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Quad/Graphics, Inc.

QUAD · Materials · $416M mkt cap · FY2025 filings · No moat ·

Price verdict withheld — value if growth stopped today unreliable

No moat
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The five investor questions

15

2021–2025 (latest 5 aligned FYs; v3 window cap 5): revenue $3.0B to $2.4B, decreasing; diluted EPS 0.71 to 0.54, decreasing.

34

Median gross margin 19.9% over 10y, very stable.

13

Median ROIC 6.4%, above the 12% hurdle in 20% of years.

31

Net debt/EBITDA 1.7x, interest coverage 2x.

20

Owner earnings changed -13.2%/yr over up to the ten most recent annual observations.

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
38% below value if growth stopped today
$60.4M
$13.45
$13.45
$8.34
38% below value if growth stopped today

A discount this large is often a warning rather than a bargain — the market may expect earnings to keep falling. See the revenue trend above.

How to read this

What today’s price assumes: owner earnings shrinking ~9%/yr over 5 years. The estimate assumes owner earnings stay flat (0% growth).

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. QUAD 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.

18 years of fundamentals

The business, in plain English

Quad/Graphics, Inc. booked $2.4B of revenue in FY2025 in the Materials sector and kept 21.6% of it as gross profit — a moderate-margin business by that measure. After every other cost, 1.1% of each revenue dollar reached the bottom line.

Across the filed record, revenue grew from $1.8B (FY2009) to $2.4B (FY2025) — about 1.9% a year compounded over 16 years.

It earned 32.6% on invested capital in the latest filed year, FY2025. Across the full 16-year measurable filed record, median ROIC was 4.5%. Over the v3 recent window (10 measurable filed years), median ROIC was 6.4%. The Returns on Capital filter above scores it 13/100.

The balance sheet carried $370M of total debt in FY2025 against $60.4M of owner earnings — roughly 6.1 years of owner earnings to retire it all. Balance-Sheet Safety scores it 31/100.

Put together: Pricing Power is the strongest of the five filters (34/100) and Returns on Capital the weakest (13/100), which is how QUAD lands at 23/100 — 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 QUAD’s SEC filings

Sales, as filed$2.4B FY2025
$0$2B$4B2008201420202025
Revenue kept after cost of goods21.6% FY2025
0%20%2008201420202025
Standard ROIC or separately labeled Operating ROICROIC 32.6% FY2025
0%2008201420202025
Cash an owner could take out$60.4M FY2025
−$500M$02008201420202025

Gaps in a line mean that item isn’t in QUAD’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 Quad/Graphics, 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$2.4B · 100%Cost of revenue$1.9B · 78%Gross profit$523M · 22%Operating income$97M · 4%Income before tax$32.5M · 1%Income tax$5.5M · 0%Net income$27M · 1%As of 2025-12-31 · 2 SEC filing sourcesBuy 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
$2.4B100%
Cost of revenue$1.9B78%
$523M22%
$97M4%
Income before tax$32.5M1%
Income tax$5.5M0%
$27M1%
Source: · event Dec 31, 2025 · retrieved Jul 26, 2026 · annual-row source set
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Flagship explainer

What Quad/Graphics, Inc. owns — and owes

Quad/Graphics, Inc.'s filing tags don't support a full breakdown — here's what is filed:

Table alternative
Filed lineValue% of assetsSource
Total assets$1.3B100%
Cash and equivalents$63.3M5%
$370M30%
Stockholders’ equity−$59.5M−5%
Source: · event Dec 31, 2025 · retrieved Jul 26, 2026 · annual-row source set

Flagship explainer

What drives Quad/Graphics, 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 equity−28%Tax burden83%net income ÷ pretax incomeInterest burden34%pretax ÷ operating incomeOperating margin4%operating income ÷ revenueAsset turnover1.90×revenue ÷ average assetsEquity multiplier-13.38×average assets ÷ average equityAs of 2025-12-31 · 2 SEC filing sourcesBuy Like Buffett · buylikebuffett.com
DuPont source inputs
InputValueFiscal yearSource
$27MFY2025
Income before tax$32.5MFY2025
Operating income$97MFY2025
$2.4BFY2025
Ending assets$1.3BFY2025
Beginning assets$1.3BFY2024
−$59.5MFY2025
−$131MFY2024
Source:
  • SEC filingFiling detailsAccession 0001481792-26-000042
· event Dec 31, 2025 · retrieved Jul 26, 2026 · annual-row source set
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Flagship explainer

Where Quad/Graphics, Inc.'s cash went

Quad/Graphics, 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$95.9M100%
Depreciation and amortization$78.6M82%
Source: · event Dec 31, 2025 · retrieved Jul 26, 2026 · annual-row source set

Curated 19-manager tier

Who reported holding Quad/Graphics, Inc.

