MeritValue

OPTICAL CABLE CORP

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

OPTICAL CABLE CORP earns about 2% on invested capital, but has diluted owners by 6% 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$59.1M1$69.1M1$72.2M2$66.7M3$73M3
Net income$6.61M4−$347,0914$2.07M5−$4.21M6−$1.45M6
Operating cash flow$2.12M7−$1.59M7−$395,6768−$857,0249$1.41M9
Capital expenditure$166,22710$279,81010$520,84711$369,63012$295,53712
Free cash flow (derived)$1.95M7−$1.87M7−$916,5238−$1.23M9$1.12M9
Total debt$9.71M13$9.06M14$5.35M14——
Cash & equivalents$132,24915$215,93616$1.47M17$244,24718$237,50818
Diluted shares7.6M7.5M7.9M7.7M8.0M

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
$20.52
your share of equity
Profit it earned you last year
−$1.81
Free cash flow it threw off
$1.39
Debt you’d be carrying
—

10 shares is a claim on $20.52 of net worth that earned you −$1.81 and generated $1.39 of cash last year.

iii. Is this a good business?
Moat signal · return on invested capital
2% avg · 5y
FY21 23%FY22 1%FY23 11%FY24 -16%FY25 -7%

It earned an average 2% 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 up 6% over 5 years — owners have been diluted. Worth asking what they got for it. Total debt has fallen 45% — 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 2021-10-31 · accession 0001437749-23-034978 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerIncludingAssessedTax)
  2. 10-K · period ending 2023-10-31 · accession 0001437749-24-038248 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerIncludingAssessedTax)
  3. 10-K · period ending 2024-10-31 · accession 0001437749-25-038228 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerIncludingAssessedTax)
  4. 10-K · period ending 2021-10-31 · accession 0001437749-23-034978 (NetIncomeLoss)
  5. 10-K · period ending 2023-10-31 · accession 0001437749-24-038248 (NetIncomeLoss)
  6. 10-K · period ending 2024-10-31 · accession 0001437749-25-038228 (NetIncomeLoss)
  7. 10-K · period ending 2021-10-31 · accession 0001437749-23-034978 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  8. 10-K · period ending 2023-10-31 · accession 0001437749-24-038248 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  9. 10-K · period ending 2024-10-31 · accession 0001437749-25-038228 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  10. 10-K · period ending 2021-10-31 · accession 0001437749-23-034978 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  11. 10-K · period ending 2023-10-31 · accession 0001437749-24-038248 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  12. 10-K · period ending 2024-10-31 · accession 0001437749-25-038228 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  13. 10-K · period ending 2021-10-31 · accession 0001437749-22-029578 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  14. 10-K · period ending 2022-10-31 · accession 0001437749-23-034978 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  15. 10-K · period ending 2021-10-31 · accession 0001437749-22-029578 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  16. 10-K · period ending 2022-10-31 · accession 0001437749-23-034978 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  17. 10-K · period ending 2023-10-31 · accession 0001437749-24-038248 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  18. 10-K · period ending 2024-10-31 · accession 0001437749-25-038228 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)