System1, Inc.

NYSE:SST Stock Report

Market Cap: US$30.0m

System1 Balance Sheet Health

Financial Health criteria checks 2/6

System1 has a total shareholder equity of $-39.0M and total debt of $298.5M, which brings its debt-to-equity ratio to -764.8%. Its total assets and total liabilities are $320.3M and $359.3M respectively.

Key information

-764.82%

Debt to equity ratio

US$298.46m

Debt

Interest coverage ration/a
CashUS$51.51m
Equity-US$39.02m
Total liabilitiesUS$359.35m
Total assetsUS$320.33m

Recent financial health updates

Analysis Article • Sep 11

Is System1 (NYSE:SST) Using Too Much Debt?

The external fund manager backed by Berkshire Hathaway's Charlie Munger, Li Lu, makes no bones about it when he says...
Analysis Article • Feb 17

Does System1 (NYSE:SST) Have A Healthy Balance Sheet?

David Iben put it well when he said, 'Volatility is not a risk we care about. What we care about is avoiding the...
Analysis Article • Nov 08

Does System1 (NYSE:SST) Have A Healthy Balance Sheet?

The external fund manager backed by Berkshire Hathaway's Charlie Munger, Li Lu, makes no bones about it when he says...
Analysis Article • Aug 04

Is System1 (NYSE:SST) Using Debt In A Risky Way?

Howard Marks put it nicely when he said that, rather than worrying about share price volatility, 'The possibility of...
Analysis Article • Apr 23

Health Check: How Prudently Does System1 (NYSE:SST) Use Debt?

Some say volatility, rather than debt, is the best way to think about risk as an investor, but Warren Buffett famously...

Recent updates

Analysis Article • Dec 19

System1, Inc.'s (NYSE:SST) Share Price Boosted 31% But Its Business Prospects Need A Lift Too

Those holding System1, Inc. ( NYSE:SST ) shares would be relieved that the share price has rebounded 31% in the last...
Analysis Article • Oct 31

System1, Inc.'s (NYSE:SST) 26% Dip In Price Shows Sentiment Is Matching Revenues

System1, Inc. ( NYSE:SST ) shareholders won't be pleased to see that the share price has had a very rough month...
Analysis Article • Sep 11

Is System1 (NYSE:SST) Using Too Much Debt?

The external fund manager backed by Berkshire Hathaway's Charlie Munger, Li Lu, makes no bones about it when he says...
Analysis Article • Jul 20

System1, Inc. (NYSE:SST) Not Doing Enough For Some Investors As Its Shares Slump 35%

System1, Inc. ( NYSE:SST ) shares have retraced a considerable 35% in the last month, reversing a fair amount of their...
Analysis Article • Jun 13

At US$4.16, Is It Time To Put System1, Inc. (NYSE:SST) On Your Watch List?

System1, Inc. ( NYSE:SST ), might not be a large cap stock, but it saw a significant share price rise of 43% in the...
Analysis Article • May 13

System1, Inc.'s (NYSE:SST) Shares Bounce 52% But Its Business Still Trails The Industry

Those holding System1, Inc. ( NYSE:SST ) shares would be relieved that the share price has rebounded 52% in the last...
Analysis Article • Feb 27

System1, Inc.'s (NYSE:SST) 26% Dip In Price Shows Sentiment Is Matching Revenues

Unfortunately for some shareholders, the System1, Inc. ( NYSE:SST ) share price has dived 26% in the last thirty days...
Analysis Article • Feb 17

Does System1 (NYSE:SST) Have A Healthy Balance Sheet?

David Iben put it well when he said, 'Volatility is not a risk we care about. What we care about is avoiding the...
Analysis Article • Dec 28

System1, Inc. (NYSE:SST) Looks Inexpensive But Perhaps Not Attractive Enough

When you see that almost half of the companies in the Interactive Media and Services industry in the United States have...
Analysis Article • Nov 08

Does System1 (NYSE:SST) Have A Healthy Balance Sheet?

