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CPHI, China Pharma Holdings Inc.

Pharmaceuticals consumer brand UnprofitableDistress / turnaround

Helpson manufactures pharmaceutical products in the form of dry powder injectables, liquid injectables, tablets, capsules, and cephalosporin oral solutions.

We, through Helpson, are principally engaged in the development, manufacture and marketing of pharmaceutical products for human use in connection with a variety of high-incidence and high-mortality diseases and medical conditions prevalent in the People's Republic of China (the "PRC").

The majority of Helpson's pharmaceutical products are sold on a prescription basis and all of them have been approved for at least one or more therapeutic indications by the National Medical Products Administration (the "NMPA", formerly China Food and Drug Administration, CFDA) based upon demonstrated safety and efficacy.

Latest annual: FY2025 10-K

CPHI · China Pharma Holdings Inc.

The business

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

Revenue · FY2025

$4M

−8.5% YoY · −18% 5-yr CAGR

Vital signs · TTM, with 5-yr average

Revenue $4M 5-yr avg $7M

Gross margin 7% 5-yr avg −11%

Operating margin −90.1% 5-yr avg −58.4%

ROIC −7% 5-yr avg −49%

Owner-earnings margin 3% 5-yr avg −7%

Free cash flow margin 3% 5-yr avg −7%

The business in brief

read the 10-K →

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

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.
What moves the needle: Operating margin has run around −78% through the cycle on a 3.6% gross margin, the operating line deeply negative — so the lever is the path to a margin at all: revenue growth against the cost curve and the cash runway, not the level of a margin that isn't there yet. Inventory runs near 39% of sales, so how fast it turns back into cash — and the risk of writing it down when demand softens — sits alongside the margin. Read this kind of business on the pipeline against the patent cliff, and pricing. On its own account, the filing leans hardest on customer concentration, 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 −29%, above 15% in 0 of 10 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.

The record

Ten years of arithmetic, read across the cycle.

