MeritValue

Taoping Inc.

TAOPdata completeness 100%16 fiscal years on file
The thesis, from the filings

Taoping Inc. earns about -13% on invested capital, and has bought back 3% 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$19.4M1$24.2M2$38.6M3$36.7M3$30.8M3
Net income−$9.92M4−$7.08M5−$697,9416−$1.82M6−$10.1M6
Operating cash flow−$16.1M7−$7.51M8−$2.33M9−$2.38M9−$2.55M9
Capital expenditure$11.3M10$1.79M11$1.21M12$1.05M12$1.35M12
Free cash flow (derived)−$27.4M7−$9.31M8−$3.54M9−$3.44M9−$3.9M9
Total debt$7.79M13$7.2M14$8.55M15$7.89M16$15.4M17
Cash & equivalents$4.53M18$1.01M19$1.3M20$1.58M21$2.13M21
Diluted shares1.3M1.6M90,319239,3351.3M

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
$152.98
your share of equity
Profit it earned you last year
−$78.77
Free cash flow it threw off
−$30.54
Debt you’d be carrying
$120.87

10 shares is a claim on $152.98 of net worth that earned you −$78.77 and generated −$30.54 of cash last year, against $120.87 of debt.

iii. Is this a good business?
Moat signal · return on invested capital
-13% avg · 5y
FY21 -38%FY22 0%FY23 1%FY24 -5%FY25 -22%

It earned an average -13% 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
−3% shares · 5y

Share count is down 3% over 5 years — management has been buying back stock, quietly handing owners a bigger slice. Total debt has risen 98% 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 — 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. 20-F · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001493152-24-015948 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  2. 20-F · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001641172-25-006699 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  3. 20-F · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001493152-26-020596 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  4. 20-F · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001493152-24-015948 (NetIncomeLoss)
  5. 20-F · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001641172-25-006699 (NetIncomeLoss)
  6. 20-F · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001493152-26-020596 (NetIncomeLoss)
  7. 20-F · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001493152-24-015948 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  8. 20-F · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001641172-25-006699 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  9. 20-F · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001493152-26-020596 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  10. 20-F · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001493152-24-015948 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  11. 20-F · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001641172-25-006699 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  12. 20-F · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001493152-26-020596 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  13. 20-F · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001493152-23-013554 (ShortTermBorrowings)
  14. 20-F · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001493152-24-015948 (ShortTermBorrowings)
  15. 20-F · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001641172-25-006699 (ShortTermBorrowings)
  16. 20-F · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001493152-26-020596 (LongTermDebt)
  17. 20-F · period ending 2025-12-31 · accession 0001493152-26-020596 (LongTermDebtCurrent)
  18. 20-F · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001493152-23-013554 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  19. 20-F · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001493152-24-015948 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  20. 20-F · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001641172-25-006699 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  21. 20-F · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001493152-26-020596 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)