MeritValue

Shutterstock, Inc.

SSTKdata completeness 100%16 fiscal years on file

Data notes: no data for concept 'interestExpense'

The thesis, from the filings

Shutterstock, Inc. earns about 23% on invested capital, far above its ~9% cost of capital, and has bought back 3% of its shares over 5 years — the marks of a durable business run for its owners. The estimate methods put fair value between $21.74 and $35.12 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$773.4M1$827.8M2$874.6M3$935.3M3$989.9M3
Net income$91.9M4$76.1M5$110.3M6$35.9M6$45.5M6
Operating cash flow$216.4M7$158.5M8$140.6M9$32.6M9$166.7M9
Capital expenditure$28.1M10$43.3M11$44.6M12$47.2M12$42.9M12
Free cash flow (derived)$188.2M7$115.2M8$95.9M9−$14.6M9$123.8M9
Total debt$013$50M14$30M15$277.7M16$274.7M16
Cash & equivalents$314M17$115.2M18$100.5M19$111.3M20$178.2M20
Diluted shares37.3M36.5M36.2M35.7M36.3M

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
$160.21
your share of equity
Profit it earned you last year
$12.54
Free cash flow it threw off
$34.14
Debt you’d be carrying
$75.76

10 shares is a claim on $160.21 of net worth that earned you $12.54 and generated $34.14 of cash last year, against $75.76 of debt.

iii. Is this a good business?
Moat signal · return on invested capital
23% avg · 5y
FY21 59%FY22 20%FY23 24%FY24 5%FY25 7%

It earned about 23% on invested capital, year after year, against a ~9% cost of capital — the footprint of real pricing power. Competition usually drags returns like this back down; here it hasn't.

seeing a moat in the numbers →
Management signal · capital allocation
−3% shares · 5y

Share count is down 3% 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

The 3 estimate methods that apply put fair value between $21.74 and $35.12 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
$32.28
assumptions (10)
  • riskFreeRate4.7%
  • equityRiskPremium5.0%
  • beta100.0%
  • equityWeight85.0%
  • costOfDebtSpread1.5%
  • taxRate21.0%
  • terminalGrowth2.5%
  • projectionYears10
  • fcfGrowth0.0%
  • fcfBase$95.9M
DCF · Growth Exit 5Y
$35.12
assumptions (10)
  • riskFreeRate4.7%
  • equityRiskPremium5.0%
  • beta100.0%
  • equityWeight85.0%
  • costOfDebtSpread1.5%
  • taxRate21.0%
  • terminalGrowth2.5%
  • projectionYears5
  • fcfGrowth0.0%
  • fcfBase$95.9M
Earnings Power Value
$21.74
assumptions (8)
  • riskFreeRate4.7%
  • equityRiskPremium5.0%
  • beta100.0%
  • equityWeight85.0%
  • costOfDebtSpread1.5%
  • taxRate21.0%
  • normalizedEarnings$76.1M
  • growthAssumed0.0%
Graham Number
$21.23
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 years0.0%
Discount rate (WACC)8.93%
Terminal growth2.5%
At your growth, a share is worth $35.12
The three cases
Bear0.0%$35.12
Base0.0%$35.12
Bull5.0%$44.27

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

Default growth 0.0%= 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 2021-12-31 · accession 0001549346-24-000007 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  2. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001549346-25-000011 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  3. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001549346-26-000008 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  4. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001549346-24-000007 (NetIncomeLoss)
  5. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001549346-25-000011 (NetIncomeLoss)
  6. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001549346-26-000008 (NetIncomeLoss)
  7. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001549346-24-000007 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  8. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001549346-25-000011 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  9. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001549346-26-000008 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  10. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001549346-24-000007 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  11. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001549346-25-000011 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  12. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001549346-26-000008 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  13. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001549346-23-000011 (LongTermDebtCurrent)
  14. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001549346-24-000007 (LongTermDebtCurrent)
  15. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001549346-25-000011 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  16. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001549346-26-000008 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  17. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001549346-23-000011 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  18. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001549346-24-000007 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  19. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001549346-25-000011 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  20. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001549346-26-000008 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)