The record, 2016–2025

realized figures from each filing · older years to the left

2016’16	2017’17	2018’18	2019’19	2020’20	2021’21	2022’22	2023’23	2024’24	2025’25	TTMTTMMar 2026
											Income statement
$16M	$13M	$12M	$11M	$11M	$10M	$8M	$7M	$5M	$4M	$4M	RevenueRevenue
21%	19%	16%	14%	18%	4%	−6%	−4%	−44%	−3%	7%	Gross marginGross mgn
15%	15%	16%	21%	17%	17%	23%	21%	39%	59%	79%	SG&A / revenueSG&A/rev
2%	1%	1%	2%	3%	3%	2%	3%	6%	7%	8%	R&D / revenueR&D/rev
($8M)	($19M)	($10M)	($20M)	($3M)	($3M)	($4M)	($3M)	($5M)	($3M)	($4M)	Operating incomeOp. inc.
−52.4%	−141.4%	−84.7%	−186.8%	−23.7%	−29.7%	−43.8%	−39.2%	−101.3%	−78.2%	−90.1%	Operating marginOp. mgn
($9M)	($19M)	($11M)	($21M)	($3M)	($3M)	($4M)	($3M)	($5M)	($3M)	($4M)	Net incomeNet inc.
											Cash flow & returns
$3M	$841K	$2M	$608K	($42K)	($250K)	($410K)	($700K)	($406K)	$148K	$167K	Operating cash flowOp. cash
$3M	$3M	$3M	$3M	$3M	$3M	$3M	$3M	$3M	$2M	$2M	DepreciationDeprec.
$9M	$17M	$9M	$18M	$145K	$62K	$863K	($375K)	$2M	$2M	$2M	Working capital & otherWC & other
$193K	$136K	$51K	$136K	$867K	$438K	$402K	$12K	$38K	$59K	$59K	CapexCapex
1.2%	1.0%	0.4%	1.2%	8.0%	4.5%	5.0%	0.2%	0.8%	1.4%	1.5%	Capex / revenueCapex/rev
$3M	$705K	$2M	$472K	($910K)	($688K)	($812K)	($711K)	($444K)	$89K	$107K	Owner earningsOwner earn.
17.4%	5.3%	14.8%	4.3%	−8.4%	−7.1%	−10.0%	−10.1%	−9.8%	2.1%	2.7%	Owner earnings marginOE mgn
$3M	$705K	$2M	$472K	($910K)	($688K)	($812K)	($711K)	($444K)	$89K	$107K	Free cash flowFCF
17.4%	5.3%	14.8%	4.3%	−8.4%	−7.1%	−10.0%	−10.1%	−9.8%	2.1%	2.7%	Free cash flow marginFCF mgn
-11%	-29%	-23%	-129%	-17%	-35%	-124%	-29%	-43%	-11%	-7%	ROICROIC
-16%	-45%	-36%	-224%	-36%	-56%	-93%	-41%	-61%	-14%	-10%	Return on equityROE
−16%	−45%	−36%	−224%	−36%	−56%	−93%	−41%	−61%	−14%	−10%	Retained to equityRetained/eq
											Balance sheet
$3M	$2M	$1M	$1M	$958K	$5M	$2M	$1M	$627K	$345K	$168K	Cash & investmentsCash+inv
$4M	$2M	$917K	$635K	$502K	—	$422K	$504K	$232K	$241K	$196K	ReceivablesReceiv.
$7M	$6M	$5M	$4M	$4M	$3M	$3M	$4M	$2M	$2M	$1M	InventoryInvent.
$3M	$1M	$1M	$1M	$1M	$927K	$667K	$966K	$225K	$891K	$837K	Accounts payablePayables
$8M	$8M	$5M	$3M	$3M	$2M	$3M	$3M	$2M	$972K	$858K	Operating working capitalOper. WC
$18M	$12M	$9M	$6M	$5M	$9M	$6M	$6M	$3M	$2M	$2M	Current assetsCur. assets
$10M	$9M	$10M	$10M	$11M	$11M	$13M	$7M	$5M	$7M	$7M	Current liabilitiesCur. liab.
1.7×	1.3×	0.9×	0.6×	0.5×	0.9×	0.5×	0.9×	0.7×	0.3×	0.3×	Current ratioCurr. ratio
$79M	$60M	$45M	$22M	$21M	$23M	$18M	$16M	$15M	$31M	$45M	Total assetsAssets
—	$9M	$7M	$4M	$5M	$5M	—	$1M	$1M	—	$5M	Total debtDebt
—	$7M	$5M	$3M	$4M	$391K	—	($12K)	$764K	—	$5M	Net debt / (cash)Net debt
-9.6×	-34.6×	-23.2×	-63.4×	-8.8×	-5.3×	-8.2×	-90.0×	-167.8×	-118.8×	-121.7×	Interest coverageInt. cov.
$59M	$43M	$30M	$9M	$8M	$6M	$4M	$7M	$8M	$23M	$37M	Shareholders’ equityEquity
—	$14M	$6M	$17M	—	—	—	—	—	—	$17M	Goodwill written downGW imp.
											Per share
1.1M	1.1M	1.1M	1.1M	1.1M	1.2M	1.1M	3.4M	1.7M	4.3M	25.6M	Shares out (diluted)Shares
$14.29	$12.13	$11.32	$10.03	$9.96	$8.36	$7.71	$2.07	$2.59	$0.97	$0.16	Revenue / shareRev/sh
$-8.43	$-17.69	$-9.87	$-19.00	$-2.63	$-2.95	$-3.78	$-0.91	$-2.71	$-0.74	$-0.14	EPS (diluted)EPS
$2.48	$0.65	$1.68	$0.43	$-0.83	$-0.60	$-0.77	$-0.21	$-0.25	$0.02	$0.00	Owner earnings / shareOE/sh
$2.48	$0.65	$1.68	$0.43	$-0.83	$-0.60	$-0.77	$-0.21	$-0.25	$0.02	$0.00	Free cash flow / shareFCF/sh
$0.18	$0.13	$0.05	$0.12	$0.80	$0.38	$0.38	$0.00	$0.02	$0.01	$0.00	Cap. spending / shareCapex/sh
$54.07	$39.53	$27.72	$8.48	$7.34	$5.22	$4.08	$2.20	$4.44	$5.30	$1.45	Book value / shareBVPS

Share counts before 2022 are restated ×1/40 for a stock split, so per-share figures sit on one basis.