The external fund manager backed by Berkshire Hathaway's Charlie Munger, Li Lu, makes no bones about it when he says...
Analysis Article • Aug 13

Lacklustre Performance Is Driving System1, Inc.'s (NYSE:SST) 27% Price Drop

Unfortunately for some shareholders, the System1, Inc. ( NYSE:SST ) share price has dived 27% in the last thirty days...
Analysis Article • Aug 04

Is System1 (NYSE:SST) Using Debt In A Risky Way?

Howard Marks put it nicely when he said that, rather than worrying about share price volatility, 'The possibility of...
Analysis Article • Apr 23

Health Check: How Prudently Does System1 (NYSE:SST) Use Debt?

Some say volatility, rather than debt, is the best way to think about risk as an investor, but Warren Buffett famously...
Analysis Article • Mar 18

The Market Doesn't Like What It Sees From System1, Inc.'s (NYSE:SST) Revenues Yet As Shares Tumble 31%

System1, Inc. ( NYSE:SST ) shareholders that were waiting for something to happen have been dealt a blow with a 31...
Analysis Article • Dec 18

System1, Inc. (NYSE:SST) Surges 53% Yet Its Low P/S Is No Reason For Excitement

The System1, Inc. ( NYSE:SST ) share price has done very well over the last month, posting an excellent gain of 53...
Analysis Article • Dec 12

System1, Inc.'s (NYSE:SST) Intrinsic Value Is Potentially 71% Above Its Share Price

Today we will run through one way of estimating the intrinsic value of System1, Inc. ( NYSE:SST ) by projecting its...
Seeking Alpha • Oct 31

System1: Rides On The Digital Advertising Uptrend, But Not Cheap

Summary SST is competing in an attractive market that is set to continue growing due to underlying secular trends. SST's proprietary RAMP technology is the key to its success. SST's high focus on first party data is an advantage. Overview System1, Inc. (SST) is undervalued at its current share price as of the date of this writing. A poor farmer found out that his hen could lay golden eggs. From that time, his fortunes changed. In this case, System1, Inc. is the hen that lays golden eggs. People are the lifeblood of every business. As a company that specializes in customer acquisition, SST is of immense value to any company. That said, as an investor, valuation matters. SST at this current valuation does have an alright risk/reward, in my opinion. Business description System1, Inc. occupies a position of prominence as a customer acquisition platform. They look for, find, and bring their advertising clients and their own products high-value customers. Attractive advertising industry The stakes in advertising are higher than before. The business that can drive and convert the most customer traffic gets to remain relevant in the market. As for those businesses that cannot, they are swept away by the competition. Yet, reaching and attracting their target customers can be quite a high hurdle for advertisers. As advertising has departed from older mediums such as print, television, and radio, digital advertising has taken a place at the forefront of the industry. This represents new, uncharted territory for most advertisers. But in the future, both the number of digital advertisers and the amount they spend are likely to grow. Digital marketing stands out as a complex network that is constantly mutating and evolving. Digital algorithms are updated, more sophisticated advertising networks are discovered, technology infrastructures change like the weather, and regulatory policies favor the customer's data privacy at the expense of the advertiser. Because of this, advertisers are under a lot of pressure to find a good audience so they can get their money back from advertising. Another snag in the advertising industry is the ever-changing customer trends. No one can guarantee what a customer might be interested in by the next day. Even with well-documented data analysis, advertisers are taken aback when the same advertisement that worked days before is rejected by the same audience days later. Since SST is aware of these problems through the data it has collated, it is only right that it be able to propose lasting solutions. Some of the key industry trends that are worth highlighting are: Advertisers Have Significantly Shifted Their Budgets from Traditional Media to a Diverse Array of Digital Channels: Having shifted the direction of their spending from traditional media to a vast array of digital channels, this has provided advertisers with a variety of options, helping them to target and measure campaigns effectively. It has taught businesses—more than ever—why they should prioritize market research and data analytics. As time flows, digital marketing will continue to thrive. Better Execution Against Highly Fragmented Audiences: System1, Inc. has the ability to better deal with highly fragmented audiences. Individual use of the Internet is becoming more fragmented because of the differences in consumption patterns. In a world where a considerable number of people have access to personal devices, one finds it increasingly difficult to accurately pinpoint behavioral tendencies. This is where SST comes in handy. Automation of Ad Buying: The need for automation came as a result of the increased speed and complexity of digital marketing. Computer algorithms that use extensive data sets are now being used to make shopping easier for customers. Buying decisions are easier to make when the process of buying is made easy. Hence, the need for automation. This helps advertisers compare bid prices, finding out which one delivers more value to them. To summarize these points, traditional advertising companies are focused on their ability to be creative and disburse advertising budgets across platforms. The downside is that they are not sophisticated enough to employ superior technology in attracting high-value customers. Advertising consultants may offer advice, but there is an extent beyond which such advice can't work anymore. You must now deploy cutting-edge technology. SST RAMP technology SST owes its business success to the RAMP technology, which has helped them process over 15 million advertising campaign optimizations and collect 5 billion rows of data across 50 advertising verticals. The purpose of this technology is to identify potential customers, determine their purchasing patterns, and monetize them through building a relationship with advertising networks. For a share of the revenue generated, RAMP helps advertising networks direct customer traffic to SST's website, then helps them monetize the traffic. RAMP is able to match customer demand with the appropriate business to meet that demand. This data, context-enriched, helps SST make money for their different clients. High focus on first party data is an advantage RAMP takes advantage of its first-person data to qualify customer demand, which will make monetization easy and effective. This data set is combined with the timeline of a certain ad in any niche to ensure a clear perception of the customer and the advertising network. Through its efficiency, SST has been able to build a vast set of first-party data, with a database of over 500 million search queries and 315 million keywords. With this, SST is able to target the right audience with the right message. The advertising companies gain a deeper understanding of their customers' behavior and tailor their marketing to be in line with it. SST has an omni-vertical service offering RAMP works across vertical customer divisions, exploiting consumer data based on his buying behavior. It is intended to facilitate various forms of monetization such as display and search advertising, lead generation, video, e-commerce, and subscriptions. This platform adds massive value to the digital marketing landscape. Forecast Based on my investment thesis, I expect SST to continue growing as it continues to execute and gain market share. That said, I believe the valuation is not cheap today based on the model. My forecast is based on growth declining to a long-term inflationary rate of 3% in the 10th year, and margins remaining flat from FY22 to be conservative. What I want to show readers here is that, at this valuation, investors need to gain comfort that if revenue starts to decelerate, margins must inflect quite a bit in order to justify a decent IRR.
Seeking Alpha • Aug 30

