Owner Scorecard
An independent research publication · data as of July 9, 2026

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UTSI, UTStarcom Holdings Corp.

Communications Equipment capital-intensive UnprofitableNet current asset value

UTStarcom is actively involved in products and solutions developments across several key areas, including 5G/5G-Advanced mobile transport networks, disaggregated network platforms optimized for telecom market applications and requirements, and network synchronization.

Our core business is providing telecommunication and networking products, solutions, and services.

As a global networking infrastructure provider, we focus on delivering innovative optical networking, carrier-class packet optical, network synchronization and broadband products and solutions, coupled with Software Defined Networking (SDN) platform.

Latest annual: FY2025 20-F
UTSI · UTStarcom Holdings Corp.
I

The business

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

Revenue · FY2025
$9M
−17.5% YoY · −18% 5-yr CAGR
Vital signs · TTM, with 5-yr average
Revenue $9M 5-yr avg $13M
Gross margin 12% 5-yr avg 16%
Operating margin −95.3% 5-yr avg −54.1%
ROIC −252% 5-yr avg −244%
Owner-earnings margin −103% 5-yr avg −1%
Free cash flow margin −103% 5-yr avg −1%

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. 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 −33% through the cycle on a 27% 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 15% of sales, so how fast it turns back into cash — and the risk of writing it down when demand softens — sits alongside the margin. 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 −43%, above 15% in 1 of 9 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 20-F →

Revenue spreads across 3 regions, the largest Japan at 44%.

Revenue by geography, FY2025
  • Japan44%$4M
  • India33%$3M
  • China23%$2M

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.

II

The record

Ten years of arithmetic, read across the cycle.

The record, 2016–2025

realized figures from each filing · older years to the left
2016’162017’172018’182019’192020’202021’212022’222023’232024’242025’25TTMTTMDec 2025
Income statement
$87M$98M$116M$66M$24M$16M$14M$16M$11M$9M$9MRevenueRevenue
33%34%28%37%15%−7%19%28%27%12%12%Gross marginGross mgn
$2M$7M$4M($6M)($23M)($5M)($4M)($7M)($7M)($9M)($9M)Operating incomeOp. inc.
2.0%6.6%3.8%−9.4%−95.6%−33.4%−31.2%−43.2%−67.4%−95.3%−95.3%Operating marginOp. mgn
$132K$7M$5M($4M)($24M)($6M)($5M)($4M)($4M)($8M)($8M)Net incomeNet inc.
Cash flow & returns
$6M$4M($26M)($24M)($3M)$20M$7M($4M)($4M)($9M)($9M)Operating cash flowOp. cash
$1M$628K$702K$644K$572K$372K$206K$230K$275K$207K$2MDepreciationDeprec.
$4M($4M)($32M)($21M)$20M$25M$12M($857K)($364K)($1M)($3M)Working capital & otherWC & other
$2M$732K$225K$507K$115K$348K$250K$255K$158K$423K$423KCapexCapex
1.8%0.7%0.2%0.8%0.5%2.2%1.8%1.6%1.5%4.7%4.7%Capex / revenueCapex/rev
$4M$3M($26M)($25M)($4M)$19M$7M($5M)($5M)($9M)($9M)Owner earningsOwner earn.
4.9%3.2%−22.7%−37.6%−14.5%122.4%50.0%−30.0%−42.4%−103.0%−103.0%Owner earnings marginOE mgn
$4M$3M($26M)($25M)($4M)$19M$7M($5M)($5M)($9M)($9M)Free cash flowFCF
4.9%3.2%−22.7%−37.6%−14.5%122.4%50.0%−30.0%−42.4%−103.0%−103.0%Free cash flow marginFCF mgn
$4M$140K$3M$1M$374K—$13K————BuybacksBuybacks
—49%10%-8%-43%-29%-118%-380%-441%-252%-252%ROICROIC
0%8%5%-4%-31%-9%-9%-7%-10%-22%-22%Return on equityROE
0%8%5%−4%−31%−9%−9%−7%−10%−22%−22%Retained to equityRetained/eq
Balance sheet
$84M$80M$57M$35M$34M$54M$55M$50M$44M$35M$35MCash & investmentsCash+inv
$18M$17M$61M$78M$50M$27M$12M$8M$5M—$5MReceivablesReceiv.
$23M$17M$26M$6M$7M$2M$1M$795K$2M$1M$1MInventoryInvent.
$22M$27M$51M$31M$25M$19M$13M$8M$7M$4M$4MAccounts payablePayables
$18M$7M$36M$53M$31M$10M$162K$1M($224K)($3M)$2MOperating working capitalOper. WC
$163M$167M$160M$137M$110M$98M$82M$71M$63M$52M$52MCurrent assetsCur. assets
$87M$88M$70M$49M$40M$35M$29M$23M$22M$18M$18MCurrent liabilitiesCur. liab.
1.9×1.9×2.3×2.8×2.7×2.8×2.8×3.0×2.9×2.9×2.9×Current ratioCurr. ratio
$179M$187M$177M$151M$119M$108M$89M$77M$68M$56M$56MTotal assetsAssets
($84M)($80M)($57M)($35M)($34M)($54M)($55M)($50M)($44M)($35M)($35M)Net debt / (cash)Net debt
31.1×135.8×92.9×-383.6×-2324.3×—————-855.7×Interest coverageInt. cov.
$83M$91M$102M$99M$77M$68M$57M$51M$45M$36M$36MShareholders’ equityEquity
Per share
36.4M36.2M36.3M35.6M9.0M9.0M9.1M9.1M9.2M9.2M9.2MShares out (diluted)Shares
$2.38$2.72$3.19$1.85$2.71$1.77$1.55$1.73$1.19$0.98$0.98Revenue / shareRev/sh
$0.00$0.19$0.13$-0.11$-2.64$-0.65$-0.55$-0.42$-0.48$-0.87$-0.87EPS (diluted)EPS
$0.12$0.09$-0.72$-0.69$-0.39$2.16$0.78$-0.52$-0.50$-1.01$-1.01Owner earnings / shareOE/sh
$0.12$0.09$-0.72$-0.69$-0.39$2.16$0.78$-0.52$-0.50$-1.01$-1.01Free cash flow / shareFCF/sh
$0.04$0.02$0.01$0.01$0.01$0.04$0.03$0.03$0.02$0.05$0.05Cap. spending / shareCapex/sh
$2.27$2.52$2.81$2.79$8.63$7.59$6.35$5.64$4.94$3.97$3.97Book value / shareBVPS

