MeritValue

Playboy, Inc.

PLBYdata completeness 100%6 fiscal years on file
The thesis, from the filings

Playboy, Inc. earns about -22% on invested capital, but has diluted owners by 163% 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$246.6M1$185.5M2$143M3$116.1M4$120.9M4
Net income−$77.7M5−$277.7M6−$180.4M7−$79.4M8−$12.7M8
Operating cash flow−$36.7M9−$59.4M10−$43.3M11−$19.1M12$18,00012
Capital expenditure$17.5M13$7.43M14$3.55M15$2.26M16$1.02M16
Free cash flow (derived)−$54.2M9−$66.9M10−$46.8M11−$21.4M12−$1.01M12
Total debt$457.7M17$386.4M18$380.8M19$353.2M20$348.3M20
Cash & equivalents$69.2M21$31.8M22$28.1M23$30.9M24$37.8M24
Diluted shares38.1M47.4M71.3M76.0M100.3M

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
$1.83
your share of equity
Profit it earned you last year
−$1.26
Free cash flow it threw off
−$0.1
Debt you’d be carrying
$34.74

10 shares is a claim on $1.83 of net worth that earned you −$1.26 and generated −$0.1 of cash last year, against $34.74 of debt.

iii. Is this a good business?
Moat signal · return on invested capital
-22% avg · 5y
FY21 -7%FY22 -45%FY23 -35%FY24 -19%FY25 -3%

It earned an average -22% 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
+163% shares · 5y

Share count is up 163% over 5 years — owners have been diluted. Worth asking what they got for it. Total debt has fallen 24% — 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 2021-12-31 · accession 0001803914-23-000017 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  2. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001803914-24-000022 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  3. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001803914-25-000030 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  4. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001628280-26-018238 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  5. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001803914-23-000017 (NetIncomeLoss)
  6. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001803914-24-000022 (NetIncomeLoss)
  7. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001803914-25-000030 (NetIncomeLoss)
  8. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001628280-26-018238 (NetIncomeLoss)
  9. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001803914-23-000017 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  10. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001803914-24-000022 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  11. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001803914-25-000030 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  12. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001628280-26-018238 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  13. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001803914-23-000017 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  14. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001803914-24-000022 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  15. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001803914-25-000030 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  16. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001628280-26-018238 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  17. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001803914-23-000017 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  18. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001803914-24-000022 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  19. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001803914-25-000030 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  20. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001628280-26-018238 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  21. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001803914-23-000017 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  22. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001803914-24-000022 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  23. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001803914-25-000030 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  24. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001628280-26-018238 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)