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

0 holding0 exited0 not holding0/19 resolved19 unavailable

Named manager positions and quarter-over-quarter changes
ManagerReported positionQuarter-over-quarterFiling accession
Abrams CapitalUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
Akre CapitalUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
Baupost GroupUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
Berkshire HathawayUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
Brave Warrior AdvisorsUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
Dodge & CoxUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
First EagleUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
FundsmithUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
Gardner Russo & QuinnUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
Gates Foundation TrustUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
Mairs & PowerUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
Markel / Markel-GaynerUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
Oakmark / Harris AssociatesUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
Pershing SquareUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
Polen CapitalUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
Sequoia / Ruane CunniffUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
Southeastern Asset ManagementUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
Tweedy, BrowneUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
Yacktman Asset ManagementUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable

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 unavailable · event Jun 30, 2026 · retrieved Jul 26, 2026

Flagship explainer

What Quad/Graphics, Inc. insiders reported

Records still being gathered — partial as of retrieval Aug 19, 2026.

Partial coverage: the incomplete Form 4 walk cannot establish no activity, an activity date, or zero counts.

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 scale22.5 / 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.

This machine-readable surface covers SEC ownership filings from 2003; it does not represent earlier paper-era records.

Records still being gathered — partial as of retrieval Aug 19, 2026.

Trailing-12-month totals and the 90-day cluster result are withheld because this issuer walk is incomplete.

InsiderShares owned afterDateFiling detail
Huet Melanie ArleneDirectorDisposition to the issuer (D)Table I · Disposed · Class A Common Stock28,543$9.99$285,14558,750Jul 31, 2026
1 filed lot
  • Table I · Class A Common Stock: 28,543 shares at $9.99 · code D · owned after 58,750 ·
Fowler John CDirectorDisposition to the issuer (D)Table I · Disposed · Class A Common Stock26,000$9.86$256,360245,104Jul 31, 2026
1 filed lot
  • Table I · Class A Common Stock: 26,000 shares at $9.86 · code D · owned after 245,104 ·
McKenna Donald MEVP, Chief Administrative OfcrDisposition to the issuer (D)Table I · Disposed · Class A Common Stock12,289$9.84$120,924162,779Jul 31, 2026
1 filed lot
  • Table I · Class A Common Stock: 12,289 shares at $9.84 · code D · owned after 162,779 ·

Source-event as of . Retrieved .

Materials context

#282 of 309 scored Materials companies, ranked by Moat Score.

Nearest peers by Moat Score

  1. #280YHGJ YUNHONG GREEN CTI LTD.23.2No moat
  2. #281THMG THUNDER MOUNTAIN GOLD, INC.22.7No moat
  3. #283PACK RANPAK HOLDINGS CORP.22.5No moat
  4. #284EU enCore Energy Corp.22.3No moat

Compare QUAD with its nearest peers →All Materials companies on the Index →

Common questions about QUAD

Does Quad/Graphics, Inc. have an economic moat?
Based on its FY2025 SEC filings, the Moat Index scores Quad/Graphics, Inc. (QUAD) 22.5 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 15, pricing power 34, returns on capital 13, balance-sheet safety 31, capital allocation 20.
Is QUAD trading below the conservative owner-earnings estimate?
The value if growth stopped today — a zero-growth baseline — is $13.45 per share. It capitalizes normalized owner earnings at a 9% rate and assumes 0% growth. Versus a recent price of $8.34, that is 38% below 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 QUAD's Moat Score changed over time?
The record logs 15 readings since Jul 17, 2026; the latest reads 22.5 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 QUAD. See the disclaimer.