The diluted share count moved ×3.22 into 2023 — shares issued, not a split the totals corroborate — and the per-share figures carry the counts as filed.

The diluted share count moved ×1/1.94 into 2024 — shares retired, not a split the totals corroborate — and the per-share figures carry the counts as filed.

The diluted share count moved ×2.46 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 ×5.97 into TTM — shares issued, not a split the totals corroborate — and the per-share figures carry the counts as filed.

Per-share growththe realized rate an owner's share compounded

	9-yr	5-yr
Revenue / share	−25.9%/yr	−37.3%/yr
Owner earnings / share	−41.2%/yr	—
Capital spending / share	−24.7%/yr	−55.5%/yr
Book value / share	−22.7%/yr	−6.3%/yr

The record, charted

FY2016–2025

Each measure over its full record; the current point and the worst year marked. Share counts on the current split basis.

Share count

4Mpeak FY2025

ROIC

−11%low FY2019

Gross margin

−3%low FY2024

Net debt ÷ owner earnings

6.8×peak FY2017

Owner earnings vs. net income

Owner earningsNet income

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

$89Kowner earningsvs.($3M)net incomelow FY2020

Where the cash went

ReinvestBuybacksDividendsAcquisitionsRetained

Each year's operating cash, by what management did with it: the mix, and how it drifts.

FY2016FY2025

Owner-earnings bridge

FY2021–FY2025cash-flow statement, SEC EDGAR →

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 turned a $3M loss into $89K of owner earnings: more cash than the profit line showed, after the non-cash charges and the capital it put back in.

	FY2025	FY2024	FY2023	FY2022	FY2021
Reported net income	($3M)	($5M)	($3M)	($4M)	($3M)
Depreciation & amortizationnon-cash charge added back	+$2M	+$3M	+$3M	+$3M	+$3M
Working capital & othertiming of cash in and out, other non-cash items	+$2M	+$2M	−$375K	+$863K	+$62K
Cash from operations	$148K	($406K)	($700K)	($410K)	($250K)
Capital expenditurecash put back in to keep running and to grow	−$59K	−$38K	−$12K	−$402K	−$438K
Owner earnings	$89K	($444K)	($711K)	($812K)	($688K)
Owner-earnings marginowner earnings ÷ revenue	2%	-10%	-10%	-10%	-7%

Owner earnings is the cash an owner could pull out without starving the business: operating cash less the capital it must spend to hold its position .

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?

Can it pay its interest? -118.8×

Does not cover its interest

Operating income ($3M) ÷ interest expense $27K

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.
How heavy is the debt, net of cash? $5M

Net debt against an operating loss

Cash $345K − debt $5M

What this means
Netting $345K of cash and short-term investments against $5M of debt leaves $5M owed, with no operating profit this year to measure it against — understand that combination before anything else about the company. Net debt is the leverage figure that matters: the cash is already set against the debt. Strategic or illiquid investments aren't counted here.
How long is cash tied up? 84d

Long (60+ days)

DSO 21 + DIO 138 − DPO 76 days

What this means
Days cash is tied up between paying suppliers and collecting from customers. Lower is better; a long cycle means growth itself eats cash.

Is it a good business?

Return on invested capital -29%

Below average through the cycle

10-yr median, range -129%–-11%; -9% latest = NOPAT ($3M) ÷ invested capital $28M

Industry peers: median -58%

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 10 years (it ran -9% 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.
Owner-earnings margin 2%

Positive this year, negative across the cycle

latest $89K = operating cash $148K − maintenance capex $59K (positive this year), after an earlier loss stretch (10-yr median -7%)

Industry peers: median -2143%

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 2% of revenue this year, a -7% median across 10 years. Treating stock comp as the real expense it is (less $0 of SBC) leaves $89K.
Are earnings backed by cash? $148K

Loss, but cash-generative

Net income ($3M) · cash from operations $148K

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.

How is the cash used?

