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CLEARONE INC

CLRO · Technology · $12M mkt cap · FY2025 filings · · not refreshed in 36 days · No moat ·

Doesn't clear the bar

No moat
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The five investor questions

10

2021–2023 (latest 3 aligned FYs; v3 window cap 5): revenue $29M to $18.7M, decreasing; diluted EPS -5.85 to -0.30, increasing. Latest-filed diluted EPS remains usable for Business Trend, but an integer share-count change lacks enough evidence to confirm a comparable EPS basis; valuation growth therefore stays at 0%.

56

Median gross margin 44.0% over 8y, variable.

0

Median ROIC -10.7%, above the 12% hurdle in 0% of years.

55

Net cash position — no leverage risk.

44

Owner earnings changed trend unclear over up to the ten most recent annual observations, share count n/a.

Price vs. value if growth stopped today

A cautious baseline, not a price target: what the shares may support if normalized owner earnings simply hold steady.

Above value if growth stopped todayBelow value if growth stopped today
No price data
Not reported
Unavailable — insufficient owner-earnings data
Unavailable — insufficient growth-model data
$5.34
No price data

This zero-growth estimate assumes trailing owner earnings persist — unreliable for declining businesses. The recent FY revenue series does not trigger the three-consecutive-declines flag.

Among the current top-score group, the median current price is 239% above the zero-growth estimate across 48 of the current top 50 companies by Moat Score with both values.

Score records captured Jul 26, 2026.

Exactly which 50 companies?

FTNT, META, MEDP, IBEX, MSFT, GOOGL, LULU, ANF, IDXX, TXRH, FHI, QLYS, FFIV, ADBE, LLY, MANH, VEEV, GRMN, SSD, MNST, DOCS, MCO, CPRT, NTAP, LRCX, NVDA, CORT, SFM, MPTI, ULTA, SN, RMD, ROL, PAYC, IRMD, INTU, DECK, MORN, LGCY, DAL, GWW, ISRG, MPWR, CTAS, LOPE, MRK, CMG, FAST, BKNG, ORLY

Missing a usable price or zero-growth estimate: ANF, BKNG.

Model details under moat-index@3.0.0: zero-growth multiple 11.1×, capped-growth comparison at no more than 18×; 9% discount rate; high-end growth 0% (capped at 4%) using min(5y revenue CAGR, 5y diluted-EPS CAGR), clamped to 0%–4%; maintenance capex uses min(capex, D&A); abstain when D&A is unavailable. This is a disclosed model range, not intrinsic value as fact.

17 years of fundamentals

The business, in plain English

Across the filed record, revenue shrank from $41.3M (FY2010) to $0 (FY2025) — about −100.0% a year compounded over 15 years.

ROIC is not available for the latest filed year, FY2025. Across the full 15-year measurable filed record, median ROIC was −7.0%. Over the v3 recent window (9 measurable filed years), median ROIC was −10.7%. The Returns on Capital filter above scores it 0/100.

CLRO's latest filed year, FY2025, doesn't disclose total debt in a form the methodology can use, so current leverage is treated as unmeasured — never assumed to be zero.

Put together: Pricing Power is the strongest of the five filters (56/100) and Returns on Capital the weakest (0/100), which is how CLRO lands at 33/100 — a None moat.

This breakdown is generated from the filed numbers and sub-scores above — no outside narrative, no estimates. Where a filing doesn’t disclose an input, the sentence that would need it is omitted instead of guessed.

FY2009–FY2025 · 17 fiscal years, normalized from CLRO’s SEC filings

Sales, as filed$0 FY2025
$0$25M$50M2009201520212025
Revenue kept after cost of goods34.0% FY2023
0%25%50%2009201520212025
Standard ROIC or separately labeled Operating ROICROIC −8.5% FY2024
0%200%400%2009201520212025
Cash an owner could take out−$26.1M FY2025
−$25M$0$25M2009201520212025

Gaps in a line mean that item isn’t in CLRO’s filings for that year. The series is never interpolated or estimated. The Table view lists every filed value, including operating and net margins, total debt, and share count.

Flagship explainer

How CLEARONE INC makes its money

Start with a dollar of revenue and follow what the filing says remains.

revenueBranching filed flows with values and percentages directly labeled. Missing filing concepts are omitted rather than estimated.Revenue$0 · UnavailableCost of revenue$328000 · UnavailableGross profit−$328000 · UnavailableOperating income−$4.4M · UnavailableIncome before tax−$4.5M · UnavailableIncome tax$83000 · UnavailableNet income−$26.1M · UnavailableAs of 2025-12-31 · 1 SEC filing sourceBuy Like Buffett · buylikebuffett.com

Honest partial: the filing did not provide a normalized tag for Research and development, Selling, general and administrative; those components are omitted, not plugged.

