Owner Scorecard


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BETA, Beta Technologies Inc.

Aerospace & Defense capital-intensive UnprofitableDistress / turnaroundNet current asset value

Technologies, we offer customers a complete platform to support their adoption of electric aircraft to enable both existing and new missions.

We have developed an electric aircraft platform and propulsion systems that are positioned to transform the aviation industry forward into a new phase of growth.

We design, manufacture and sell high-performance electric aircraft, advanced electric propulsion systems, charging systems and components.

Latest annual: FY2025 10-K
BETA · Beta Technologies Inc.
I

The business

What it sells, where the money comes from, the kind of company it is.

Revenue · FY2025
$36M
+136.0% YoY
Vital signs · TTM
Cash & investments $1.6B
Cash burn · annual $305M
Runway 5.2 yrs

The business in brief

read the 10-K →

What this business is and what moves its needle, from its own SEC filings.

What it is
Revenue is Services (65%) and Products (35%).
Situation
Unprofitable. No meaningful revenue yet; the record is the cash on hand against the burn. Distress / turnaround. Thin interest coverage, or operating cash burned against real debt, across the record. The balance sheet carries this situation; the debt schedule sets the clock. Net current asset value. Current assets alone exceed every liability combined, and the surplus is most of the balance sheet: the shape Graham called a net-net.
What moves the needle
Operating margin has run around −1215% through the cycle on a 72% gross margin, the operating line in the red even at its best — so the lever is whether the spending below the gross line can come down enough to clear a profit: revenue growth against the cost curve, and the cash runway until it does. Capital spending runs about 487% of sales, well above depreciation, so the return earned on what it sinks into that plant weighs as much as the margin. Read this kind of business on the backlog and program execution. On its own account, the filing leans hardest on pricing power & competition, set against the numbers in what the filing emphasizes, below.
Is it a good business?
Return on capital has rarely cleared the cost of capital (median −100%, above 15% in 0 of 3 years). Owner earnings, the cash-based check, have been thin too. This is price-taker territory, where the balance sheet and the cycle matter more than any multiple; the rest is in the 10-K.

Every line is arithmetic on the company's filings, shown in full in the sections below.

Where the money comes from

read the 10-K →

Services is 65% of revenue, with Products the other meaningful line at 35%.

Revenue by product line, FY2025
  • Services65%$23M
  • Products35%$12M
By geographyUnited States95%International5%

From the segment footnote of the company's own 10-K. Shares are of total revenue; the profit bar shows each segment's share of segment operating profit, before unallocated corporate costs.

II

The record

Ten years of arithmetic, read across the cycle.

The record, 2023–2025

realized figures from each filing · older years to the left
2023’232024’242025’25TTMTTMMar 2026
Income statement
$15M$15M$36M$36MRevenueRevenue
87%70%72%66%Gross marginGross mgn
401%503%389%436%SG&A / revenueSG&A/rev
900%n/m730%813%R&D / revenueR&D/rev
($187M)($272M)($373M)($428M)Operating incomeOp. inc.
n/mn/mn/mn/mOperating marginOp. mgn
($176M)($276M)($746M)($790M)Net incomeNet inc.
Cash flow & returns
($158M)($223M)($268M)($305M)Operating cash flowOp. cash
$9M$16M$22M$23MDepreciationDeprec.
($31K)$24M$421M$411MWorking capital & otherWC & other
$153M$74M$45M$63MCapexCapex
997.9%487.1%127.6%174.1%Capex / revenueCapex/rev
($167M)($239M)($290M)($328M)Owner earningsOwner earn.
n/mn/m−813.7%−907.2%Owner earnings marginOE mgn
($311M)($296M)($313M)($368M)Free cash flowFCF
n/mn/m−879.5%n/mFree cash flow marginFCF mgn
$0$530K$0BuybacksBuybacks
-112%-75%-100%-105%ROICROIC
-46%-63%-41%-46%Return on equityROE
−46%−63%−41%−46%Retained to equityRetained/eq
Balance sheet
$254M$301M$1.7B$1.6BCash & investmentsCash+inv
$2M$6M$6MReceivablesReceiv.
$16M$25M$22MAccounts payablePayables
($14M)($19M)($16M)Operating working capitalOper. WC
$327M$1.7B$1.6BCurrent assetsCur. assets
$57M$76M$76MCurrent liabilitiesCur. liab.
5.8×22.8×21.4×Current ratioCurr. ratio
$666M$2.1B$2.0BTotal assetsAssets
$152M$186M$185MTotal debtDebt
($149M)($1.5B)($1.4B)Net debt / (cash)Net debt
-530.0×-23.8×-28.7×-31.1×Interest coverageInt. cov.
$385M$436M$1.8B$1.7BShareholders’ equityEquity
58.4%80.2%97.6%140.7%Stock comp / revenueSBC/rev
Per share
44.9M45.2M75.0M230MShares out (diluted)Shares
$0.34$0.33$0.48$0.16Revenue / shareRev/sh
$-3.91$-6.09$-9.95$-3.44EPS (diluted)EPS
$-3.71$-5.29$-3.87$-1.43Owner earnings / shareOE/sh
$-6.93$-6.55$-4.18$-1.60Free cash flow / shareFCF/sh
$3.41$1.62$0.61$0.27Cap. spending / shareCapex/sh
$8.58$9.64$24.25$7.51Book value / shareBVPS

