Share count
107Mpeak FY2025
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GCL, GCL Global Holdings Ltd
A software business, earning high margins on code once it is written.
The business
What it sells, where the money comes from, the kind of company it is.
Revenue · FY2025
$190M
+94.7% YoY
Vital signs · TTM, with 3-yr average
Revenue $190M 3-yr avg $106M
The business in brief
read the 10-K →What this business is and what moves its needle, from its own SEC filings.
- Situation
- 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
- Gross margin has run about 32% and operating margin about 2.3% through the cycle, a solid spread between what it charges and what the product costs to make. The operating margin has swung widely — from −2.5% to 4.6% — on a steadier 32% gross margin, so what moves it sits below the gross line, in operating spend and one-off charges more than in the cost of the product itself. The cash cycle has run negative through the cycle (a median of −12 days): the operation is paid before it pays, so working capital releases cash as the business grows rather than tying it up. Read this kind of business on retention and the cost of growth. On its own account, the filing leans hardest on customer concentration, set against the numbers in what the filing emphasizes, below.
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, 2023–2025
realized figures from each filing · older years to the left| 2023’23 | 2024’24 | 2025’25 | TTMTTMSep 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Income statement | ||||
| $77M | $98M | $142M | $190M | RevenueRevenue |
| 35% | 32% | 26% | 20% | Gross marginGross mgn |
| $4M | ($2M) | $3M | ($2M) | Operating incomeOp. inc. |
| 4.6% | −2.5% | 2.3% | −1.2% | Operating marginOp. mgn |
| $2M | ($2M) | $5M | $300K | Net incomeNet inc. |
| 22% | — | 18% | — | Effective tax rateTax rate |
| Cash flow & returns | ||||
| ($4M) | $1M | ($10M) | ($13M) | Operating cash flowOp. cash |
| $297K | $320K | $329K | $365K | DepreciationDeprec. |
| ($7M) | $3M | ($16M) | ($14M) | Working capital & otherWC & other |
| $538K | $278K | $161K | $493K | CapexCapex |
| 0.7% | 0.3% | 0.1% | 0.3% | Capex / revenueCapex/rev |
| ($5M) | $1M | ($10M) | ($13M) | Owner earningsOwner earn. |
| −6.0% | 1.1% | −7.4% | −7.0% | Owner earnings marginOE mgn |
| ($5M) | $1M | ($10M) | ($13M) | Free cash flowFCF |
| −6.3% | 1.1% | −7.4% | −7.1% | Free cash flow marginFCF mgn |
| — | $164K | — | $164K | Dividends paidDiv. paid |
| — | -10% | 9% | -2% | ROICROIC |
| — | -14% | 14% | 1% | Return on equityROE |
| — | −16% | — | 0% | Retained to equityRetained/eq |
| Balance sheet | ||||
| $3M | $3M | $18M | $17M | Cash & investmentsCash+inv |
| — | $17M | $26M | $30M | ReceivablesReceiv. |
| — | $5M | $6M | $35M | InventoryInvent. |
| — | $7M | $28M | $36M | Accounts payablePayables |
| — | $15M | $3M | $29M | Operating working capitalOper. WC |
| — | $33M | $62M | $99M | Current assetsCur. assets |
| — | $30M | $52M | $76M | Current liabilitiesCur. liab. |
| — | 1.1× | 1.2× | 1.3× | Current ratioCurr. ratio |
| $2M | $3M | $3M | $13M | GoodwillGoodwill |
| — | $50M | $102M | $160M | Total assetsAssets |
| — | $9M | $12M | $52M | Total debtDebt |
| — | $6M | ($6M) | $35M | Net debt / (cash)Net debt |
| — | $14M | $36M | $33M | Shareholders’ equityEquity |
| Per share | ||||
| 105M | 105M | 107M | 122M | Shares out (diluted)Shares |
| $0.74 | $0.93 | $1.33 | $1.56 | Revenue / shareRev/sh |
| $0.02 | $-0.02 | $0.05 | $0.00 | EPS (diluted)EPS |
| $-0.04 | $0.01 | $-0.10 | $-0.11 | Owner earnings / shareOE/sh |
| $-0.05 | $0.01 | $-0.10 | $-0.11 | Free cash flow / shareFCF/sh |
| — | $0.00 | — | $0.00 | Dividends / shareDiv/sh |
| $0.01 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | Cap. spending / shareCapex/sh |
| — | $0.13 | $0.33 | $0.27 | Book value / shareBVPS |
The record, charted
FY2023–2025Each measure over its full record; the current point and the worst year marked.
