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The Moat Index

PDF SOLUTIONS INC

PDFS · Technology · $2.0B mkt cap · FY2025 filings · No moat ·

Doesn't clear the bar

38/ 100
No moat

The four filters

Pricing power90

Median gross margin 60.5% over 10y, stable.

Returns on capital6

Median ROIC 0.3%, above the 9% hurdle in 17% of years.

Balance-sheet safety21

Net debt/EBITDA 2.5x, interest coverage 1x.

Capital discipline24

Owner earnings trend unclear, share count growing (dilution).

Margin of safety

Above valueOn sale
No price data
Owner earnings (normalized)
—
Est. intrinsic value / share
—
Recent price
$51.14
Discount to value
No price data

Conservative model: 9% discount rate, 0% assumed growth (capped at 4%), maintenance capex ≈ min(capex, D&A).

18 years of fundamentals

The business, in plain English

PDF SOLUTIONS INC booked $219.0M of revenue in FY2025 in the Technology sector and kept 72.3% of it as gross profit — a high-margin business by that measure. After every other cost, −0.3% of each revenue dollar reached the bottom line.

Across the filed record, revenue grew from $48.4M (FY2009) to $219.0M (FY2025) — about 9.9% a year compounded over 16 years.

It earned 1.3% on invested capital in FY2025, with a median of 6.8% across 13 filed years. The Returns on Capital filter above scores it 6/100.

The balance sheet carried $67.0M of total debt in FY2025. Balance-Sheet Safety scores it 21/100.

The share count rose 43.2% between FY2010 and FY2025 — existing owners have been diluted over the record. Capital Discipline scores it 24/100.

Put together: Pricing Power is the strongest of the four filters (90/100) and Returns on Capital the weakest (6/100), which is how PDFS lands at 38/100 — 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.

FY2008–FY2025 · 18 fiscal years, normalized from PDFS’s SEC filings

RevenueSales, as filed$219.0M FY2025
$0$100M$200M2008201420202025
Gross marginRevenue kept after cost of goods72.3% FY2025
0%50%2008201420202025
Return on invested capitalOperating profit on the capital employed1.3% FY2025
−100%0%2008201420202025
Owner earningsCash an owner could take out−$640000 FY2025
$02008201420202025

Gaps in a line mean that item isn’t in PDFS’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.

Moat Score history

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

Moat Score over timeLast scored reading of each day, on the 0–100 scale37.7 / 100
0406080100WideNarrowShallowNo moatJul 17, 2026

Score history begins Jul 17, 2026 — the record builds from here and can’t be backfilled.

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

None yet — PDFS has read No moat for every logged capture since Jul 17, 2026.

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

Technology context

#339 of 532 scored Technology companies, ranked by Moat Score.

Nearest peers by Moat Score

  1. #337QTWO Q2 Holdings, Inc.37.9No moat
  2. #338WEAV Weave Communications, Inc.37.9No moat
  3. #340WSC WILLSCOT HOLDINGS CORPORATION37.7No moat
  4. #341APPN Appian Corporation37.6No moat

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

Common questions about PDFS

Does PDF SOLUTIONS INC have an economic moat?
Based on its FY2025 SEC filings, the Moat Index scores PDF SOLUTIONS INC (PDFS) 37.7 out of 100 — below the Shallow-moat bar, so no moat. The four filters behind that score (each 0–100): pricing power 90, returns on capital 6, balance-sheet safety 21, capital discipline 24.
How has PDFS's Moat Score changed over time?
The record logs 3 readings since Jul 17, 2026; the latest reads 37.7 out of 100 (no moat). No tier changes on record yet. The history is append-only — readings are only ever added, never rewritten.
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Scored from primary SEC filings via the public methodology. Educational only — not a recommendation to buy or sell PDFS. See the disclaimer.

PDF SOLUTIONS INC (PDFS) Moat Score — The Moat Index · Buy Like Buffett