System1 Inc.: Good Growth But Slightly Overvalued

Summary SST became public via SPAC earlier this year. The company is showing good growth and is founder-led with high insider ownership. Though down almost 60% since the initial highs from the merger, shares are still slightly overvalued. System1 Inc (SST) is a digital marketing company that became public via SPAC in April. It uses its proprietary platform, RAMP, to drive the business and claims that its competitive advantage comes largely from this. SST owns a portfolio of legacy-like web pages such as mapquest.com, info.com, howstuffworks.com, and others. In addition, the company generates subscription revenue through the privacy and consumer security software. investor presentation The company was founded in 2013, but financials only go back to 2018. Most of SST's direct competitors are private, so comparing public peers is more difficult. Below are the margins and return metrics. Year 2018 2019 2020 2021 TTM Revenue 266 407 476 317 Gross Margin 35.5% 32.3% 28.3% 25.2% 25.9% Operating Margin 9.5% 12.8% 9% -4.2% 29.4% Net Margin -0.7% 2.2% 13.4% 10.4% 14.7% ROIC n/a 19.4% 58.4% 6.5% 1.8% EPS -0.2 0.11 0.78 0.40 0.14 FCF/Share 0.15 0.32 0.49 -0.02 -0.42 Source Growth There is no room for doubt room on company's growth but you must be realistic as to how much of the TAM for US digital advertising(currently around $150 bil) can be taken by the company. Revenue hit an all-time high in 2020 at $476 million, there is zero chance of SST getting to the level of META or GOOG, so don't take the TAM as any sort of guaranteed runway. SST actually depends on GOOG for their business model to work with a majority if revenue being dependent on GOOG, and MSFT to a lesser extent. This doesn't mean there can't be meaningful growth, but we have to be realistic about long term expectations and competitive positioning. Since SST is still in this growth phase, ROIC likely won't be stable for a while. Operating margins have been positive most years and free cash flow has only been negative for the past two. They pay no dividend and reinvest all profits. Long term debt is $413 and they have a $37 million cash balance. Valuation There aren't many direct peers for multiple comps, but we can see the price paid for by the SPAC sponsor to see what a private buyer just paid for it. Based on the transaction, enterprise value was 1.4 billion. Current EV is 1.36 billion, so only slight undervaluation when looking at it this way. This doesn't necessarily mean the purchase price was "correct" or even rational. Keep in mind that the company has almost $1 billion in goodwill.
Analysis Article • Aug 17

