MeritValue

Wheels Up Experience Inc.

UPdata completeness 100%7 fiscal years on file
The thesis, from the filings

Wheels Up Experience Inc. earns about -90% on invested capital, but has diluted owners by 3348% 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$1.19B1$1.58B2$1.25B3$792.1M3$736.5M3
Net income−$190M4−$555.2M5−$487.4M6−$339.6M6−$294.2M6
Operating cash flow$126.5M7−$230.7M8−$665.3M9−$77.9M9−$166.3M9
Capital expenditure$15.2M10$83.6M11$20.2M12$122.8M12$93.6M12
Free cash flow (derived)$111.3M7−$314.2M8−$685.5M9−$200.7M9−$259.9M9
Total debt$013$523.2M14$874.4M15$1.17B16$1.01B16
Cash & equivalents$784.6M17$585.9M18$263.9M19$216.4M20$133.9M20
Diluted shares20.5M24.6M132.2M697.7M706.0M

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
−$5.55
your share of equity
Profit it earned you last year
−$4.17
Free cash flow it threw off
−$3.68
Debt you’d be carrying
$14.26

10 shares is a claim on −$5.55 of net worth that earned you −$4.17 and generated −$3.68 of cash last year, against $14.26 of debt.

iii. Is this a good business?
Moat signal · return on invested capital
-90% avg · 5y
FY21 —FY22 -229%FY23 -50%FY24 -36%FY25 -48%

It earned an average -90% 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
+3348% shares · 5y

Share count is up 3348% over 5 years — owners have been diluted. Worth asking what they got for it.

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 0001819516-24-000015 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  2. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001819516-25-000012 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  3. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001628280-26-016512 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  4. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001819516-24-000015 (NetIncomeLoss)
  5. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001819516-25-000012 (NetIncomeLoss)
  6. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001628280-26-016512 (NetIncomeLoss)
  7. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001819516-24-000015 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  8. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001819516-25-000012 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  9. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001628280-26-016512 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  10. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001819516-24-000015 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  11. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001819516-25-000012 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  12. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001628280-26-016512 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  13. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001819516-23-000023 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  14. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001819516-24-000015 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  15. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001819516-25-000012 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  16. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001628280-26-016512 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  17. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001819516-23-000023 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  18. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001819516-24-000015 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  19. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001819516-25-000012 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  20. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001628280-26-016512 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)