MeritValue

Childrens Place, Inc.

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

Childrens Place, Inc. earns about -19% on invested capital, but has diluted owners by 48% 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 2022FY 2023FY 2024FY 2025FY 2026
Revenue$1.92B1$1.71B2$1.6B3$1.39B3$1.21B3
Net income$187.2M4−$1.14M5−$154.5M6−$57.8M6−$88.3M6
Operating cash flow$133.3M7−$8.22M8$92.8M9−$117.6M9$8.12M9
Capital expenditure$29.3M10$45.6M11$27.6M12$15.8M12$17.4M12
Free cash flow (derived)$104M7−$53.8M8$65.2M9−$133.4M9−$9.26M9
Total debt$225M13$336.7M14$276.5M14$245.7M15$131.1M15
Cash & equivalents$54.8M16$16.7M17$13.6M18$5.35M19$5.49M19
Diluted shares14.9M13.1M12.5M12.8M22.0M

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
−$24.6
your share of equity
Profit it earned you last year
−$40.07
Free cash flow it threw off
−$4.21
Debt you’d be carrying
$59.51

10 shares is a claim on −$24.6 of net worth that earned you −$40.07 and generated −$4.21 of cash last year, against $59.51 of debt.

iii. Is this a good business?
Moat signal · return on invested capital
-19% avg · 5y
FY22 51%FY23 -0%FY24 -26%FY25 -22%FY26 -100%

It earned an average -19% 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
+48% shares · 5y

Share count is up 48% over 5 years — owners have been diluted. Worth asking what they got for it. Total debt has fallen 42% — 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 2022-01-29 · accession 0001628280-24-020436 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  2. 10-K · period ending 2023-01-28 · accession 0001628280-25-018195 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  3. 10-K · period ending 2024-02-03 · accession 0001628280-26-024672 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  4. 10-K · period ending 2022-01-29 · accession 0001628280-24-020436 (NetIncomeLoss)
  5. 10-K · period ending 2023-01-28 · accession 0001628280-25-018195 (NetIncomeLoss)
  6. 10-K · period ending 2024-02-03 · accession 0001628280-26-024672 (NetIncomeLoss)
  7. 10-K · period ending 2022-01-29 · accession 0001628280-24-020436 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  8. 10-K · period ending 2023-01-28 · accession 0001628280-25-018195 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  9. 10-K · period ending 2024-02-03 · accession 0001628280-26-024672 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  10. 10-K · period ending 2022-01-29 · accession 0001628280-24-020436 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  11. 10-K · period ending 2023-01-28 · accession 0001628280-25-018195 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  12. 10-K · period ending 2024-02-03 · accession 0001628280-26-024672 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  13. 10-K · period ending 2022-01-29 · accession 0001628280-23-009382 (LongTermDebt)
  14. 10-K · period ending 2023-01-28 · accession 0001628280-24-020436 (LongTermDebt)
  15. 10-K · period ending 2025-02-01 · accession 0001628280-26-024672 (ShortTermBorrowings)
  16. 10-K · period ending 2022-01-29 · accession 0001628280-23-009382 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  17. 10-K · period ending 2023-01-28 · accession 0001628280-24-020436 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  18. 10-K · period ending 2024-02-03 · accession 0001628280-25-018195 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  19. 10-K · period ending 2025-02-01 · accession 0001628280-26-024672 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)