MeritValue

TrueBlue, Inc.

TBIdata completeness 100%18 fiscal years on file
The thesis, from the filings

TrueBlue, Inc. earns about -2% on invested capital, and has bought back 16% 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$2.17B1$2.25B2$1.91B3$1.57B3$1.62B3
Net income$61.6M4$62.3M5−$14.2M6−$125.7M6−$48M6
Operating cash flow$20.4M7$120.5M8$34.8M9−$17.1M9−$58M9
Capital expenditure$35M10$30.6M11$31.3M12$24.2M12$15.7M12
Free cash flow (derived)−$14.6M7$89.9M8$3.48M9−$41.2M9−$73.7M9
Total debt——$013$7.6M14$65.8M14
Cash & equivalents$49.9M15$72.1M16$61.9M17$22.5M18$24.5M18
Diluted shares35.4M33.4M31.3M30.2M29.8M

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
$91.98
your share of equity
Profit it earned you last year
−$16.07
Free cash flow it threw off
−$24.7
Debt you’d be carrying
$22.04

10 shares is a claim on $91.98 of net worth that earned you −$16.07 and generated −$24.7 of cash last year, against $22.04 of debt.

iii. Is this a good business?
Moat signal · return on invested capital
-2% avg · 5y
FY21 14%FY22 15%FY23 -4%FY24 -23%FY25 -11%

It earned an average -2% 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
−16% shares · 5y

Share count is down 16% 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
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. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-26 · accession 0000768899-24-000043 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerIncludingAssessedTax)
  2. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-25 · accession 0000768899-25-000043 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerIncludingAssessedTax)
  3. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0000768899-26-000009 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerIncludingAssessedTax)
  4. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-26 · accession 0000768899-24-000043 (NetIncomeLoss)
  5. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-25 · accession 0000768899-25-000043 (NetIncomeLoss)
  6. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0000768899-26-000009 (NetIncomeLoss)
  7. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-26 · accession 0000768899-24-000043 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  8. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-25 · accession 0000768899-25-000043 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  9. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0000768899-26-000009 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  10. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-26 · accession 0000768899-24-000043 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  11. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-25 · accession 0000768899-25-000043 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  12. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0000768899-26-000009 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  13. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0000768899-25-000043 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  14. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-29 · accession 0000768899-26-000009 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  15. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-26 · accession 0000768899-23-000064 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  16. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-25 · accession 0000768899-24-000043 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  17. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0000768899-25-000043 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  18. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-29 · accession 0000768899-26-000009 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)