MeritValue

Vroom, Inc.

VRMdata completeness 88%8 fiscal years on file
The thesis, from the filings

Vroom, Inc. earns about -21% on invested capital, and has bought back 96% 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$3.18B1$1.95B2$893.2M2——
Net income−$370.9M3−$451.9M4−$364.6M5−$165.1M6−$53.1M6
Operating cash flow−$568.7M7−$109.1M8−$533.7M9−$97M10$75.2M10
Capital expenditure$28.4M11$24.2M12$2.62M13$3.49M14$7.06M14
Free cash flow (derived)−$597.1M7−$133.3M8−$536.3M9−$100.5M10$68.1M10
Total debt$1.22B15$898.8M16$1.25B16$381.4M17$423.2M17
Cash & equivalents$1.13B18$398.9M19$135.6M20$29.3M21$10.4M21
Diluted shares136.4M1.7M1.7M1.8M5.2M

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
$224.95
your share of equity
Profit it earned you last year
−$102.33
Free cash flow it threw off
$131.35
Debt you’d be carrying
$816.32

10 shares is a claim on $224.95 of net worth that earned you −$102.33 and generated $131.35 of cash last year, against $816.32 of debt.

iii. Is this a good business?
Moat signal · return on invested capital
-21% avg · 5y
FY21 -27%FY22 -35%FY23 -2%FY24 -32%FY25 -8%

It earned an average -21% 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
−96% shares · 5y

Share count is down 96% over 5 years — management has been buying back stock, quietly handing owners a bigger slice. Total debt has fallen 65% — 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
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 0000950170-23-005820 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  2. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0000950170-24-030760 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  3. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0000950170-23-005820 (NetIncomeLoss)
  4. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0000950170-24-030760 (NetIncomeLoss)
  5. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0000950170-25-037265 (NetIncomeLoss)
  6. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001193125-26-126253 (NetIncomeLoss)
  7. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0000950170-23-005820 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  8. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0000950170-24-030760 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  9. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0000950170-25-037265 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  10. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001193125-26-126253 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  11. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0000950170-23-005820 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  12. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0000950170-24-030760 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  13. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0000950170-25-037265 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  14. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001193125-26-126253 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  15. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0000950170-23-005820 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  16. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0000950170-24-030760 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  17. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001193125-26-126253 (LongTermDebt)
  18. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0000950170-23-005820 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  19. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0000950170-24-030760 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  20. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0000950170-25-037265 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  21. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001193125-26-126253 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)