MeritValue

Yatsen Holding Ltd

YSGdata completeness 88%6 fiscal years on file

Data notes: no data for concept 'totalDebt'

The thesis, from the filings

Yatsen Holding Ltd earns about -21% on invested capital, and has bought back 26% 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$916.4M1$537.3M2$481M3$464.9M4$614.6M5
Net income−$241.8M6−$118.2M7−$747.8M8−$97M9−$11.6M8
Operating cash flow−$160.1M10$19.7M11−$15.1M12−$33.4M13−$13.5M14
Capital expenditure$22.2M15$7.36M16$6.15M17$7.23M18$6.02M19
Free cash flow (derived)−$182.3M10$12.4M11−$21.3M12−$40.6M13−$19.6M14
Total debt—————
Cash & equivalents$492.4M20$219.4M21$117.9M22$112M23$109.4M24
Diluted shares2.53B2.37B2.20B2.03B1.86B

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
$2.31
your share of equity
Profit it earned you last year
−$0.06
Free cash flow it threw off
−$0.1
Debt you’d be carrying
—

10 shares is a claim on $2.31 of net worth that earned you −$0.06 and generated −$0.1 of cash last year.

iii. Is this a good business?
Moat signal · return on invested capital
-21% avg · 5y
FY21 -47%FY22 -19%FY23 -16%FY24 -22%FY25 -2%

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
−26% shares · 5y

Share count is down 26% over 5 years — management has been buying back stock, quietly handing owners a bigger slice.

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 2021-12-31 · accession 0001564590-22-015296 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  2. 20-F · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0000950170-23-014540 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  3. 20-F · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0000950170-24-048626 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  4. 20-F · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0000950170-25-056464 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  5. 20-F · period ending 2025-12-31 · accession 0001193125-26-192038 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  6. 20-F · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001564590-22-015296 (NetIncomeLoss)
  7. 20-F · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0000950170-23-014540 (NetIncomeLoss)
  8. 20-F · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001193125-26-192038 (NetIncomeLoss)
  9. 20-F · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0000950170-25-056464 (NetIncomeLoss)
  10. 20-F · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001564590-22-015296 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  11. 20-F · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0000950170-23-014540 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  12. 20-F · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0000950170-24-048626 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  13. 20-F · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0000950170-25-056464 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  14. 20-F · period ending 2025-12-31 · accession 0001193125-26-192038 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  15. 20-F · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001564590-22-015296 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  16. 20-F · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0000950170-23-014540 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  17. 20-F · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0000950170-24-048626 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  18. 20-F · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0000950170-25-056464 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  19. 20-F · period ending 2025-12-31 · accession 0001193125-26-192038 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  20. 20-F · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001564590-22-015296 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  21. 20-F · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0000950170-23-014540 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  22. 20-F · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0000950170-24-048626 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  23. 20-F · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0000950170-25-056464 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  24. 20-F · period ending 2025-12-31 · accession 0001193125-26-192038 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)