The diluted share count moved ×1.66 into 2025 — shares issued, not a split the totals corroborate — and the per-share figures carry the counts as filed.

The diluted share count moved ×3.06 into TTM — shares issued, not a split the totals corroborate — and the per-share figures carry the counts as filed.

The record, charted

FY2023–2025

Each measure over its full record; the current point and the worst year marked.

Share count
75Mpeak FY2025
ROIC
−100%low FY2023
Gross margin
72%low FY2024

Owner earnings vs. net income

Owner earningsNet income

The accountant's number, and the cash an owner can take; the gap is the tell.

($290M)owner earningsvs.($746M)net incomelow FY2025

Net income is the accountant's number; owner earnings is the cash an owner could take out. The walk between them, off the cash-flow statement, and whether the gap is widening or holding.

In fiscal 2025 the business earned ($290M) of owner earnings, the operating cash left after the $22M it takes just to hold its position. It put $23M more into growth; free cash flow, after that spending, was ($313M).

FY2025FY2024FY2023
Reported net income($746M)($276M)($176M)
Depreciation & amortizationnon-cash charge added back+$22M+$16M+$9M
Stock-based compensationreal costnon-cash, but a real cost+$35M+$12M+$9M
Working capital & othertiming of cash in and out, other non-cash items+$421M+$24M−$31K
Cash from operations($268M)($223M)($158M)
Maintenance capital expenditurethe spending needed just to hold position and volume−$22M−$16M−$9M
Owner earnings($290M)($239M)($167M)
Growth capital expenditurediscretionary; spent to get bigger, not to stand still−$23M−$57M−$145M
Free cash flow($313M)($296M)($311M)
Owner-earnings marginowner earnings ÷ revenue-814%-1584%-1085%

Owner earnings is the cash an owner could pull out without starving the business: operating cash less the maintenance capital it must spend to hold its position (here about $22M, roughly its depreciation, the rate its assets wear out). The other $23M of its capital spending is growth it chose, not upkeep it owed; charged only with the maintenance it must do, the business earns well more than the year's free cash flow shows. The cash-flow statement also adds stock comp back as non-cash, but it is a real cost paid in shares; counted as the expense it is (less $35M), owner earnings is nearer ($325M).

Maintenance capex is estimated as depreciation where a growing business invests above it; free cash flow is the figure the scorecard's free-cash margin reads.

III

Quality & stewardship

Returns, the balance sheet, capital allocation, and pay.

Owner’s Scorecard

FY2025 10-K · source on SEC EDGAR →

Will it survive?

  • Does not cover its interest
    Operating income ($373M) ÷ interest expense $13M
    What this means

    A full year of operating profit didn't cover the interest bill. This is the zombie zone: the business depends on refinancing, asset sales, or forbearance to service its debt.

  • Net cash
    Cash $1.7B − debt $186M
    What this means

    Cash and short-term investments exceed every dollar of debt by $1.5B, on net the company owes nothing, and can act from strength when others can't. Net debt is the leverage figure that matters: the cash is already set against the debt. Strategic or illiquid investments aren't counted here.

  • Not enough data
    What this means

    The filing data didn't include the inputs for this check.

Is it a good business?