The diluted share count moved ×1/3.96 into 2020 — shares retired, 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-yr5-yr
Revenue / share−9.4%/yr−18.5%/yr
Capital spending / share+1.0%/yr+29.1%/yr
Book value / share+6.4%/yr−14.4%/yr

The record, charted

FY2016–2025

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

Share count
9Mpeak FY2016
ROIC
−252%low FY2024
Gross margin
12%low FY2021

Owner earnings vs. net income

Owner earningsNet income

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

($9M)owner earningsvs.($8M)net incomelow FY2018

Where the cash went

ReinvestBuybacksDividendsAcquisitionsRetained

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

FY2016FY2022

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 reported a $8M loss but ($9M) of owner earnings: $1M less than the profit line, taken out by capital spending and the timing of cash.

FY2025FY2024FY2023FY2022FY2021
Reported net income($8M)($4M)($4M)($5M)($6M)
Depreciation & amortizationnon-cash charge added back+$207K+$275K+$230K+$206K+$372K
Working capital & othertiming of cash in and out, other non-cash items−$1M−$364K−$857K+$12M+$25M
Cash from operations($9M)($4M)($4M)$7M$20M
Capital expenditurecash put back in to keep running and to grow−$423K−$158K−$255K−$250K−$348K
Owner earnings($9M)($5M)($5M)$7M$19M
Owner-earnings marginowner earnings ÷ revenue-103%-42%-30%50%122%

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 20-F · source on SEC EDGAR →

Will it survive?

  • Can it pay its interest? -855.7×
    Does not cover its interest
    Operating income ($9M) ÷ interest expense $10K
    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? +$35M
    Net cash, debt-free
    Cash $34M + ST investments $701K − debt $0
    What this means

    Cash and short-term investments exceed every dollar of debt by $35M, 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.