Is It Too Late To Consider Buying System1, Inc. (NYSE:SST)?

While System1, Inc. ( NYSE:SST ) might not be the most widely known stock at the moment, it saw a significant share...
Seeking Alpha • Aug 11

System1 reports Q2 results

System1 press release (NYSE:SST): Q2 Net Loss of $34M. Revenue of $220M (+29.4% Y/Y). Revenue increased 7% year-over-year on a pro forma basis Adjusted EBITDA increased 20% year-over-year to $41M compared to $34M in the prior year on a pro forma basis.  FY 2022 Guidance: Pro forma Revenue between $900 million and $930 million Pro forma Adjusted Gross Profit between $285 million and $295 million Pro forma Adjusted EBITDA between $155 million and $165 million.

Financial Position Analysis

Short Term Liabilities: SST has negative shareholder equity, which is a more serious situation than short term assets not covering short term liabilities.

Long Term Liabilities: SST has negative shareholder equity, which is a more serious situation than short term assets not covering long term liabilities.

Debt to Equity History and Analysis

Debt Level: SST has negative shareholder equity, which is a more serious situation than a high debt level.

Reducing Debt: SST's has negative shareholder equity, so we do not need to check if its debt has reduced over time.

Balance Sheet

Cash Runway Analysis

For companies that have on average been loss-making in the past, we assess whether they have at least 1 year of cash runway.

Stable Cash Runway: SST has sufficient cash runway for more than a year based on its current free cash flow.

Forecast Cash Runway: SST has sufficient cash runway for 1.9 years if free cash flow continues to reduce at historical rates of 55.3% each year.

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Company Analysis and Financial Data Status

DataLast Updated (UTC time)
Company Analysis2026/06/10 02:31
End of Day Share Price 2026/06/10 00:00
Earnings2026/03/31
Annual Earnings2025/12/31

Data Sources

The data used in our company analysis is from S&P Global Market Intelligence LLC. The following data is used in our analysis model to generate this report. Data is normalised which can introduce a delay from the source being available.

PackageDataTimeframeExample US Source *
Company Financials10 years
  • Income statement
  • Cash flow statement
  • Balance sheet
Analyst Consensus Estimates+3 years
  • Forecast financials
  • Analyst price targets
Market Prices30 years
  • Stock prices
  • Dividends, Splits and Actions
Ownership10 years
  • Top shareholders
  • Insider trading
Management10 years
  • Leadership team
  • Board of directors
Key Developments10 years
  • Company announcements

* Example for US securities, for non-US equivalent regulatory forms and sources are used.

Unless specified all financial data is based on a yearly period but updated quarterly. This is known as Trailing Twelve Month (TTM) or Last Twelve Month (LTM) Data. Learn more.

Analysis Model and Snowflake

Details of the analysis model used to generate this report is available on our Github page, we also have guides on how to use our reports and tutorials on Youtube.

Learn about the world class team who designed and built the Simply Wall St analysis model.

Industry and Sector Metrics

Our industry and section metrics are calculated every 6 hours by Simply Wall St, details of our process are available on Github.

Analyst Sources

System1, Inc. is covered by 5 analysts. 0 of those analysts submitted the estimates of revenue or earnings used as inputs to our report. Analysts submissions are updated throughout the day.

AnalystInstitution
Daniel KurnosBenchmark Company
Nathaniel SchindlerBofA Global Research
Thomas ForteD.A. Davidson & Co.