  • Below average through the cycle
    3-yr median, range -112%–-75%; -100% latest = NOPAT ($294M) ÷ invested capital $293M
    Industry peers: median -25%
    What this means

    The rate the business earns on the money tied up in it, Buffett's north star, because over time a stock tracks the ROIC beneath it. Above ~15% sustained hints at a moat; a return below the cost of capital (~8%) erodes value as a business grows rather than building it — the test Buffett weighs most. The headline is the median of the last 3 years (it ran -100% most recently), so one peak or trough year doesn't set the verdict. Asset-light businesses (R&D expensed, little capital) read artificially high, pair this with Owner Earnings.

  • Consumes cash through the cycle
    3-yr median margin, range -1584%–-814%; latest ($290M) = operating cash ($268M) − maintenance capex $22M
    Industry peers: median -102%
    What this means

    What an owner could take out without starving the business: operating cash less the maintenance capital it must spend to hold its position — Buffett's owner earnings. That's -814% of revenue this year, a -1085% median across 3 years. Treating stock comp as the real expense it is (less $35M of SBC) leaves ($325M).

  • Loss, and burning cash
    Net income ($746M) · cash from operations ($268M)
    What this means

    The company reported a net loss, so a conversion ratio isn't meaningful. What matters then is whether operations still threw off cash, here, they did not.

How is the cash used?

  • No surplus to allocate
    What this means

    The business didn't generate positive Owner Earnings this year, so any distributions came from the balance sheet or borrowing, not from operations.

  • Investing or harvesting? 2.06×
    Expanding
    Capex $45M ÷ depreciation $22M
    What this means

    Descriptive, not a grade. Above ~1× means investing faster than assets wear out (growth, or, sustained for years, today's earnings carrying less depreciation than tomorrow's will). Below means spending less than it's wearing out (efficiency, or a melting asset base). The ratio won't tell you which; the filings will.

Graham’s defensive tests · 2 of 3 met

Graham’s numerical criteria for the defensive investor (The Intelligent Investor, ch. 14), run on the filings. A floor of safety, not a buy signal; many fine modern businesses fail his strictest liquidity rules by design.

  • Adequate size Miss
    Revenue ≥ $2B · $36M
    What this means

    Big enough to weather a storm. Graham's 1972 floor was ~$100M of sales (≈ $700M today); we use a $2B revenue line as a conservative modern stand-in.

  • Strong liquidity Pass
    Current ratio ≥ 2× · 22.77×
    What this means

    Current assets at least twice current liabilities, near-term bills covered without touching the business. Strict by design: many cash-rich modern firms run leaner and miss it, holding their cushion in longer-dated securities.

  • Conservative debt Pass
    Debt ≤ working capital · $186M vs $1.7B WC
    What this means

    Graham's rule that borrowings not exceed net current assets. Capital-heavy and buyback-heavy firms routinely fail it, read it next to interest coverage, not alone.

  • Moderate price
    P/E ≤ 15 and P/E × P/B ≤ 22.5 · decided by the price
    What this means

    Graham's valuation gate, the wall he kept between a sound business and a sound investment. Three-year average earnings are $-1.74/share (latest year $-3.25), the averaged base the calculator's gate runs on, and book value is $7.92/share. Enter a price in “What the price implies” just below for the P/E, P/B, and whether it clears. But this is the rule Buffett outgrew: there's no hard P/E law, and a wonderful business can deserve a far richer multiple if the thesis holds, treat it as the bargain-hunter's floor, not a verdict on the price.

Does AI threaten the moat?

Low contestability

The moat is physical, regulated or balance-sheet-funded, the kind AI cuts costs within but does not contest.

In its own filing Named as a competitive risk

Its FY2025 10-K names artificial intelligence as a competitive threat.

“Further, our competitors or other third parties may incorporate AI into their products more quickly or more successfully than us, which could impair our ability to compete effectively.”

AI is unlikely to contest a moat that is physical, regulated or balance-sheet-funded; here it reads more as a cost tool than a threat, and the company is using it that way.

Read from the filing's own risk factors, paired with the industry's structure under its SIC code; the durability is read above, the price below.

All figures as filed; the source filing is linked above.

Current Position

as of the latest quarter, Mar 31, 2026

Can the business pay what it owes this year, off the freshest balance sheet: the quality of the assets, the debt actually coming due, and what a low ratio means here.

