Share count
2.3Bpeak FY2025
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NCTY, The9 Limited American Depository Shares
A balance-sheet business, read on book value, net interest margin and credit losses rather than an earnings multiple.
The business
What it sells, where the money comes from, the kind of company it is.
Revenue · FY2025
CN¥108M
−3.4% YoY · 180% 5-yr CAGR
Vital signs · TTM
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 sustained operating profit across the record; an earnings multiple has nothing to rest on. What the record does show is revenue, the gross-margin trajectory, and the burn against the cash on hand.
- What moves the needle
- Net interest margin, loan losses, and book value. A lender is read on the quality of its balance sheet, not an earnings multiple, and the worst year of credit losses matters more than the best. 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 equity has sat below the cost of equity (median -8%, above 12% in only 4 of 10 years). The cycle and the loan book decide this one; weigh the recession years in the record, not the average, and read 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 20-F →Asia/Eastern Europe is 60% of revenue, so this is largely a single-region business.
Revenue by geography, FY2025
- Asia/Eastern Europe60%CN¥64M
- China33%CN¥35M
- North America7%CN¥8M
From the segment footnote of the company's own 20-F. Shares are of total revenue; the profit bar shows each segment's share of segment operating profit, before unallocated corporate costs.
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 | TTMTTMDec 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Income statement | |||||||||||
| CN¥56M | CN¥73M | CN¥17M | CN¥341K | CN¥625K | CN¥136M | CN¥105M | CN¥174M | CN¥112M | CN¥108M | CN¥108M | RevenueRevenue |
| (CN¥667M) | (CN¥112M) | (CN¥239M) | (CN¥196M) | CN¥393M | (CN¥417M) | (CN¥979M) | CN¥13M | (CN¥74M) | (CN¥409M) | (CN¥409M) | Net incomeNet inc. |
| Cash flow & returns | |||||||||||
| -190.1% | -34.7% | -145.3% | -108.1% | 812.2% | -31.8% | -163.5% | 3.5% | -11.6% | -68.9% | -68.9% | Return on assetsROA |
| — | — | — | — | — | -54% | -2162% | 6% | -22% | -214% | -214% | Return on equityROE |
| — | — | — | — | — | −54% | n/m | 6% | −22% | −214% | −214% | Retained to equityRetained/eq |
| — | — | — | — | — | -54% | -2162% | 6% | -22% | -214% | -214% | Return on tangible equityROTCE |
| Balance sheet | |||||||||||
| CN¥351M | CN¥323M | CN¥165M | CN¥181M | CN¥48M | CN¥1.3B | CN¥599M | CN¥364M | CN¥637M | CN¥594M | CN¥594M | Total assetsAssets |
| CN¥0 | CN¥0 | CN¥0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | CN¥0 | GoodwillGoodwill |
| (CN¥340M) | (CN¥474M) | (CN¥712M) | (CN¥839M) | (CN¥288M) | CN¥776M | CN¥45M | CN¥206M | CN¥339M | CN¥191M | CN¥191M | Shareholders’ equityEquity |
| Per share | |||||||||||
| 35.8M | 33.4M | 62.1M | 106M | 164M | 495M | 720K | 1.01B | 1.40B | 2.27B | 1.68B | Shares out (diluted)Shares |
| CN¥-18.63 | CN¥-3.35 | CN¥-3.85 | CN¥-1.84 | CN¥2.40 | CN¥-0.84 | CN¥-1359.96 | CN¥0.01 | CN¥-0.05 | CN¥-0.18 | CN¥-0.24 | EPS (diluted)EPS |
| CN¥-9.48 | CN¥-14.17 | CN¥-11.46 | CN¥-7.89 | CN¥-1.76 | CN¥1.57 | CN¥62.91 | CN¥0.20 | CN¥0.24 | CN¥0.08 | CN¥0.11 | Book value / shareBVPS |
| CN¥-9.48 | CN¥-14.17 | CN¥-11.46 | CN¥-7.89 | CN¥-1.76 | CN¥1.57 | CN¥62.91 | CN¥0.20 | CN¥0.24 | CN¥0.08 | CN¥0.11 | Tangible book / shareTBVPS |
Share counts before 2017 are restated ×1.5 for a stock split, so per-share figures sit on one basis.
The diluted share count moved ×1.86 into 2018 — shares issued, not a split the totals corroborate — and the per-share figures carry the counts as filed.
The diluted share count moved ×1.71 into 2019 — shares issued, not a split the totals corroborate — and the per-share figures carry the counts as filed.
The diluted share count moved ×1.54 into 2020 — shares issued, not a split the totals corroborate — and the per-share figures carry the counts as filed.
The diluted share count moved ×3.03 into 2021 — shares issued, not a split the totals corroborate — and the per-share figures carry the counts as filed.
The diluted share count moved ×1/687.7 into 2022 — shares retired, not a split the totals corroborate — and the per-share figures carry the counts as filed.
The diluted share count moved ×1403.56 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 ×1.62 into 2025 — shares issued, not a split the totals corroborate — and the per-share figures carry the counts as filed.
The record, charted
FY2016–2025Each measure over its full record; the current point and the worst year marked. Share counts on the current split basis.
Revenue
CN¥108Mlow FY2019
Quality & stewardship
Returns, the balance sheet, capital allocation, and pay.
Owner’s Scorecard
FY2025 20-F · source on SEC EDGAR →
Material weakness in financial controls
“In preparing our consolidated financial statements for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025, we and our independent registered public accounting firms identified material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting, in accordance with the…”
The figures below are only as sound as the controls that produced them. read the note →
Is it a good business?
