Fluent, Inc. key statistics and ratios
In fiscal 2025, Fluent, Inc. had return on equity of -125.9%, an operating margin of -9.7%, debt equal to 189.9% of equity and a current ratio of 1.04. Each ratio below is calculated from the figures on its income statement, balance sheet and cash flow pages.
Financial ratios
| Fiscal year | 2013Dec 2013 | 2014Dec 2014 | 2015Dec 2015 | 2016Dec 2016 | 2017Dec 2017 | 2018Dec 2018 | 2019Dec 2019 | 2020Dec 2020 | 2021Dec 2021 | 2022Dec 2022 | 2023Dec 2023 | 2024Dec 2024 | 2025Dec 2025 | LTMJun 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gross margin | 38.6% | 58.8% | 27.2% | 28.4% | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Operating margin | −138.3% | −95.1% | −315.1% | −18.2% | −9.9% | 4.5% | 1.9% | 2.7% | −1.4% | −33.1% | −20.2% | −9.3% | −9.7% | −7.4% |
| Net margin | −136.9% | −74.7% | −599.9% | −15.6% | −25.1% | −7.2% | −0.6% | 0.7% | −3.1% | −34.2% | −21.2% | −11.5% | −13.0% | −11.5% |
| Free-cash-flow margin | −201.5% | −68.4% | −80.4% | 0.7% | 0.8% | 9.3% | 8.5% | 6.5% | 3.8% | 0.5% | 2.7% | −5.5% | −0.7% | −2.1% |
| Return on equity | −37.2% | −5.4% | −77.6% | −13.4% | −23.5% | −8.3% | −0.8% | 1.0% | −4.7% | −80.3% | −98.5% | −98.6% | −125.9% | −176.4% |
| Return on assets | −31.4% | −4.7% | −55.9% | −9.7% | −16.9% | −5.9% | −0.6% | 0.7% | −3.2% | −49.1% | −45.5% | −31.3% | −29.7% | −28.3% |
| Asset turnover | 0.23 | 0.06 | 0.09 | 0.62 | 0.67 | 0.82 | 0.92 | 0.99 | 1.05 | 1.44 | 2.15 | 2.72 | 2.28 | 2.46 |
| Current ratio | 4.06 | 5.45 | 1.79 | 1.65 | 1.74 | 2.05 | 1.56 | 1.72 | 1.85 | 1.84 | 1.59 | 1.02 | 1.04 | 0.88 |
| Debt to equity | 0.0% | 0.0% | 26.7% | 23.0% | 29.0% | 26.8% | 26.0% | 19.8% | 21.7% | 43.9% | 90.8% | 142.6% | 189.9% | 393.8% |
| Interest cover (operating income ÷ interest) | — | — | n/m | n/m | n/m | 1.4x | 0.8x | 1.6x | n/m | n/m | n/m | n/m | n/m | n/m |
| Effective tax rate | — | — | — | — | — | 1.4% | — | 27.1% | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| R&D as % of revenue | — | — | — | — | 1.2% | 2.1% | 2.9% | 4.1% | 4.8% | 5.0% | 6.2% | 6.8% | 5.7% | 5.6% |
| Capital spending as % of revenue | 24.6% | 10.4% | 4.7% | 0.4% | 0.3% | 0.1% | 0.7% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.1% |
| Free cash flow ÷ net income | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 916.8% | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Dividends and buybacks ÷ free cash flow | — | — | — | — | 0.0% | 0.0% | 7.5% | 6.4% | 0.0% | — | — | — | — | — |
| Quarter | 2024 Q3Sept 2024 | 2024 Q4Dec 2024 | 2025 Q1Mar 2025 | 2025 Q2Jun 2025 | 2025 Q3Sept 2025 | 2025 Q4Dec 2025 | 2026 Q1Mar 2026 | 2026 Q2Jun 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating margin | −6.0% | −8.3% | −12.8% | −15.9% | −13.4% | 0.3% | −8.7% | −10.2% |
| Net margin | −12.3% | −5.2% | −15.0% | −16.2% | −16.1% | −6.7% | −11.9% | −12.7% |
| Free-cash-flow margin | 1.9% | −3.3% | 3.8% | 2.0% | −15.6% | 4.5% | 11.3% | −10.0% |
| Current ratio | 0.94 | 1.02 | 0.99 | 0.95 | 1.02 | 1.04 | 0.95 | 0.88 |
| Debt to equity | 189.9% | 142.6% | 116.2% | 121.2% | 120.6% | 189.9% | 211.0% | 393.8% |
| R&D as % of revenue | 6.4% | 5.5% | 6.2% | 5.1% | 5.6% | 4.7% | 6.3% | 6.3% |
Financial health
- Short-term assets cover short-term liabilities $53m of assets due within a year against $60m of liabilities due within a year.
- Short-term assets cover long-term liabilities $53m short-term assets against $7m of longer-dated liabilities.
- More cash than debt $7m of cash against $32m of debt.
- Debt below 40% of shareholders' equity Debt is 394% of equity.
- Debt burden no higher than five years ago Debt to equity moved from 19% to 394% over five years.
- A year's operating cash flow covers at least 20% of debt −$4m of operating cash flow against $32m of debt.
- Operating profit covers interest at least five times over Operating income of −$15m against $3m of interest.
Moat
Weak moat
How hard Fluent's competitive advantage looks for rivals to wear away, judged from 10 years of its own filings: returns on capital, pricing power, profit durability, cash conversion and discipline.
- Returns on capital 0 / 20
Net income has been a median -19.0% of total assets over 10 years.
- Durability 10 / 20
Operating margin has been a median -8.8%; its worst year was -27.3%.
- Cash conversion 6 / 20
Free cash flow was positive in 5 of 9 years, at a median 0.9% of revenue.
- Discipline 10 / 20
The diluted share count rose 126.0% over five years; stock-based pay has been a median 1.7% of revenue.
AI disruption exposure: High. In this industry, the core product is information work that AI systems increasingly perform. The score above includes a 15-point deduction for that exposure (32 before it).
Compare with peers
- National Cinemedia, Inc. statistics
- Harte Hanks Inc statistics
- Stran & Company, Inc. statistics
- Nexxen International Ltd. statistics
- Viant Technology Inc. statistics
Head to head: FLNT vs NCMIFLNT vs HHSFLNT vs SWAG
More: Advertising stocks compared, Communication Services sector, rankings of US companies