Table alternative
Filed lineValue% of revenueSource
$0Unavailable
Cost of revenue$328000Unavailable
−$328000Unavailable
−$4.4MUnavailable
Income before tax−$4.5MUnavailable
Income tax$83000Unavailable
−$26.1MUnavailable
Source: · event Dec 31, 2025 · retrieved Jul 26, 2026 · annual-row source set
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Flagship explainer

What CLEARONE INC owns — and owes

CLEARONE INC's filing tags don't support a full breakdown — here's what is filed:

Table alternative
Filed lineValue% of assetsSource
Total assets$2.3M100%
Cash and equivalents$22000010%
Stockholders’ equity−$714000−31%
Source: · event Dec 31, 2025 · retrieved Jul 26, 2026 · annual-row source set

Flagship explainer

What drives CLEARONE INC’s return on equity?

One or more filed inputs needed for the five-factor decomposition are unavailable.

DuPont source inputs
InputValueFiscal yearSource
Net income−$26.1MFY2025
Income before tax−$4.5MFY2025
Operating income−$4.4MFY2025
Revenue$0FY2025
Ending assets$2.3MFY2025
Beginning assets$26.5MFY2024
Ending equity−$714000FY2025
Beginning equity$21.3MFY2024
Source:
  • SEC filingFiling detailsAccession 0001753926-25-000516
  • SEC filingFiling detailsAccession 0001753926-26-000600
· event Dec 31, 2025 · retrieved Jul 26, 2026 · annual-row source set

Flagship explainer

Where CLEARONE INC's cash went

CLEARONE INC’s filing does not supply enough provenance-matched cash-flow lines for a truthful flow chart — here’s what is filed:

Table alternative
Filed lineValue% of cash from operationsSource
Cash from operations−$14.6M−100%
Depreciation and amortization$00%
Source: · event Dec 31, 2025 · retrieved Jul 26, 2026 · annual-row source set

Curated 19-manager tier

Who reported holding CLEARONE INC

Delayed public 13F reports for 2026-Q2—not live positions, trades, or recommendations.

0 holding0 exited0 not holding0/19 resolved19 not retrieved

Named manager positions and quarter-over-quarter changes
ManagerReported positionQuarter-over-quarterFiling accession
Abrams CapitalNot retrievedComparison not retrievedFiling not retrieved
Akre CapitalNot retrievedComparison not retrievedFiling not retrieved
Baupost GroupNot retrievedComparison not retrievedFiling not retrieved
Berkshire HathawayNot retrievedComparison not retrievedFiling not retrieved
Brave Warrior AdvisorsNot retrievedComparison not retrievedFiling not retrieved
Dodge & CoxNot retrievedComparison not retrievedFiling not retrieved
First EagleNot retrievedComparison not retrievedFiling not retrieved
FundsmithNot retrievedComparison not retrievedFiling not retrieved
Gardner Russo & QuinnNot retrievedComparison not retrievedFiling not retrieved
Gates Foundation TrustNot retrievedComparison not retrievedFiling not retrieved
Mairs & PowerNot retrievedComparison not retrievedFiling not retrieved
Markel / Markel-GaynerNot retrievedComparison not retrievedFiling not retrieved
Oakmark / Harris AssociatesNot retrievedComparison not retrievedFiling not retrieved
Pershing SquareNot retrievedComparison not retrievedFiling not retrieved
Polen CapitalNot retrievedComparison not retrievedFiling not retrieved
Sequoia / Ruane CunniffNot retrievedComparison not retrievedFiling not retrieved
Southeastern Asset ManagementNot retrievedComparison not retrievedFiling not retrieved
Tweedy, BrowneNot retrievedComparison not retrievedFiling not retrieved
Yacktman Asset ManagementNot retrievedComparison not retrievedFiling not retrieved

Position size uses shares and filed value from each manager’s 13F. Portfolio weight uses the eligible long-share filing denominator. Changes compare only with the immediately preceding calendar quarter.

Source: Filing source not retrieved · event Jun 30, 2026 · retrieved Jul 26, 2026

Flagship explainer

What CLEARONE INC insiders reported

We could not retrieve insider activity for this rendering; no zero-activity claim is shown.

Unavailable: Form 4 activity could not be retrieved for this rendering.

