MeritValue

Paramount Global

PARAdata completeness 100%18 fiscal years on file

Data notes: no data for concept 'investmentsAtFairValue'; no data for concept 'netInvestmentIncome'

The thesis, from the filings

Paramount Global earns about -0% on invested capital, but has diluted owners by 7% 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 2020FY 2021FY 2022FY 2023FY 2024
Revenue$25.3B1$28.6B2$30.2B3$29.7B3$29.2B3
Net income$2.42B4$4.54B5$1.1B6−$608M6−$6.19B6
Operating cash flow$2.29B7$953M8$219M9$475M9$752M9
Capital expenditure$324M10$354M11$358M12$328M12$263M12
Free cash flow (derived)$1.97B7$599M8−$139M9$147M9$489M9
Total debt$19.6B13$17.7B13$239M14$015$015
Cash & equivalents$2.98B16$6.27B17$2.89B18$2.46B19$2.66B19
Diluted shares618.0M655.0M650.0M652.0M664.0M

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
$245.78
your share of equity
Profit it earned you last year
−$93.22
Free cash flow it threw off
$7.36
Debt you’d be carrying
$0

10 shares is a claim on $245.78 of net worth that earned you −$93.22 and generated $7.36 of cash last year, against $0 of debt.

iii. Is this a good business?
Moat signal · return on invested capital
-0% avg · 5y
FY20 11%FY21 16%FY22 9%FY23 -1%FY24 -36%

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
+7% shares · 5y

Share count is up 7% over 5 years — owners have been diluted. Worth asking what they got for it. Total debt has fallen 100% — 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 v0.5.0
DCF · Growth Exit 10Y
not applicable
only 2 years of FCF (need ≥3) — model not applicable
DCF · Growth Exit 5Y
not applicable
only 2 years of FCF (need ≥3) — model not applicable
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 2020-12-31 · accession 0000813828-23-000005 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  2. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0000813828-24-000007 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  3. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0000813828-25-000005 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  4. 10-K · period ending 2020-12-31 · accession 0000813828-23-000005 (NetIncomeLoss)
  5. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0000813828-24-000007 (NetIncomeLoss)
  6. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0000813828-25-000005 (NetIncomeLoss)
  7. 10-K · period ending 2020-12-31 · accession 0000813828-23-000005 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  8. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0000813828-24-000007 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  9. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0000813828-25-000005 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  10. 10-K · period ending 2020-12-31 · accession 0000813828-23-000005 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  11. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0000813828-24-000007 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  12. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0000813828-25-000005 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  13. 10-K · period ending 2020-12-31 · accession 0000813828-22-000005 (LongTermDebt)
  14. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0000813828-24-000007 (CommercialPaper)
  15. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0000813828-25-000005 (CommercialPaper)
  16. 10-K · period ending 2020-12-31 · accession 0000813828-22-000005 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  17. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0000813828-23-000005 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  18. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0000813828-24-000007 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  19. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0000813828-25-000005 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)