ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc.

ZTOdata completeness 100%10 fiscal years on file
The thesis, from the filings

ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc. earns about 14% on invested capital, comfortably above its ~9% cost of capital, with a roughly flat share count — a real edge showing up in the numbers. The estimate methods put fair value between $15.25 and $22.41 a share.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$4.77B1$5.13B2$5.41B3$6.07B4$7.02B5
Net income$746.1M6$987.2M7$1.23B8$1.21B9$1.3B10
Operating cash flow$1.13B11$1.66B12$1.88B13$1.57B14$1.71B15
Capital expenditure$1.31B16$1.02B17$919.6M18$713.5M19$745.6M20
Free cash flow (derived)−$178.9M11$639.6M12$962.3M13$852.3M14$965.8M15
Total debt$542.7M21$782.1M22$1.09B23$1.3B24$1.56B25
Cash & equivalents$1.53B26$1.7B27$1.74B28$1.84B29$1.43B30
Diluted shares820.0M820.3M838.9M838.4M820.8M

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
$115.65
your share of equity
Profit it earned you last year
$15.82
Free cash flow it threw off
$11.77
Debt you’d be carrying
$19.05

10 shares is a claim on $115.65 of net worth that earned you $15.82 and generated $11.77 of cash last year, against $19.05 of debt.

iii. Is this a good business?
Moat signal · return on invested capital
14% avg · 5y
FY21 11%FY22 14%FY23 16%FY24 15%FY25 14%

It earned about 14% on invested capital against a ~9% cost of capital — comfortably above the cost of funding, a moderate advantage.

seeing a moat in the numbers →
Management signal · capital allocation
+0% shares · 5y

Share count is roughly flat over 5 years — little dilution, little buyback. Total debt has risen 188% 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

The 3 estimate methods that apply put fair value between $15.25 and $22.41 a share. They rest on different assumptions, so where they diverge is the story; the Graham Number is a stricter floor, not a target.

DCF · Growth Exit 10Y
$22.41
assumptions (10)
  • riskFreeRate4.7%
  • equityRiskPremium5.0%
  • beta100.0%
  • equityWeight85.0%
  • costOfDebtSpread1.5%
  • taxRate21.0%
  • terminalGrowth2.5%
  • projectionYears10
  • fcfGrowth5.0%
  • fcfBase$962.3M
DCF · Growth Exit 5Y
$20.64
assumptions (10)
  • riskFreeRate4.7%
  • equityRiskPremium5.0%
  • beta100.0%
  • equityWeight85.0%
  • costOfDebtSpread1.5%
  • taxRate21.0%
  • terminalGrowth2.5%
  • projectionYears5
  • fcfGrowth5.0%
  • fcfBase$962.3M
Earnings Power Value
$15.25
assumptions (8)
  • riskFreeRate4.7%
  • equityRiskPremium5.0%
  • beta100.0%
  • equityWeight85.0%
  • costOfDebtSpread1.5%
  • taxRate21.0%
  • normalizedEarnings$1.21B
  • growthAssumed0.0%
Graham Number
$20.4
assumptions (1)
  • grahamMultiplier2250.0%

Different models answer different questions — which to trust when →

v. The price question — last, on purpose
Is today’s price fair?
See live price ↗
Type a price. The ledger answers.
Or set your own belief
FCF growth, next 5 years5.0%
Discount rate (WACC)8.93%
Terminal growth2.5%
At your growth, a share is worth $20.64
The three cases
Bear0.0%$16.59
Base5.0%$20.64
Bull10.0%$25.5

Bear/base/bull growth = 0% / filed history / history + 5pp. Type a price to see the return each case implies.

Default growth 5.0%= this company’s own filed history (median-to-median FCF CAGR, clamped 0–20%). Your adjustments are recorded anonymously. They become the “what do owners actually believe” dataset.

Sources — the receipts
  1. 20-F · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001104659-22-051510 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerIncludingAssessedTax)
  2. 20-F · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001104659-23-047358 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerIncludingAssessedTax)
  3. 20-F · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001104659-24-049017 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerIncludingAssessedTax)
  4. 20-F · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001410578-25-000774 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerIncludingAssessedTax)
  5. 20-F · period ending 2025-12-31 · accession 0001104659-26-044613 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerIncludingAssessedTax)
  6. 20-F · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001104659-22-051510 (NetIncomeLoss)
  7. 20-F · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001104659-23-047358 (NetIncomeLoss)
  8. 20-F · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001104659-24-049017 (NetIncomeLoss)
  9. 20-F · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001410578-25-000774 (NetIncomeLoss)
  10. 20-F · period ending 2025-12-31 · accession 0001104659-26-044613 (NetIncomeLoss)
  11. 20-F · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001104659-22-051510 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  12. 20-F · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001104659-23-047358 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  13. 20-F · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001104659-24-049017 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  14. 20-F · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001410578-25-000774 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  15. 20-F · period ending 2025-12-31 · accession 0001104659-26-044613 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  16. 20-F · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001104659-22-051510 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  17. 20-F · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001104659-23-047358 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  18. 20-F · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001104659-24-049017 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  19. 20-F · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001410578-25-000774 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  20. 20-F · period ending 2025-12-31 · accession 0001104659-26-044613 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  21. 20-F · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001104659-22-051510 (ShortTermBorrowings)
  22. 20-F · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001104659-23-047358 (ShortTermBorrowings)
  23. 20-F · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001104659-24-049017 (ShortTermBorrowings)
  24. 20-F · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001410578-25-000774 (ShortTermBorrowings)
  25. 20-F · period ending 2025-12-31 · accession 0001104659-26-044613 (ShortTermBorrowings)
  26. 20-F · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001104659-22-051510 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  27. 20-F · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001104659-23-047358 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  28. 20-F · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001104659-24-049017 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  29. 20-F · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001410578-25-000774 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  30. 20-F · period ending 2025-12-31 · accession 0001104659-26-044613 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)