Stocks · Financial Services · Financial - Data & Stock Exchanges
Value Line, Inc. VALU
$40.50 +2.27% Close, Oct 2, 2026 · NASDAQ · Market cap $380.2M
Scroll or pinch to zoom, drag to move. Daily prices adjusted for splits. Markers: E = earnings (green beat, red miss), S = split, D = dividend.
Three things to know
- The stock is in an uptrend: above its 200-day average for 32 trading days, with the 50-day average above the 200-day.
- Operating margin narrowed to 10.8% from 16.2% a year earlier.
- Revenue over the last four quarters was $32.9M, down 5.5% from a year earlier.
PromtFinance scores
Each score is a percentile within the Financial Services sector (0–100). Under each score: how the stock ranks in its sector on every component. As of Oct 5, 2026.
How fast revenue, earnings and cash flow are growing.
- Revenue growth (TTM, YoY)Bottom 17%
- EPS growth (TTM, YoY)Bottom 24%
- FCF growth (TTM, YoY)Bottom 23%
- Revenue growth, 3-year CAGRBottom 3%
- Revenue growth accelerationBottom 45%
Returns on capital, margins, earnings quality and balance-sheet strength.
- Return on invested capitalTop 44%
- Gross marginBottom 14%
- Operating marginBottom 23%
- Cash conversion (OCF / net income)Bottom 33%
- Accruals (lower is better)Bottom 21%
- Net debt / EBITDA (lower is better)Top 9%
How cheap the shares are relative to earnings, cash flow and their own history.
- Earnings yieldBottom 43%
- Free-cash-flow yieldBottom 34%
- EBITDA / enterprise valueBottom 27%
- Sales / enterprise valueBottom 8%
- P/E vs own 5-year history (lower is better)Top 40%
Strength and persistence of the price trend, including versus the S&P 500.
- 12-month return excluding last monthBottom 24%
- 6-month returnTop 29%
- 1-year return vs S&P 500Bottom 47%
- Distance from 52-week highTop 10%
- Trend checklist (0–4)Top 11%
Earnings surprises and analyst sentiment (estimate-revision history is being collected).
Low volatility, shallow drawdowns, low market sensitivity and modest leverage.
- Volatility, 60 days (lower is better)Bottom 10%
- Maximum drawdown, 3 yearsBottom 22%
- Beta vs S&P 500 (lower is better)Top 27%
- Net debt / EBITDA (lower is better)Top 9%
What changed
Latest four quarters versus the same period a year earlier (growth: versus one quarter earlier).
| Measure | Before | Now | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (YoY) | -4.7% | -5.5% | ↓ |
| EPS growth (YoY) | 4.5% | -6.6% | ↓ |
| Gross margin | 58.3% | 38.9% | ↓ |
| Operating margin | 16.2% | 10.8% | ↓ |
| FCF margin | 60.0% | 53.9% | ↓ |
Fundamental momentum
| Measure | Now (TTM) | Year / quarter before | Sector rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (TTM, YoY) | -5.5% | -4.7% | ↓ | Bottom 17% |
| EPS growth (TTM, YoY) | -6.6% | 4.5% | ↓ | Bottom 24% |
| Gross margin | 38.9% | 58.3% | ↓ | Bottom 14% |
| Operating margin | 10.8% | 16.2% | ↓ | Bottom 23% |
| Net margin | 60.3% | 61.1% | ↓ | — |
| Free-cash-flow margin | 53.9% | 60.0% | ↓ | — |
| Return on invested capital | 2.0% | — | Top 44% | |
| Revenue growth, 3-year CAGR | -5.5% | — | Bottom 3% |
Quality of earnings and balance sheet
- Cash conversion (OCF / net income)Above 1× means profits are backed by cash.
- 0.89×
- Accruals (net income − OCF) / assetsLower is better; high accruals can signal weaker earnings quality.
- 1.4%
- Stock-based compensation / revenueA cost to shareholders through dilution.
