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

This company holds roughly $40M 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.

System1

SST

Software - Services · Technology

Price

$1.93

-0.01 (-0.52%)

Market Cap

$19.3M

Winston Score

Winston is worried

Weak fundamentals across most pillars.

Based on the IPO prospectus (annual filing). This score will refine automatically once the company reports its first quarters.

Data as of Aug 23, 2026 · filings through Jun 30, 2026

How the score breaks down

Quality

Weak

Growth

Weak

Cash Flow

Weak

Stability

Weak

Valuation

Data not available

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Share count falling — buybacks

−90.7% over 4y

The company has reduced its share count over this period, returning value to shareholders through buybacks.

Diluted shares outstanding: 84.1M (2021) → 7.9M (2025)

Winston Score History

The full picture

System1 is a digital advertising technology company that helps advertisers find customers online. It operates a network of websites and search tools — including the privacy-focused browser extension and search engine Startpage — that attract people looking for information on topics like insurance, finance, and home services. When visitors click on ads shown through these properties, System1 connects them to advertisers who want to reach those specific audiences.

The company makes money primarily through advertising revenue, earning a fee each time a user clicks on a sponsored search result or ad. System1 operates mainly in the United States and competes against much larger ad tech platforms like Google, which also happens to be a key partner that supplies ads to System1's network. This dependence on Google for a significant portion of its revenue is a major risk, since any change to Google's policies or payment terms could quickly hurt System1's business.

Growth Profile

For growth stock investors

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

Revenue Growth

-61.3% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

Revenue declining

EPS Growth

+100.0% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

EPS growth accelerating

R&D Spend

$0/ year

0.0% of revenue

Below sector average (15%)

Research and development spending

Insider Activity

79.6%ownership

↑ Rising

Insiders increasing their stake — aligned with shareholders

Cash Runway

~2 years

$40M cash & investments

Quarterly Free Cash Flow

↓ Burn rate worsening

$40M cash & investments at current burn rate

Revenue declining

System1's revenue is actually shrinking. In a growth stock, that removes the core investment thesis. The low Winston Score here may be warranted — unless there's a turnaround story.

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

-8.3%

Thin — -8.3% gross margin

Profit after running costs

Operating Margin

-23.3%

Losing money on operations — -23.3%

Return on the money invested

ROCE

-18.5%

Weak — -18.5% 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

-22.6%

Shrinking sales (-22.6% YoY)

Profit growth

EPS YoY

N/A

—

Data not available

How steady the profit is

EPS Consistency

N/A

Data not available

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Cash Flow

Profit that turns into cash

Cash Conversion

N/A

—

Data not available

Spare cash per sale

FCF Margin

-1.6%

Burning cash (-1.6%)

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

10.01

Heavy debt load (10.01)

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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