MeritValue

SALEM MEDIA GROUP, INC. /DE/

SALMdata completeness 88%14 fiscal years on file
The thesis, from the filings

SALEM MEDIA GROUP, INC. /DE/ earns about 3% on invested capital, but has diluted owners by 4% 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 2018FY 2019FY 2020FY 2021FY 2022
Revenue$262.8M1$253.9M2$236.2M3$258.2M4$267M4
Net income−$3.19M5−$27.8M6−$54.1M7$41.5M8−$3.24M8
Operating cash flow$23M9$17M10$22.9M11$22.5M12$7.74M12
Capital expenditure—————
Free cash flow (derived)—————
Total debt$273.4M13,14,15$461.2M16,17,18$440.1M19,20,21$345.5M22,23,24$322M22,23,25
Cash & equivalents$117,00026$6,00027$6.33M27$1.79M28$028
Diluted shares26.2M26.5M26.7M27.3M27.2M

Superscripts are receipts. Each links to the SEC filing the number came from (full list at the bottom). A derived or summed figure cites every filing line it was built from.

ii. Your slice — ownership made literal
If you owned
shares
Net assets behind them
$64.45
your share of equity
Profit it earned you last year
−$1.19
Free cash flow it threw off
—
Debt you’d be carrying
$118.37

10 shares is a claim on $64.45 of net worth that earned you −$1.19 last year, against $118.37 of debt.

iii. Is this a good business?
Moat signal · return on invested capital
3% avg · 5y
FY18 3%FY19 -1%FY20 -1%FY21 11%FY22 1%

It earned an average 3% 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
+4% shares · 5y

Share count is up 4% over 5 years — owners have been diluted. Worth asking what they got for it. Total debt has risen 18% over the same window.

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 —

Different models answer different questions — which to trust when →

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Sources — the receipts
  1. 10-K filed 2020-03-13 · period ending 2018-12-31 · accession 0001193125-20-071771 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  2. 10-K filed 2021-03-04 · period ending 2019-12-31 · accession 0001193125-21-069290 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  3. 10-K filed 2022-03-04 · period ending 2020-12-31 · accession 0001193125-22-066029 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  4. 10-K filed 2023-03-13 · periods ending 2021-12-31, 2022-12-31 · accession 0001193125-23-067859 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  5. 10-K filed 2020-03-13 · period ending 2018-12-31 · accession 0001193125-20-071771 (NetIncomeLoss)
  6. 10-K filed 2021-03-04 · period ending 2019-12-31 · accession 0001193125-21-069290 (NetIncomeLoss)
  7. 10-K filed 2022-03-04 · period ending 2020-12-31 · accession 0001193125-22-066029 (NetIncomeLoss)
  8. 10-K filed 2023-03-13 · periods ending 2021-12-31, 2022-12-31 · accession 0001193125-23-067859 (NetIncomeLoss)
  9. 10-K filed 2020-03-13 · period ending 2018-12-31 · accession 0001193125-20-071771 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  10. 10-K filed 2021-03-04 · period ending 2019-12-31 · accession 0001193125-21-069290 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  11. 10-K filed 2022-03-04 · period ending 2020-12-31 · accession 0001193125-22-066029 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  12. 10-K filed 2023-03-13 · periods ending 2021-12-31, 2022-12-31 · accession 0001193125-23-067859 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  13. 10-K filed 2020-03-13 · period ending 2018-12-31 · accession 0001193125-20-071771 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  14. 10-K filed 2020-03-13 · period ending 2018-12-31 · accession 0001193125-20-071771 (LongTermDebtCurrent)
  15. 10-K filed 2019-03-13 · period ending 2018-12-31 · accession 0001193125-19-072280 (LongTermDebt)
  16. 10-K filed 2021-03-04 · period ending 2019-12-31 · accession 0001193125-21-069290 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  17. 10-K filed 2021-03-04 · period ending 2019-12-31 · accession 0001193125-21-069290 (LongTermDebtCurrent)
  18. 10-K filed 2020-03-13 · period ending 2019-12-31 · accession 0001193125-20-071771 (LongTermDebt)
  19. 10-K filed 2022-03-04 · period ending 2020-12-31 · accession 0001193125-22-066029 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  20. 10-K filed 2022-03-04 · period ending 2020-12-31 · accession 0001193125-22-066029 (LongTermDebtCurrent)
  21. 10-K filed 2021-03-04 · period ending 2020-12-31 · accession 0001193125-21-069290 (LongTermDebt)
  22. 10-K filed 2023-03-13 · periods ending 2021-12-31, 2022-12-31 · accession 0001193125-23-067859 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  23. 10-K filed 2023-03-13 · periods ending 2021-12-31, 2022-12-31 · accession 0001193125-23-067859 (LongTermDebtCurrent)
  24. 10-K filed 2022-03-04 · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001193125-22-066029 (LongTermDebt)
  25. 10-K filed 2023-03-13 · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001193125-23-067859 (LongTermDebt)
  26. 10-K filed 2021-03-04 · period ending 2018-12-31 · accession 0001193125-21-069290 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  27. 10-K filed 2022-03-04 · periods ending 2019-12-31, 2020-12-31 · accession 0001193125-22-066029 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  28. 10-K filed 2023-03-13 · periods ending 2021-12-31, 2022-12-31 · accession 0001193125-23-067859 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)