread1.5%
  • taxRate21.0%
  • normalizedEarnings$484.5M
  • growthAssumed0.0%
Graham Number
$101.19
assumptions (1)
  • grahamMultiplier2250.0%

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 years9.5%
Discount rate (WACC)8.93%
Terminal growth2.5%
At your growth, a share is worth $160.56
The three cases
Bear0.0%$84.06
Base9.5%$160.56
Bull14.5%$212.14

Bear/base/bull growth = 0% / filed history / history + 5pp. Type a price to see the return each case implies.

Default growth 9.5%= 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. 10-K · period ending 2021-10-31 · accession 0000072331-23-000242 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  2. 10-K · period ending 2022-10-31 · accession 0000072331-24-000177 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  3. 10-K · period ending 2023-10-31 · accession 0000072331-25-000144 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  4. 10-K · period ending 2021-10-31 · accession 0000072331-23-000242 (NetIncomeLoss)
  5. 10-K · period ending 2022-10-31 · accession 0000072331-24-000177 (NetIncomeLoss)
  6. 10-K · period ending 2023-10-31 · accession 0000072331-25-000144 (NetIncomeLoss)
  7. 10-K · period ending 2021-10-31 · accession 0000072331-23-000242 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  8. 10-K · period ending 2022-10-31 · accession 0000072331-24-000177 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  9. 10-K · period ending 2023-10-31 · accession 0000072331-25-000144 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  10. 10-K · period ending 2021-10-31 · accession 0000072331-23-000242 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  11. 10-K · period ending 2022-10-31 · accession 0000072331-24-000177 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  12. 10-K · period ending 2023-10-31 · accession 0000072331-25-000144 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  13. 10-K · period ending 2021-10-31 · accession 0000072331-22-000185 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  14. 10-K · period ending 2022-10-31 · accession 0000072331-23-000242 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  15. 10-K · period ending 2023-10-31 · accession 0000072331-24-000177 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  16. 10-K · period ending 2024-10-31 · accession 0000072331-25-000144 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  17. 10-K · period ending 2021-10-31 · accession 0000072331-22-000185 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  18. 10-K · period ending 2022-10-31 · accession 0000072331-23-000242 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  19. 10-K · period ending 2023-10-31 · accession 0000072331-24-000177 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  20. 10-K · period ending 2024-10-31 · accession 0000072331-25-000144 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)