- Return on equity -214%Loss on equityNet income (CN¥409M) ÷ equity CN¥191MIndustry peers: median -17%
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
The bank's north star, what it earns on shareholders' capital. Cost of equity is roughly 10%, so a return durably above that builds value and below it destroys it. One year is noisy; the durability across a full credit cycle is what counts.
- LossNet income ÷ (equity − goodwill CN¥0 − intangibles CN¥0)Industry peers: median -17%
What this means
The cleaner return, stripping out the goodwill paid for past acquisitions. This is the number a buyer of the whole bank actually earns on the hard capital.
- Not enough data
What this means
Noninterest expense or revenue missing.
Is it sound?
- Capital (equity / assets) 32.1%Well capitalizedEquity CN¥191M ÷ assets CN¥594M
What this means
A plain-English leverage read: how much of the balance sheet is the owners' own money. This is a rough proxy; the regulatory figure is the CET1 ratio, which is risk-weighted and reported in the filing. The point is the same, how much loss the bank can absorb before depositors are at risk.
- Funding —Not enough data
What this means
Deposits or total assets missing.
- Credit cost —Not enough data
What this means
Provision or net interest income missing.
Does AI threaten the moat?
Low contestabilityThe 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; it frames AI mainly as a capability.
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 fiscal year-end, Dec 31, 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 assetsCN¥342M
- Cash & short-term investmentsCN¥59M
- ReceivablesCN¥56K
- Other current assetsCN¥283M
Current liabilitiesCN¥343M
- Accounts payableCN¥6M
- Other current liabilitiesCN¥338M
Current ratio1.00×all current assets ÷ what's due · Graham looked for 2×
Quick ratio1.00×stricter: inventory excluded
Cash ratio0.17×strictest: cash alone against what's due
Working capital(CN¥958K)the cushion left after near-term bills
Cash runway1.9 yrsthe business is consuming cash; this is how long the cash on hand lasts at that rate
Deeper floors
Tangible book valueCN¥191Mequity stripped of goodwill & intangibles
Net current asset value(CN¥9M)Graham's net-net: current assets less all liabilities
Debt incl. operating leasesCN¥4MCN¥4M of it operating leases
Deferred revenueCN¥2Mcustomer cash collected before delivery; operating float
From the company's latest filing.
What an owner would ask, FY2025
read the 10-K →- Does management own its misses?1 plain admission in this year's filing
“The Nasdaq notification letter also noted that we did not meet the alternatives of market value of listed securities or net income from continuing operations.”verify →
The questions the record and the charts do not answer on their own; each carries the figure and the place to look.
Peers, Capital Markets & Asset Management
The same industry, side by side on the bank lens. 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 | ROE | ROTCE | Efficiency | NII / assets |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KEELKeel Infrastructure Corp. | $229M | -17% | -17% | — | 0.5% |
| ABTCAmerican Bitcoin Corp. | $185M | -38% | -152% | — | 0.0% |
| BETRBetter Home & Finance Holding Company | $165M | -446% | -3947% | — | 1.0% |
| NCTYThe9 Limited American Depository Shares | CN¥108M | -54% | -54% | — | 0.6% |
| ECPGEncore Capital Group Inc | $88M | 15% | 58% | — | 0.5% |
| BGDEBig Digital Energy Inc. | $40M | -138% | -138% | — | 0.2% |
| VELVelocity Financial Inc. | $186M | 16% | 16% | — | 2.5% |
| RKTRocket Companies Inc. | $125M | -0% | -1% | — | 0.2% |
| Group median | — | -28% | -35% | — | 0.5% |
The price
What a price has to assume.
What the price implies
price / tangible bookEnter the home-market price, not the US ADR quote. The9 Limited American Depository Shares reports in CNY, and every figure here (owner earnings, book value, the share count) is on that CNY, ordinary-share basis. Enter the price on the same basis: the local-exchange quote per ordinary share in CNY. A US ADR price in dollars bundles the ADR-to-ordinary ratio and the exchange rate, so it will not reconcile with these figures and would throw the multiple off.
A bank is worth a multiple of its tangible book value, and the multiple it deserves is set by the return it earns on that book. Type today’s price; we show what you would be paying against what The9 Limited American Depository Shares’s record justifies.
CN¥
The assumptions
Tangible book / share, delivered−68%/yr’20→’25
The justified multiple is (return on tangible equity − growth) ÷ (cost of equity − growth). A bank earning exactly its cost of equity is worth about one times tangible book; the premium above that prices each point of durable excess return. A higher cost of equity lowers the justified multiple for a bank.
Enter a price above to run it.
Price / tangible book—
Justified by the return—
Normalized return on tangible equity−54%
Price / book—
Earnings yield—
P/E (3-yr avg ’23–’25)—
Graham’s price gate—
Graham applied the same standards to financial enterprises (Intelligent Investor ch.14): the 15× multiple cap on averaged earnings, and P/E times price-to-book at most 22.5. The gate marks the bargain-hunter’s floor, not a verdict.
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.
Tangible book CN¥191M on 4568M shares, a −54% normalized return on it. The dials set the multiple such a return would justify; your price sets the multiple you are paying. It assumes the bank keeps earning that return; a credit cycle, a rate shock or a bad acquisition changes it, which is what the record and the 10-K are for.
Cite: Owner Scorecard, "The9 Limited American Depository Shares (NCTY), the owner's record," https://ownerscorecard.com/c/NCTY, data as of 2026-07-09.
Manual order: ← NCI its page in the Manual NEGG →
Industry order: ← NAVI the Capital Markets & Asset Management chapter NDAQ →