- 0.0%
- Receivables growth vs revenue growthReceivables growing much faster than sales can be a warning.
- -12.3 pp
- Net debt / EBITDABelow 1× is conservative; above 3× is high leverage.
- -2.91×
Shareholder returns
- Dividend yield (dividends paid, TTM)
- 3.28%
- Net buyback yield (TTM)
- 0.25%
- Shareholder yield
- 3.53%
- Share count change, 1 year
- -0.3%
- Share count change, 3-year CAGR
- -0.2%
Shareholder yield = dividends + net buybacks over the last four quarters, divided by market cap.
Based on the four quarters through Jul 31, 2026 (filed Sep 14, 2026).
Earnings and expectations
Earnings momentum
- Average 2-day reaction, last 8
- +0.0%
- Positive 20 days after report
- 2 of 7
How the stock reacted to recent reports
| Report date | EPS surprise | 2 days | 5 days | 20 days | 60 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 14, 2026 | — | -0.2% | +4.4% | — | — |
| Jul 29, 2026 | — | -3.3% | -3.8% | +2.3% | — |
| Mar 17, 2026 | — | +0.4% | +1.2% | -1.5% | -7.6% |
| Dec 15, 2025 | — | +0.3% | +3.3% | -0.8% | -3.0% |
| Sep 15, 2025 | — | +0.9% | -0.0% | +1.2% | -2.1% |
| Jul 29, 2025 | — | +1.1% | +0.1% | -2.1% | +3.1% |
| Mar 14, 2025 | — | -1.4% | -7.5% | -0.9% | -5.6% |
| Dec 13, 2024 | — | +2.4% | -0.2% | -5.8% | -23.0% |
Returns from the close before each report. Past reactions do not determine future ones.
Earnings history
| Report date | EPS | Estimate | Surprise | Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 14, 2026 | $0.50 | — | — | $8.1M |
| Jul 29, 2026 | $0.38 | — | — | $8.0M |
| Mar 17, 2026 | $0.63 | — | — | $8.3M |
| Dec 15, 2025 | $0.60 | — | — | $8.6M |
| Sep 15, 2025 | $0.69 | — | — | $8.6M |
| Jul 29, 2025 | $0.42 | — | — | $8.4M |
| Mar 14, 2025 | $0.55 | — | — | $9.0M |
| Dec 13, 2024 | $0.60 | — | — | $8.8M |
Valuation in context
| Multiple | Now | 5-year median | 5-year percentile | Sector rank (cheapness) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P/E (trailing) | 19.2× | 20.1× | 43th | Bottom 43% |
| EV / EBITDA | 75.5× | — | — | Bottom 27% |
| EV / Sales | 11.13× | — | — | Bottom 8% |
| Free-cash-flow yield | 4.66% | — | — | Bottom 34% |
| Earnings yield | 5.21% | — | — | Bottom 43% |
P/E over the past five years
Range 13.8× – 33.1× since Jul 31, 2021. Each point: price on the filing date divided by trailing-twelve-month EPS known then.
What moved the stock over the past year
- Price return, 1 year
- +4.1%
- Earnings per share growth (TTM)
- -6.6%
- Change in P/E multiple
- +9.6%
Most of the move came from a change in the valuation multiple.
