MeritValue

SmartStop Self Storage REIT, Inc.

SMAdata completeness 75%13 fiscal years on file
The thesis, from the filings

SmartStop Self Storage REIT, Inc. earns about 12% on invested capital, and has bought back 30% of its shares over 5 years. 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$168.8M1$212.6M2$233M3$237M3$281.1M3
Net income−$19.6M4$21.7M5−$2.75M6−$18.4M6−$8.76M6
Operating cash flow$58.8M7$87.9M8$73.2M9$64M9$85M9
Capital expenditure—————
Free cash flow (derived)—————
Total debt—————
Cash & equivalents$37.3M10$39.5M11$45.1M12$23.1M13$54.2M13
Diluted shares79.4M92.1M—055.4M

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
$213.23
your share of equity
Profit it earned you last year
−$1.58
Free cash flow it threw off
—
Debt you’d be carrying
—

10 shares is a claim on $213.23 of net worth that earned you −$1.58 last year.

iii. Is this a good business?
Moat signal · return on invested capital
12% avg · 5y
FY21 3%FY22 15%FY23 20%FY24 18%FY25 3%

It earned an average 12% 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
−30% shares · 5y

Share count is down 30% over 5 years — management has been buying back stock, quietly handing owners a bigger slice.

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
only 0 years of FCF (need ≥3) — model not applicable
DCF · Growth Exit 5Y
not applicable
only 0 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 2021-12-31 · accession 0000950170-24-032792 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  2. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0000950170-25-037896 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  3. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001193125-26-082573 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  4. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0000950170-24-032792 (ProfitLoss)
  5. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0000950170-25-037896 (ProfitLoss)
  6. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001193125-26-082573 (NetIncomeLoss)
  7. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0000950170-24-032792 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  8. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0000950170-25-037896 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  9. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001193125-26-082573 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  10. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0000950170-23-005961 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  11. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0000950170-24-032792 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  12. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0000950170-25-037896 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  13. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001193125-26-082573 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)