Gross margin
26%low FY2025
Owner earnings vs. net income
Owner earningsNet incomeThe accountant's number, and the cash an owner can take; the gap is the tell.
($10M)owner earningsvs.$5Mnet 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 reported $5M of profit but ($10M) of owner earnings: $16M less than the profit line, taken out by capital spending and the timing of cash.
| FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reported net income | $5M | ($2M) | $2M |
| Depreciation & amortizationnon-cash charge added back | +$329K | +$320K | +$297K |
| Working capital & othertiming of cash in and out, other non-cash items | −$16M | +$3M | −$7M |
| Cash from operations | ($10M) | $1M | ($4M) |
| Maintenance capital expenditurethe spending needed just to hold position and volume | −$161K | −$278K | −$297K |
| Owner earnings | ($10M) | $1M | ($5M) |
| Growth capital expenditurediscretionary; spent to get bigger, not to stand still | — | — | −$241K |
| Free cash flow | ($10M) | $1M | ($5M) |
| Owner-earnings marginowner earnings ÷ revenue | -7% | 1% | -6% |
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 .
Much of fiscal 2025's profit didn't arrive as operating cash; it sits in “working capital & other” above. That can be a real inventory or timing swing, or profit that doesn't run through operating cash at all: a heavy tax year, equity-method earnings, or investment income booked through investing. For a year like this, owner earnings understates the cash earned; the full cash-flow statement carries the rest.
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.
Quality & stewardship
Returns, the balance sheet, capital allocation, and pay.
Owner’s Scorecard
FY2025 20-F/A · source on SEC EDGAR →
Material weakness in financial controls
“In connection with the preparation of the Company's consolidated financial statements for fiscal years 2025, the Company identified material weaknesses in its internal control over financial reporting, as defined in the standards established by the PCAOB.”
The figures below are only as sound as the controls that produced them. read the note →
Will it survive?
- Interest expense not tagged in the data
What this means
No usable interest-expense line was tagged in the filing data, but the balance sheet carries real net debt — so the interest burden here is unknown, not absent. Read the debt on the net-debt check below.
- Net debt against an operating lossCash $17M − debt $52M
What this means
Netting $17M of cash and short-term investments against $52M of debt leaves $35M 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.
- TightDSO 57 + DIO 85 − DPO 86 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?
- Below averageNOPAT ($1M) ÷ invested capital $68M (debt + equity − cash)Industry peers: median -21%
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. Asset-light businesses (R&D expensed, little capital) read artificially high, pair this with Owner Earnings.
- Consumes cash through the cycle3-yr median margin, range -7%–1%; latest ($13M) = operating cash ($13M) − maintenance capex $365KIndustry peers: median 1%
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 -7% of revenue this year, a -6% median across 3 years.
- Are earnings backed by cash? -43.21×Thinly cash-backedCash from ops ($13M) ÷ net income $300K
In the filing’s words The filing discloses a material weakness in its financial controls — the reported numbers here, and the record built on them, are only as reliable as the controls that produced them.
What this means
How much of reported profit showed up as operating cash. Above 1× is reassuring; well below suggests earnings lean on accruals. One year is noisy, growth and working-capital swings distort it, and this is operating cash, not free cash. Watch the multi-year trend.
