MeritValue

Townsquare Media, Inc.

TSQdata completeness 100%14 fiscal years on file
The thesis, from the filings

Townsquare Media, Inc. earns about 3% on invested capital, and has bought back 24% 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$418M1$463.1M2$454.2M3$451M4$427.4M4
Net income$16.7M5$12.3M6−$45M7−$12.7M8−$11.5M8
Operating cash flow$61.1M9$50.2M10$67.8M11$48.7M12$30.6M12
Capital expenditure$12.4M13$15.8M14$15M15$17.4M16$15.2M16
Free cash flow (derived)$48.7M9$34.4M10$52.8M11$31.3M12$15.4M12
Total debt$1.08B17$1.06B18$1B19$931.5M20$866M20
Cash & equivalents$50.5M21$43.4M22$61M23$33M24$4.76M24
Diluted shares21.2M18.2M16.8M15.6M16.2M

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
−$25.33
your share of equity
Profit it earned you last year
−$7.12
Free cash flow it threw off
$9.5
Debt you’d be carrying
$535.09

10 shares is a claim on −$25.33 of net worth that earned you −$7.12 and generated $9.5 of cash last year, against $535.09 of debt.

iii. Is this a good business?
Moat signal · return on invested capital
3% avg · 5y
FY21 4%FY22 5%FY23 -1%FY24 2%FY25 4%

It earned an average 3% 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
−24% shares · 5y

Share count is down 24% over 5 years — management has been buying back stock, quietly handing owners a bigger slice. Total debt has fallen 20% — deleveraging.

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
negative equity value — refusing to publish per-share figure
assumptions (10)
  • riskFreeRate4.7%
  • equityRiskPremium5.0%
  • beta100.0%
  • equityWeight85.0%
  • costOfDebtSpread1.5%
  • taxRate21.0%
  • terminalGrowth2.5%
  • projectionYears10
  • fcfGrowth0.0%
  • fcfBase$31.3M
DCF · Growth Exit 5Y
not applicable
negative equity value — refusing to publish per-share figure
assumptions (10)
  • riskFreeRate4.7%
  • equityRiskPremium5.0%
  • beta100.0%
  • equityWeight85.0%
  • costOfDebtSpread1.5%
  • taxRate21.0%
  • terminalGrowth2.5%
  • projectionYears5
  • fcfGrowth0.0%
  • fcfBase$31.3M
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 0001499832-23-000042 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  2. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001499832-24-000035 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  3. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001499832-25-000040 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  4. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001499832-26-000020 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  5. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001499832-23-000042 (NetIncomeLoss)
  6. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001499832-24-000035 (NetIncomeLoss)
  7. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001499832-25-000040 (NetIncomeLoss)
  8. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001499832-26-000020 (NetIncomeLoss)
  9. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001499832-23-000042 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  10. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001499832-24-000035 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  11. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001499832-25-000040 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  12. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001499832-26-000020 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  13. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001499832-23-000042 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  14. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001499832-24-000035 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  15. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001499832-25-000040 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  16. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001499832-26-000020 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  17. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001499832-23-000042 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  18. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001499832-24-000035 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  19. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001499832-25-000040 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  20. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001499832-26-000020 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  21. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001499832-23-000042 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  22. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001499832-24-000035 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  23. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001499832-25-000040 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  24. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001499832-26-000020 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)