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Donnelley Financial Solutions, Inc.

DFIN · Technology · $1.2B mkt cap · FY2025 filings · · not refreshed in 39 days · Shallow moat ·

Price verdict withheld — value if growth stopped today unreliable

Shallow moat
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The five investor questions

20

2021–2025 (latest 5 aligned FYs; v3 window cap 5): revenue $993M to $767M, decreasing; diluted EPS 4.14 to 1.15, decreasing.

—

Not enough years of gross-margin data to score pricing power.

72

Median ROIC 16.8%, above the 12% hurdle in 60% of years.

67

Net debt/EBITDA 0.7x, interest coverage 11x.

40

Owner earnings changed -8.4%/yr over up to the ten most recent annual observations.

The pricingPower component abstained: Not enough years of gross-margin data to score pricing power. The other four 20% weights were renormalized over the scored 80%.

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
20% above value if growth stopped today
$92.4M
$40.10
$40.10
$48.26
20% above value if growth stopped today

What today’s price assumes: owner earnings growing ~4%/yr over 5 years. The zero-growth estimate assumes owner earnings stay flat (0% growth).

How to read this

We solve for the constant annual change in owner earnings that would make the five-year zero-growth estimate equal today’s price. This keeps the existing model inputs and calculation unchanged; it is an expectations lens, not a forecast.

This zero-growth estimate assumes trailing owner earnings persist — unreliable for declining businesses. DFIN revenue fell in each of the three most recent year-over-year FY comparisons, so this estimate is flagged as unreliable for this company.

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.

13 years of fundamentals

The business, in plain English

Across the filed record, revenue shrank from $1.1B (FY2014) to $767M (FY2025) — about −3.1% a year compounded over 11 years.

It earned 20.2% on invested capital in the latest filed year, FY2025. Across the full 12-year measurable filed record, median ROIC was 17.8%. Over the v3 recent window (10 measurable filed years), median ROIC was 16.8%. The Returns on Capital filter above scores it 72/100.

The balance sheet carried $171M of total debt in FY2025 against $34.6M of owner earnings — roughly 5.0 years of owner earnings to retire it all. Balance-Sheet Safety scores it 67/100.

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.

FY2013–FY2025 · 13 fiscal years, normalized from DFIN’s SEC filings

Sales, as filed$767M FY2025
$0$500M$1B2013201720212025
Revenue kept after cost of goods

Not disclosed in DFIN’s filings for these years — we don’t estimate it.

Standard ROIC or separately labeled Operating ROICROIC 20.2% FY2025
0%20%2013201720212025
Cash an owner could take out$34.6M FY2025
$0$100M2013201720212025

Gaps in a line mean that item isn’t in DFIN’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 Donnelley Financial Solutions, Inc. makes its money

Donnelley Financial Solutions, Inc.'s filing does not supply enough comparable lines for a truthful flow chart — here's what is filed:

Table alternative
Filed lineValue% of revenueSource
$767M100%
$141M18%
Income before tax$43.1M6%
Income tax$10.7M1%
$32.4M4%
Source: · event Dec 31, 2025 · retrieved Jul 26, 2026 · annual-row source set

Flagship explainer

What Donnelley Financial Solutions, Inc. owns — and owes

Donnelley Financial Solutions, Inc.'s filing tags don't support a full breakdown — here's what is filed:

Table alternative
Filed lineValue% of assetsSource
Total assets$800M100%
Cash and equivalents$24.5M3%
$171M21%
Stockholders’ equity$379M47%
Source: · event Dec 31, 2025 · retrieved Jul 26, 2026 · annual-row source set

Flagship explainer

What drives Donnelley Financial Solutions, Inc.’s return on equity?

ROE is five filed business factors multiplied together.

DuPont return on equity factor treeReturn on equity branches into tax burden, interest burden, operating margin, asset turnover, and the equity multiplier.Return on equity8%Tax burden75%net income ÷ pretax incomeInterest burden31%pretax ÷ operating incomeOperating margin18%operating income ÷ revenueAsset turnover0.93×revenue ÷ average assetsEquity multiplier2.01×average assets ÷ average equityAs of 2025-12-31 · 1 SEC filing sourceBuy Like Buffett · buylikebuffett.com
DuPont source inputs
InputValueFiscal yearSource
$32.4MFY2025
Income before tax$43.1MFY2025
Operating income$141MFY2025
$767MFY2025
Ending assets$800MFY2025
Beginning assets$842MFY2024
$379MFY2025
$436MFY2024
Source:
  • SEC filingFiling detailsAccession 0001193125-26-054586
· event Dec 31, 2025 · retrieved Jul 26, 2026 · annual-row source set
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Flagship explainer

Where Donnelley Financial Solutions, Inc.'s cash went

Donnelley Financial Solutions, 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$165M100%
Depreciation and amortization$59.3M36%
Source: · event Dec 31, 2025 · retrieved Jul 26, 2026 · annual-row source set

Curated 19-manager tier

Who reported holding Donnelley Financial Solutions, 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 Donnelley Financial Solutions, 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

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

Moat Score over timeLast scored reading of each day, on the 0–100 scale49.9 / 100
0406080100WideNarrowShallowNo moatJul 20, 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 DFIN.

Track record

How Donnelley Financial Solutions, 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 2016–2025, 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 DFIN on that December 31; the line below is its total-return price path (dividends reinvested) in the years since.

0406080100WideNarrowShallowNo moatPoint-in-time Moat Score50100200Indexed price · log scale (2017 = 100)201620182020202220242026

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 reconstructed history shown, DFIN did not rate Wide-moat in any year, so there is no wide-moat track record to report. That absence is itself the honest answer — we don’t manufacture a comparison where the rating never earned one.

Technology context

#294 of 744 scored Technology companies, ranked by Moat Score.

Nearest peers by Moat Score

  1. #292AISP Airship AI Holdings, Inc.50.2Shallow moat
  2. #293LAWIL LIGHT & WONDER, INC.50.0Shallow moat
  3. #295NCMI NATIONAL CINEMEDIA, INC.49.8Shallow moat
  4. #296KOAN Resonate Blends, Inc.49.7Shallow moat

Compare DFIN with its nearest peers →All Technology companies on the Index →

Common questions about DFIN

Does Donnelley Financial Solutions, Inc. have an economic moat?
Based on its FY2025 SEC filings, the Moat Index scores Donnelley Financial Solutions, Inc. (DFIN) 49.9 out of 100 — a Shallow 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 20, pricing power not measurable from the filings, returns on capital 72, balance-sheet safety 67, capital allocation 40.
Is DFIN trading below the conservative owner-earnings estimate?
The value if growth stopped today — a zero-growth baseline — is $40.10 per share. It capitalizes normalized owner earnings at a 9% rate and assumes 0% growth. Versus a recent price of $48.26, that is 20% above value if growth stopped today. The model also publishes a capped-growth comparison, but the zero-growth estimate is the cautious baseline. It assumes trailing owner earnings persist and is unreliable for declining businesses. This is an educational estimate from primary SEC filings, not intrinsic value as a fact or investment advice.
How has DFIN's Moat Score changed over time?
The record logs 16 readings since Jul 17, 2026; the latest reads 49.9 out of 100 (shallow 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 DFIN. See the disclaimer.