  • How long is cash tied up? 66d
    Long (60+ days)
    DSO 197 + DIO 61 − DPO 192 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 —
    Not enough data
    Industry peers: median -139%
    What this means

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

  • Owner-earnings margin -23%
    Consumes cash through the cycle
    10-yr median margin, range -103%–122%; latest ($9M) = operating cash ($9M) − maintenance capex $423K
    Industry peers: median -292%
    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 -103% of revenue this year, a -23% median across 10 years.

  • Are earnings backed by cash? ($9M)
    Loss, and burning cash
    Net income ($8M) · cash from operations ($9M)
    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?

  • 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? 0.19×
    Harvesting
    Capex $423K ÷ 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 · 1 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 · $9M
    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× · 2.86×
    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.

  • Earnings stability Miss
    A profit every year (10-yr record) · 7 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 Miss
    Earnings +33% over the record · −235%
    What this means

    At least a third more earnings than a decade ago, averaging three years at each end. Net income (not per-share), so stock splits don't distort it, buybacks and dilution show up in the share-count line instead.

  • 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 $-0.59/share (latest year $-0.87), the averaged base the calculator's gate runs on, and book value is $3.97/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 3 of 10
    What this means

    Lost money in 7 year(s), look at what happened there before trusting the average.

  • Operating margin 4% → −69% (3-yr avg ends)
    What this means

    Through the cycle the operating margin slipped — about 4% early to −69% lately, median −33% — competition or costs are biting in.

  • Worst year 2020 · −95.6% op. margin
    What this means

    Operations went underwater in 2020, understand why before trusting the good years.

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 Framed as a capability

The filing positions AI as something the company uses, not something it fears.

“These are optimized for Artificial Intelligence (AI) networking infrastructure, mobile backhaul, metro aggregation, broadband access, and value-added services.”

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, 2025

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$52M
  • Cash & short-term investments$35M
  • Receivables$5M
  • Inventory$1M
  • Other current assets$11M
Current liabilities$18M
  • Accounts payable$4M
  • Other current liabilities$14M
Current ratio2.86×all current assets ÷ what's due · Graham looked for 2×
Quick ratio2.79×stricter: inventory excluded
Cash ratio1.92×strictest: cash alone against what's due
Working capital$34Mthe cushion left after near-term bills
Cash runway3.7 yrsthe business is consuming cash; this is how long the cash on hand lasts at that rate
Deeper floors
Tangible book value$36Mequity stripped of goodwill & intangibles
Net current asset value$32MGraham's net-net: current assets less all liabilities
Debt incl. operating leases$801K$801K of it operating leases
Deferred revenue$4Mcustomer cash collected before delivery; operating float

From the company's latest filing.

Peers, Communications Equipment

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
NSSCNAPCO Security Technologies Inc.$182M43%13.4%23%9%
ONDSOndas Inc.$51M43%-618.3%-139%-543%
SESSES AI Corporation$21M54%-393.4%-35%-292%
SLDPSolid Power Inc.$18M—-537.1%-21%-435%
SATLSatellogic Inc.$18M—-405.6%-194%-318%
QUIKQuickLogic Corporation$14M52%-97.1%-156%-64%
UMACUnusual Machines Inc.$11M—-224.6%-242%-190%
UTSIUTStarcom Holdings Corp.$9M27%-32.3%-43%-19%
Group median—43%-309.0%-91%-241%
IV

The price

What a price has to assume.

What the price implies

reverse-DCF

Enter the home-market price, not the US ADR quote. UTStarcom Holdings Corp. 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.

UTStarcom Holdings Corp. 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.

$
The assumptions

Revenue, delivered−16%/yr’20→’25

Enter a price to run it.

Owner earnings it must reach—
Margin the price demands—
Owner-earnings margin today−103%

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.

Weigh UTSI against another business →

Cite: Owner Scorecard, "UTStarcom Holdings Corp. (UTSI), the owner's record," https://ownerscorecard.com/c/UTSI, data as of 2026-07-09.

Manual order: ← USEA its page in the Manual UXIN →

Industry order: ← UMAC the Communications Equipment chapter VISN →