Where do the earnings go? —

Not enough data

What this means
The filing data didn't include the inputs for this check.
Investing or harvesting? 0.04×

Harvesting

Capex $59K ÷ depreciation $2M

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 · 0 of 5 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 · $4M

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 Miss

Current ratio ≥ 2× · 0.32×

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 Miss

Debt ≤ working capital · $5M vs ($5M) 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.
Earnings stability Miss

A profit every year (10-yr record) · 10 loss years

What this means
Graham wanted earnings in each of the past ten years, the stability a defensive owner leans on.
Dividend record Miss

Uninterrupted dividends · none paid

What this means
An unbroken dividend was Graham's mark of durability. He wanted twenty years; the filings show about ten, and a single suspension breaks the streak. Non-payers, many fine modern compounders, fall outside his defensive net by design.
Earnings growth —

Earnings +33% over the record · —

What this means
Earnings were negative early in the record, a growth rate isn't meaningful.
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 $-0.09/share (latest year $-0.08), the averaged base the calculator's gate runs on, and book value is $0.56/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.

Durability & moat, 2016–2025

Whether the record’s returns held, and what the capital reinvested earned.

Profitable years 0 of 10

What this means
Lost money in 10 year(s), look at what happened there before trusting the average.
Return on capital ≥ 15% 0 of 7 yrs

What this means
A moat shows up as a high return on invested capital that holds year after year, not one good vintage.
Operating margin −93% → −73% (3-yr avg ends)

What this means
Through the cycle the operating margin widened — about −93% early to −73% lately, median −78% — pricing power intact or improving.
Reinvestment, incremental ROIC returns capital

What this means
The capital base barely grew: this business returns cash through dividends and buybacks rather than reinvesting. Judge it on the cash returned, not on compounding.
Worst year 2019 · −186.8% op. margin

What this means
Operations went underwater in 2019, understand why before trusting the good years.
How management talks about it Promotional

What this means
The record is compounding, but the filing leans on a promoter’s vocabulary rather than the per-share, return-on-capital terms an owner uses. The results back the talk here; the register is still worth noting.

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 Raised, but not as a competitor

The filing raises AI among its risks, but in other terms (security, regulation, energy or the like), not as a competitor to its product.

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.

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$2M

Cash & short-term investments$168K
Receivables$196K
Inventory$1M
Other current assets$140K

Current liabilities$7M

Accounts payable$837K
Other current liabilities$6M

Current ratio0.28×all current assets ÷ what's due · Graham looked for 2×

Quick ratio0.07×stricter: inventory excluded

Cash ratio0.02×strictest: cash alone against what's due

Working capital($5M)the cushion left after near-term bills

Revenue, latest quarter vs. a year ago−13.4%the freshest read on whether the business is still growing

Current ratio, recent quarters0.8× → 0.3×

Deeper floors

Tangible book value($2M)equity stripped of goodwill & intangibles

Net current asset value($6M)Graham's net-net: current assets less all liabilities

Debt incl. operating leases$4M$164K of it operating leases

Deferred revenue$62Kcustomer cash collected before delivery; operating float

From the company's latest filing.

How the cash was used, 2016–2025

Over the record, the business generated $5M of operating cash; how management split it reads as a reinvestor, most operating cash is plowed back into the business.

Reinvested$2M · 51%
Retained (debt / cash)$2M · 49%

Source of fundingOperating cash
Operating cash covered reinvestment and returns; over the span cash and short-term investments fell $2M.
Net change in share count2249.9%
The diluted count rose from 1M to 26M: issuance (stock pay, deals) outran any buybacks, so owners were diluted on net.
Dividend record—
No dividend line was reported in the filing data over the span; the record here neither confirms nor rules out a payout.

Buybacks are gross of stock issued to staff; the share-count line above is the net of that, the figure that decides whether owners gained. The average price paid blends a year of purchases (and any accelerated repurchase), so it is close, not exact. The record of where the cash went and on what terms.

Management, ownership & pay

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

Stock-based compensation$0
The slice of the business handed to employees in shares this year, 0% 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.

