MeritValue

VIQ Solutions Inc.

VQSSFdata completeness 100%4 fiscal years on file
The thesis, from the filings

VIQ Solutions Inc. earns about -46% on invested capital, but has diluted owners by 255% over 4 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 2019FY 2020FY 2021FY 2022
Revenue$25.1M1$31.7M2$31M2$45.8M2
Net income−$4.52M3−$11.1M4−$19.7M4−$8.71M4
Operating cash flow−$557,4015$3.42M6−$8.24M6−$2.34M6
Capital expenditure$92,6717$202,2978$79,2048$1.2M8
Free cash flow (derived)−$650,0725$3.22M6−$8.32M6−$3.54M6
Total debt$6.51M9$13.6M10$13.1M10$8.65M10
Cash & equivalents$1.71M11$16.8M11$10.6M11$1.66M11
Diluted shares9.8M18.1M29.9M34.6M

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
$4.51
your share of equity
Profit it earned you last year
−$2.51
Free cash flow it threw off
−$1.02
Debt you’d be carrying
$2.5

10 shares is a claim on $4.51 of net worth that earned you −$2.51 and generated −$1.02 of cash last year, against $2.5 of debt.

iii. Is this a good business?
Moat signal · return on invested capital
-46% avg · 4y
FY19 -50%FY20 -50%FY21 -56%FY22 -29%

It earned an average -46% on invested capital over 4 years. Compare that to what it costs to fund the business.

seeing a moat in the numbers →
Management signal · capital allocation
+255% shares · 4y

Share count is up 255% over 4 years — owners have been diluted. Worth asking what they got for it. Total debt has risen 33% 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 2019-12-31 · accession 0001410578-22-001122 (RevenueFromContractsWithCustomers)
  2. 20-F/A · period ending 2020-12-31 · accession 0001410578-23-000639 (RevenueFromContractsWithCustomers)
  3. 20-F · period ending 2019-12-31 · accession 0001410578-22-001122 (ProfitLoss)
  4. 20-F/A · period ending 2020-12-31 · accession 0001410578-23-000639 (ProfitLoss)
  5. 20-F · period ending 2019-12-31 · accession 0001410578-22-001122 (CashFlowsFromUsedInOperatingActivities)
  6. 20-F/A · period ending 2020-12-31 · accession 0001410578-23-000639 (CashFlowsFromUsedInOperatingActivities)
  7. 20-F · period ending 2019-12-31 · accession 0001410578-22-001122 (PurchaseOfPropertyPlantAndEquipmentClassifiedAsInvestingActivities)
  8. 20-F/A · period ending 2020-12-31 · accession 0001410578-23-000639 (PurchaseOfPropertyPlantAndEquipmentClassifiedAsInvestingActivities)
  9. 20-F · period ending 2019-12-31 · accession 0001410578-22-001122 (Borrowings)
  10. 20-F/A · period ending 2020-12-31 · accession 0001410578-23-000639 (Borrowings)
  11. 20-F/A · period ending 2019-12-31 · accession 0001410578-23-000639 (CashAndCashEquivalents)