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? 1.35×ExpandingCapex $493K ÷ depreciation $365K
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 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 MissRevenue ≥ $2B · $190M
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 MissCurrent ratio ≥ 2× · 1.31×
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 MissDebt ≤ working capital · $52M vs $24M 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 $0.01/share (latest year $0.00), the averaged base the calculator's gate runs on, and book value is $0.27/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?
Elevated contestabilityThe product is software or information, the very thing capable AI now produces more cheaply, so the moat is more contestable than the record alone implies.
In its own filing Not named
Despite the structural exposure, the latest 10-K does not name AI as a competitive risk, which is itself worth a question.
AI has collapsed the cost of building a capable substitute for the very thing this business sells. When a credible alternative can be assembled for a fraction of the incumbent's price, it is pricing power that erodes first, not revenue tomorrow. The live question is whether the moat survives that, not whether it held in the past. Whether that question is answerable at all is yours to decide, against your own circle of competence.
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 fiscal year-end, Sep 30, 2025Can 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$99M
- Cash & short-term investments$17M
- Receivables$30M
- Inventory$35M
- Other current assets$17M
Current liabilities$76M
- Debt due within a year$17M
- Accounts payable$36M
- Other current liabilities$23M
Current ratio1.31×all current assets ÷ what's due · Graham looked for 2×
Quick ratio0.84×stricter: inventory excluded
Cash ratio0.22×strictest: cash alone against what's due
Working capital$24Mthe cushion left after near-term bills
Debt due this year vs. cash$17M due · $17M cash
cash alone won't cover the maturities; it leans on refinancing or operating cash · both figures from the Sep 30, 2025 balance sheet
Cash runway1.2 yrsthe business is consuming cash; this is how long the cash on hand lasts at that rate
Deeper floors
Tangible book value$20Mequity stripped of goodwill & intangibles
Net current asset value($25M)Graham's net-net: current assets less all liabilities
Debt incl. operating leases$54M$2M of it operating leases
Deferred revenue$3Mcustomer cash collected before delivery; operating float
From the company's latest filing.
Peers, Software
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CRNCCerence Inc. | $252M | 70% | 1.3% | -1% | 12% |
| AIC3.ai Inc. | $250M | 67% | -80.5% | -36% | -37% |
| WEAVWeave Communications Inc. | $239M | 63% | -35.0% | -111% | -10% |
| XZOExzeo Group Inc. | $217M | 40% | 28.4% | — | 35% |
| IIIVi3 Verticals Inc. | $213M | 32% | 1.9% | 1% | 10% |
| GCLGCL Global Holdings Ltd | $190M | 32% | 2.3% | -2% | -6% |
| SOUNSoundHound AI Inc | $169M | 69% | -308.2% | -6% | -150% |
| BLZEBackblaze Inc. | $146M | 52% | -32.1% | -88% | 1% |
| Group median | — | 57% | -15.4% | -6% | -2% |
The price
What a price has to assume.
What the price implies
reverse-DCFEnter the home-market price, not the US ADR quote. GCL Global Holdings Ltd reports in USD, and every figure here (owner earnings, book value, the share count) is on that ordinary-share basis. Enter the price on the same basis: the local-exchange quote per ordinary share. A US ADR price in dollars bundles the ADR-to-ordinary ratio, so it will not reconcile with these figures and would throw the multiple off.
GCL Global Holdings Ltd 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−7%
A dated snapshot of the price you typed, the assumptions you set, and what the page showed for them. A snapshot is never edited after it is saved. Your notebook is yours alone — the commitment states what is stored and what we will never do.
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, "GCL Global Holdings Ltd (GCL), the owner's record," https://ownerscorecard.com/c/GCL, data as of 2026-07-09.
Manual order: ← GAU its page in the Manual GDEV →
Industry order: ← FSLY the Software chapter GDDY →