Moat Score history

15 logged readings since Jul 17, 2026 · append-only, never rewritten

Moat Score over timeLast scored reading of each day, on the 0–100 scale33.0 / 100
0406080100WideNarrowShallowNo moatJul 17, 2026Jul 26, 2026

Breaks in the line mark methodology or normalizer upgrades — readings across versions aren’t compared, so a level shift there isn’t a change in the business.

Tier changesSame-methodology and same-normalizer crossings of the Wide / Narrow / Shallow bars

  1. Normalizer upgraded unstamped (version unknown)moat-xbrl-normalizer@1.1.0 — readings across versions aren’t comparedJul 26, 2026
  2. Methodology upgraded moat-index@2.0.0moat-index@3.0.0 — readings across versions aren’t comparedJul 23, 2026
  3. Methodology upgraded moat-index@1.2.0moat-index@2.0.0 — readings across versions aren’t comparedJul 20, 2026

Scores are logged append-only and never overwritten — this record cannot be reconstructed retroactively, which is exactly why it’s worth keeping.

Insider activity

Form 4 reports mix P/S market or private transactions with compensation-plan mechanics. Activity casually described as “insider selling” can include compensation mechanics; awards, tax withholding, and option exercises are shown by their exact filed class here, never collapsed into “Bought” or “Sold.”

These are disclosed filing facts and arithmetic aggregates, not a signal or verdict.

The insider-filing service is temporarily unavailable, so no partial or guessed answer is shown for CLRO.

Track record

How CLEARONE INC’s moat rated in each of the years we can reconstruct from its filings — scored only on what was knowable at the time — and what its price and returns did afterward. The score never saw a price; the two are joined only in hindsight, for education, not as a signal.

Point-in-time scores 2011–2025, one methodology version · reconstructed from filings on file each Dec 31 — never with hindsight

Point-in-time Moat Score (dot colored by tier)Indexed price (total-return (dividends reinvested))Rated Wide-moat that year

How to read this: each dot is what the engine would have scored CLRO on that December 31; the line below is its total-return price path (dividends reinvested) in the years since.

0406080100WideNarrowShallowNo moatPoint-in-time Moat Score2050100200Indexed price · log scale (2012 = 100)201120142017202020232026

Two tracks, one timeline: the score has its own 0–100 scale (top), the price its own 100-based scale (bottom) — never a shared axis. The price path is a total-return (dividends reinvested) index built from the same data the forward returns use; gaps in the score line are years with no reconstructed rating (see the table for why). The Table view carries every value.

What followed, in the years it rated Wide

In the 2 years CLRO rated Wide-moat (2012 and 2013), the median forward total return that followed — measured only after each year’s filings were public — was:

  • 1 year 61% vs the S&P 500’s 19% (price basis) · median over 2 years
  • 3 years 120% vs the S&P 500’s 30% (price basis) · median over 2 years
  • 5 years 14% vs the S&P 500’s 61% (price basis) · median over 2 years

These are medians computed from the data, not a claim about any one year. The company figures are total returns (dividends reinvested); the S&P 500 is the price-only ^GSPC index, which excludes dividends and so understates the index — the gap flatters the company. A quality rating is not a return forecast, and past returns don’t predict future ones. Educational only, not investment advice.

Technology context

Outside the top 500 of 744 scored Technology companies by Moat Score.

Technology leaders by Moat Score

  1. #1FTNT FORTINET, INC.100.0Wide moat
  2. #2META Meta Platforms, Inc.98.4Wide moat
  3. #3IBEX IBEX LIMITED98.0Wide moat

Compare CLRO with Technology leaders →All Technology companies on the Index →

Common questions about CLRO

Does CLEARONE INC have an economic moat?
Based on its FY2025 SEC filings, the Moat Index scores CLEARONE INC (CLRO) 33.0 out of 100 — below the Shallow-moat bar, so no moat. The five questions behind that score begin at 20% each; if exactly one genuinely lacks data, the other four weights are renormalized and disclosed. revenue and EPS trend 10, pricing power 56, returns on capital 0, balance-sheet safety 55, capital allocation 44.
How has CLRO's Moat Score changed over time?
The record logs 15 readings since Jul 17, 2026; the latest reads 33.0 out of 100 (no moat). No tier changes on record yet. (Methodology or normalizer upgrades on Jul 20, 2026, Jul 23, 2026, Jul 26, 2026 re-based the score; readings across versions aren't compared.) The history is append-only — readings are only ever added, never rewritten.

Scored from primary SEC filings via the public methodology. Educational only — not a recommendation to buy or sell CLRO. See the disclaimer.