Technical state
Trend checklist
- ✓ Price above 20-day average
- ✓ Price above 50-day average
- ✓ Price above 200-day average
- ✓ 50-day average above 200-day
- ✓ MACD histogram positive
Trend quality
- Days above the 50-day average
- 16
- Days above the 200-day average
- 32
- 50-day average slope (20 days)
- -0.2%
- 200-day average slope (20 days)
- +0.5%
- Distance from 50-day average
- +7.0%
- Distance from 200-day average
- +10.3%
- RSI (14)
- 57.2
- Relative volume
- 0.27×
Risk and drawdowns
- Volatility, 60 days (annualized)
- 50.8%
- Volatility vs own 5-year history
- 55th percentile · Normal for this stock
- Beta vs S&P 500 (2 years, weekly)
- 0.36
- Correlation with S&P 500
- 0.17
- Current drawdown from 1-year high
- -1.2%
- Maximum drawdown, 3 years
- -43.2%
Largest declines in the past six years
| From peak | To low | Decline | Length | Recovery |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 26, 2022 | Jun 3, 2026 | -68.3% | 944 days | Not yet recovered |
| Apr 20, 2022 | Jun 14, 2022 | -40.5% | 38 days | 32 days (Aug 1, 2022) |
| Aug 1, 2022 | Aug 15, 2022 | -24.1% | 10 days | 9 days (Aug 26, 2022) |
| Dec 30, 2020 | Mar 29, 2021 | -21.7% | 60 days | 100 days (Aug 19, 2021) |
| Aug 27, 2021 | Sep 17, 2021 | -18.1% | 14 days | 35 days (Nov 5, 2021) |
Declines of 10% or more from a closing high, measured on daily closes.
Financial statements
- Market cap
- $380.2M
- P/E (TTM)
- 19.2
- EPS, diluted (TTM)
- $2.11
- Revenue (TTM)
- $32.9M
- Dividend yield
- 3.33%
- 52-week range
- $32.00 – $41.18
| FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | FY 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $40.5M | $39.7M | $37.5M | $35.1M | $33.4M |
| Gross profit | $23.2M | $24.5M | $22.6M | $20.6M | $14.7M |
| Operating income | $10.8M | $11.5M | $9.1M | $6.0M | $4.0M |
| Net income | $23.8M | $18.1M | $19.0M | $20.7M | $21.6M |
| EPS (diluted) | $2.50 | $1.91 | $2.02 | $2.20 | $2.30 |
| Q2 2025 | Q3 2025 | Q4 2025 | Q1 2026 | Q2 2026 | Q3 2026 | Q4 2026 | Q1 2027 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $8.8M | $9.0M | $8.4M | $8.6M | $8.6M | $8.3M | $8.0M | $8.1M |
| Net income | $5.7M | $5.2M | $4.0M | $6.5M | $5.7M | $5.9M | $3.6M | $4.7M |
| EPS (diluted) | $0.60 | $0.55 | $0.42 | $0.69 | $0.60 | $0.63 | $0.38 | $0.50 |
| FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | FY 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating cash flow | $24.6M | $18.2M | $17.9M | $20.2M | $18.6M |
| Capital expenditure | -$11,000 | -$140,000 | -$77,000 | -$178,000 | $0 |
| Free cash flow | $24.6M | $18.0M | $17.9M | $20.0M | $18.6M |
| Dividends paid | -$8.4M | -$9.5M | -$10.6M | -$11.3M | -$12.2M |
| Net share buybacks | -$2.5M | -$4.7M | -$523,000 | -$453,000 | -$928,000 |
Cash outflows are shown as negative numbers.
- Cash and short-term investments
- $88.5M
- Total assets
- $152.7M
- Total liabilities
- $43.5M
- Total debt
- $1.9M
- Net debt
- -$14.1M
- Shareholders’ equity
- $109.2M
As of Jul 31, 2026 (filed Sep 14, 2026).
Dividends
| Ex-date | Amount | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Jul 27, 2026 | $0.35 | Aug 11, 2026 |
| Apr 27, 2026 | $0.35 | May 12, 2026 |
| Jan 26, 2026 | $0.33 | Feb 10, 2026 |
| Oct 27, 2025 | $0.33 | Nov 10, 2025 |
| Jul 28, 2025 | $0.33 | Aug 11, 2025 |
| Apr 28, 2025 | $0.33 | May 12, 2025 |
| Jan 27, 2025 | $0.30 | Feb 10, 2025 |
| Oct 28, 2024 | $0.30 | Nov 12, 2024 |
Short interest
- Shares sold short
- 16,323
- Days to cover
- 2.89
- Change vs previous report
- +8.4%
FINRA short interest, settlement date Sep 15, 2026.