MeritValue

Research Solutions, Inc.

RSSSdata completeness 88%15 fiscal years on file

Data notes: no data for concept 'totalDebt'

The thesis, from the filings

Research Solutions, Inc. earns about -11% on equity, below its ~9% cost of capital, but has diluted owners by 19% over 5 years — no moat visible in the numbers. The estimate methods put fair value between $3.99 and $6.98 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$31.8M1$32.9M2$37.7M3$44.6M4$49.1M4
Net income−$285,0895−$1.63M6$571,6237−$3.79M8$1.27M8
Operating cash flow$1.87M9−$417,20010$3.38M11$3.55M12$7.02M12
Capital expenditure$19,85413$44,28814$47,20915$71,51016$19,26116
Free cash flow (derived)$1.85M9−$461,48810$3.34M11$3.48M12$7M12
Total debt—————
Cash & equivalents$11M17$10.6M18$13.5M19$6.1M20$12.2M20
Diluted shares26.5M26.4M29.1M28.9M31.5M

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
$4.42
your share of equity
Profit it earned you last year
$0.4
Free cash flow it threw off
$2.22
Debt you’d be carrying
—

10 shares is a claim on $4.42 of net worth that earned you $0.4 and generated $2.22 of cash last year.

iii. Is this a good business?
Moat signal · return on equity
-11% avg · 5y
FY21 -5%FY22 -33%FY23 8%FY24 -32%FY25 9%

It earned about -11% on equity against a ~9% cost of capital — below the cost of funding. The numbers show no moat.

seeing a moat in the numbers →
Management signal · capital allocation
+19% shares · 5y

Share count is up 19% over 5 years — owners have been diluted. Worth asking what they got for it.

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 2 estimate methods that apply put fair value between $3.99 and $6.98 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
$6.98
assumptions (10)
  • riskFreeRate4.7%
  • equityRiskPremium5.0%
  • beta100.0%
  • equityWeight85.0%
  • costOfDebtSpread1.5%
  • taxRate21.0%
  • terminalGrowth2.5%
  • projectionYears10
  • fcfGrowth20.0%
  • fcfBase$3.48M
DCF · Growth Exit 5Y
$3.99
assumptions (10)
  • riskFreeRate4.7%
  • equityRiskPremium5.0%
  • beta100.0%
  • equityWeight85.0%
  • costOfDebtSpread1.5%
  • taxRate21.0%
  • terminalGrowth2.5%
  • projectionYears5
  • fcfGrowth20.0%
  • fcfBase$3.48M
Earnings Power Value
not applicable
normalized (5y-median) earnings non-positive — EPV undefined
Graham Number
$0.63
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 years20.0%
Discount rate (WACC)8.93%
Terminal growth2.5%
At your growth, a share is worth $3.99
The three cases
Bear0.0%$1.97
Base20.0%$3.99
Bull20.0%$3.99

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

Default growth 20.0%= 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 2021-06-30 · accession 0001558370-22-014600 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  2. 10-K · period ending 2022-06-30 · accession 0001558370-23-015811 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  3. 10-K · period ending 2023-06-30 · accession 0001558370-24-012920 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  4. 10-K · period ending 2024-06-30 · accession 0001104659-25-091644 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  5. 10-K · period ending 2021-06-30 · accession 0001558370-22-014600 (NetIncomeLoss)
  6. 10-K · period ending 2022-06-30 · accession 0001558370-23-015811 (NetIncomeLoss)
  7. 10-K · period ending 2023-06-30 · accession 0001558370-24-012920 (NetIncomeLoss)
  8. 10-K · period ending 2024-06-30 · accession 0001104659-25-091644 (NetIncomeLoss)
  9. 10-K · period ending 2021-06-30 · accession 0001558370-22-014600 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  10. 10-K · period ending 2022-06-30 · accession 0001558370-23-015811 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  11. 10-K · period ending 2023-06-30 · accession 0001558370-24-012920 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  12. 10-K · period ending 2024-06-30 · accession 0001104659-25-091644 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  13. 10-K · period ending 2021-06-30 · accession 0001558370-22-014600 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  14. 10-K · period ending 2022-06-30 · accession 0001558370-23-015811 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  15. 10-K · period ending 2023-06-30 · accession 0001558370-24-012920 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  16. 10-K · period ending 2024-06-30 · accession 0001104659-25-091644 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  17. 10-K · period ending 2021-06-30 · accession 0001558370-22-014600 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  18. 10-K · period ending 2022-06-30 · accession 0001558370-23-015811 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  19. 10-K · period ending 2023-06-30 · accession 0001558370-24-012920 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  20. 10-K · period ending 2024-06-30 · accession 0001104659-25-091644 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)