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Deep Value: cash covers more than 100% of the stock price

This company holds roughly $8M in cash and investments — more than its entire stock-market value, based on its latest quarterly filing. You're paying very little for the actual business. Sometimes that's a genuine bargain or a takeover target, sometimes it's cheap for a reason. Not a buy signal on its own — always ask why it's this cheap.

Liberty Defense Holdings logo

Liberty Defense Holdings

SCAN.V
16
Security & Protection Services · Industrials
Price
C$5.16
+0.00 (+0.00%)
Market Cap
C$5.4M
Exchange
Toronto Stock Exchange Ventures
Winston Score
16
Winston is worried
Weak fundamentals across most pillars.
Data as of Aug 23, 2026 · filings through Jun 30, 2026
How the score breaks down
Quality
Weak
Growth
Weak
Cash Flow
Weak
Stability
Good
Valuation
Data not available

Share count rising — dilution

+23.1% over 4y

The company has issued more shares over this period, which dilutes each existing shareholder’s stake.

Diluted shares outstanding: 1.1M (2021) → 1.3M (2025)

Winston Score History

The full picture

Liberty Defense Holdings is a Canadian security technology company that makes threat-detection systems for crowded public spaces. Its main product is HEXWAVE, a walk-through screening system that uses radar and artificial intelligence to spot hidden weapons — including guns and knives — without requiring people to stop or remove items from their pockets. The company targets airports, stadiums, schools, transit hubs, and government buildings.

Liberty Defense earns revenue by selling and licensing its screening hardware and software, though it is still in an early commercial stage and currently spends far more than it brings in — as its deeply negative margins show. The company operates primarily in North America and is working to move from pilot programs to full commercial deployments. Its core competitive position rests on its AI-driven, contactless detection technology, which was originally developed with support from MIT Lincoln Laboratory. The main risk is that the company must scale sales quickly before it runs out of cash, as it continues to burn through capital while building its customer base.

Growth Profile

When traditional metrics don't capture the full picture, these are the signals growth stock investors use instead.

Revenue Growth

-90.4% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

Revenue declining

EPS Growth

+85.7% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

EPS growth accelerating

R&D Spend

$2M/ year

Flat (+0% vs prior year)

149.2% of revenue

37.3x the sector average (4%)

Steady R&D investment year-over-year

Insider Activity

2.3%ownership

Relatively low insider ownership

Cash Runway

~3 months

$8M cash & investments

Quarterly Free Cash Flow

↓ Burn rate worsening

Short runway — potential dilution ahead through share issuance

Cash watch

Liberty Defense Holdings has less than a year of cash at its current burn rate. Growth investors should watch for potential share dilution from future fundraising — that directly reduces your ownership.

The Winston Score above measures business quality today. Growth stocks often score lower because they invest in the future rather than maximising current profits. These metrics show what matters most for evaluating that future.

Score breakdown

Every number that matters to educated investors.

Each metric is explained in plain language so you know exactly what you're looking at. Start your free trial now.

Quality

Profit per sale
Gross Margin
-3005.9%
Thin — -3005.9% gross margin
Profit after running costs
Operating Margin
-8258.4%
Losing money on operations — -8258.4%
Return on the money invested
ROCE
-128.6%
Weak — -128.6% return on capital

Negative ROIC means the business is losing money on every dollar invested in it.

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Growth

Sales growth
Sales YoY
-57.9%
Shrinking sales (-57.9% YoY)
Profit growth
EPS YoY
N/A
Data not available
How steady the profit is
EPS Consistency
4/8 quarters
Earnings inconsistent quarter-to-quarter

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Cash Flow

Profit that turns into cash
Cash Conversion
N/A
Data not available
Spare cash per sale
FCF Margin
-1448.3%
Burning cash (-1448.3%)

Free cash flow is negative. They are burning cash, not generating it.

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Stability

What it owes vs what it owns
Debt / Equity
0.08
Conservative — low debt load (0.08)
Covers its interest
Interest Cover
N/A
Data not available

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Valuation

Price vs profit
P/E Ratio (TTM)
N/M
Negative earnings — P/E not meaningful
Cheaper or dearer next year
P/E vs Forward
N/A
not available
Data not available

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Dividends

Not applicable for this business.
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