MeritValue

TUCOWS INC /PA/

TCXdata completeness 100%17 fiscal years on file
The thesis, from the filings

TUCOWS INC /PA/ earns about -79% on invested capital, but has diluted owners by 2% 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 2021FY 2022FY 2023FY 2024FY 2025
Revenue$304.3M1$321.1M1$339.3M2$362.3M2$390.3M2
Net income$3.36M3−$27.6M4−$96.2M5−$109.9M5−$75.8M5
Operating cash flow$29.6M6$19.9M7−$4.77M8−$19.7M8−$5.76M8
Capital expenditure$73.2M9$136.7M10$92.1M11$56.5M11$17.1M11
Free cash flow (derived)−$43.5M6−$116.8M7−$96.8M8−$76.2M8−$22.9M8
Total debt$191.4M12$239.7M13$211.9M14$195.4M15$190.4M16
Cash & equivalents$9.11M17$23.5M18$92.7M19$56.9M19$46.8M19
Diluted shares10.8M10.8M10.9M11.0M11.1M

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
−$148.39
your share of equity
Profit it earned you last year
−$68.52
Free cash flow it threw off
−$20.67
Debt you’d be carrying
$172.06

10 shares is a claim on −$148.39 of net worth that earned you −$68.52 and generated −$20.67 of cash last year, against $172.06 of debt.

iii. Is this a good business?
Moat signal · return on invested capital
-79% avg · 5y
FY21 2%FY22 -3%FY23 -35%FY24 -280%FY25 —

It earned an average -79% 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
+2% shares · 5y

Share count is up 2% over 5 years — owners have been diluted. Worth asking what they got for it. Total debt has held roughly steady.

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 2021-12-31 · accession 0001437749-24-010358 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerIncludingAssessedTax)
  2. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001437749-26-008009 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerIncludingAssessedTax)
  3. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001437749-24-010358 (NetIncomeLoss)
  4. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001437749-25-007558 (NetIncomeLoss)
  5. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001437749-26-008009 (NetIncomeLoss)
  6. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001437749-24-010358 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  7. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001437749-25-007558 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  8. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001437749-26-008009 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  9. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001437749-24-010358 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  10. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001437749-25-007558 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  11. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001437749-26-008009 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  12. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001437749-22-004915 (LongTermDebt)
  13. 10-K/A · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001437749-23-016767 (LongTermDebt)
  14. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001437749-24-010358 (LongTermDebt)
  15. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001437749-25-007558 (LongTermDebt)
  16. 10-K · period ending 2025-12-31 · accession 0001437749-26-008009 (LongTermDebt)
  17. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001437749-24-010358 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  18. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001437749-25-007558 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  19. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001437749-26-008009 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)