Current assets$1.6B
  • Cash & short-term investments$1.6B
  • Receivables$6M
  • Other current assets$25M
Current liabilities$76M
  • Debt due within a year$7M
  • Accounts payable$22M
  • Other current liabilities$46M
Current ratio21.37×all current assets ÷ what's due · Graham looked for 2×
Quick ratioinventory untagged this quarter, so withheld rather than shown equal to the current ratio
Cash ratio20.95×strictest: cash alone against what's due
Working capital$1.5Bthe cushion left after near-term bills
Debt due this year vs. cash$7M due · $1.6B cash covered by cash on hand, no refinancing forced · both figures from the Mar 31, 2026 balance sheet
Cash runway4.3 yrsthe business is consuming cash; this is how long the cash on hand lasts at that rate
Revenue, latest quarter vs. a year ago+5.6%the freshest read on whether the business is still growing
Current ratio, recent quarters5.8× → 21.4×
Deeper floors
Tangible book value$1.7Bequity stripped of goodwill & intangibles
Net current asset value$1.3BGraham's net-net: current assets less all liabilities
Debt incl. operating leases$205M$20M of it operating leases
Deferred revenue$17Mcustomer cash collected before delivery; operating float

From the company's latest filing.

Management, ownership & pay

From the proxy: how much of the business the people running it own, and how they are paid.

  • Stock-based compensation$35M

    The slice of the business handed to employees in shares this year, 98% of revenue. Buffett's oldest accounting fight: this is compensation, compensation is an expense, real whether or not the headline earnings admit it. One trap: the cash-flow statement adds SBC back, so the operating cash, and the owner earnings drawn from it, are flattered by exactly this amount; counted as the cost it is, what an owner keeps is lower.

What an owner would ask, FY2025

read the 10-K →
  • Which reported numbers are a judgment call?
    Management names Stock compensation as critical estimates

    each rests partly on management's judgment; the filing's note sets out the assumptionsverify →

The questions the record and the charts do not answer on their own; each carries the figure and the place to look.

Peers, Aerospace & Defense

The same industry, side by side on owner economics. Each figure is a through-cycle median, so a peak or trough year can’t distort it; the group median at the foot is the line to read each against.

CompanyRevenueGross marginOp. marginROICOwner earn. margin
LOARLoar Holdings Inc.$496M49%21.8%5%
KRMNKarman Holdings Inc.$472M38%16.4%10%-4%
VOYGVoyager Technologies Inc.$166M20%-33.6%-25%-27%
FLYFirefly Aerospace Inc.$160M19%-238.8%-30%-178%
PKEPark Aerospace Corp.$73M31%15.1%6%8%
JOBYJoby Aviation Inc.$53M-45745.5%-49%-33375%
BETABeta Technologies Inc.$36M72%-1214.9%-100%-1085%
AEVAAeva Technologies Inc.$18M37%-1451.8%-177%-1214%
Group median37%-136.2%-28%-178%
IV

The price

What a price has to assume.

What the price implies

reverse-DCF

Beta Technologies Inc. is profitable, but owner earnings are negative this year because capital spending currently outruns operating cash, a build-out, so the owner-earnings reverse-DCF has no positive base to grow. We read the price from both ends instead: type a price to see the steady-state profitability it demands, then set the mature margin you would believe and weigh the two against each other. Nothing leaves your browser unless you enter it in your notebook.

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The assumptions

Enter a price to run it.

Owner earnings it must reach
Margin the price demands
Owner-earnings margin today−1018%

Two reads of one future. From your price: the owner earnings the company must reach, valued at a mature multiple and discounted back at your rate, expressed as the margin it implies on revenue grown at your rate. From your belief: the mature margin you would credit, set on the dial above. When the margin the price demands runs above the one you would believe, you are paying for a future taken on faith. For a deep cyclical at a trough, normalized through-cycle earnings are the better lens; this mode is for the genuinely unprofitable, and for the profitable business whose capital spending currently outruns its cash.

Cite: Owner Scorecard, "Beta Technologies Inc. (BETA), the owner's record," https://ownerscorecard.com/c/BETA, data as of 2026-07-09.

Manual order: ← BERY its page in the Manual BETR →

Industry order: ← BA the Aerospace & Defense chapter BKSY →