Inverting the record

Invert: instead of why China Pharma Holdings Inc. is a good business, the question is what would make owning it a mistake, and whether those marks are in the record. Disconfirming tests across 2016–2025.

3 of the 4 tests turned up something to look into; the other 1 came back clean.

Look hereIs it less profitable than it was?−5.9% vs 12.5%
The owner-earnings margin averaged 12.5% early in the record and −5.9% across the last three years, and the latest year has not recovered. Ask the filing whether that is a structural drift or a cyclical trough — price, mix, cost, or a competitor — and whether it is permanent.
Look hereDid the share count rise anyway?2249.9%
Diluted shares grew 2249.9% over 2016–2025. Owners were diluted on net; each share owns less of the business than it did. Read the buyback line beside this one, not on its own.
Look hereAre "one-time" charges a yearly habit?5 of 10 years
Management took an impairment or write-down in 5 of the last 10 years, $80M in all. Taken across the majority of the record, the "one-time" label is wearing thin — ask whether these are past deals coming due rather than genuinely isolated events. Read it beside the goodwill the company still carries.

And these came back clean

Did receivables and inventory outpace sales?

Each test is read from the filings and is noisy alone; a flag can mark a cyclical trough or a year of heavy investment as easily as a problem. The filing says which.

Peers, Pharmaceuticals

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.

Company	Revenue	Gross margin	Op. margin	ROIC	Owner earn. margin
ACRSAclaris Therapeutics Inc.	$8M	28%	-975.9%	-73%	-603%
OVIDOvid Therapeutics Inc.	$7M	—	-2170.9%	-64%	-2143%
OCGNOcugen Inc.	$4M	—	-1425.7%	—	-1295%
CPHIChina Pharma Holdings Inc.	$4M	9%	-65.3%	-29%	-2%
ATAIAtaiBeckley Inc.	$4M	—	-15751.1%	-356%	-2533%
CGONCG Oncology Inc.	$4M	—	-10067.3%	-21%	-3279%
UPBUpstream Bio Inc.	$3M	—	-3281.2%	-53%	-2500%
ORMPOramed Pharmaceuticals Inc.	$2M	1%	-754.4%	-29%	-479%
Group median	—	9%	-1798.3%	-53%	-1719%

The price

What a price has to assume.

What the price implies

reverse-DCF

Type today's close and see the owner-earnings growth you'd have to believe to justify it, beside what China Pharma Holdings Inc. has delivered.

Today’s price $

Base Normalize · through-cycle (($356K)) Net of stock comp

—

The assumptions Required return 9% Years of high growth 10 Terminal growth 2.5%

9.0% = the 4.55% 10-year Treasury (Jul 15, 2026) + 4.45 points of equity premium. The rate you require is yours to set.

Enter a price above to run it.

Implied by the price—

Owner-earnings growth, delivered—

Owner-earnings yield—

P/E (3-yr earnings ’23–’25)—

P/B—

Graham’s price gate—

Graham capped the multiple at 15×; Buffett and Munger let that rule go: a wonderful business can deserve 50× if the thesis holds. The gate marks the bargain-hunter's floor.

Against a high-grade bond: Graham’s yardstick bond yield%

Prefilled with the 10-year Treasury (4.55%, as of Jul 15, 2026). Edit it for today’s exact figure, or a AAA corporate yield.

Graham measured a stock against the bond you could own instead, the heart of his margin of safety. Enter a price above to weigh the owner-earnings yield against this bond.

Owner earnings $107K on 41M shares outstanding, per the 10-Q cover, as of 2026-05-11; net debt $5M. The base is the latest year by default; Normalize values it on the through-cycle median owner-earnings margin (to avoid paying on a peak year). Net of stock comp treats option pay as the expense it is. The dials set the multiple a growth belief justifies; the price, and every dollar on this page, is yours.

Weigh CPHI against another business →

Cite: Owner Scorecard, "China Pharma Holdings Inc. (CPHI), the owner's record," https://ownerscorecard.com/c/CPHI, data as of 2026-07-09.

Manual order: ← CPF its page in the Manual CPK →

Industry order: ← CORT the Pharmaceuticals chapter CPRX →