Mustek (JSE:MST) Beneish M-Score: -2.88 (As of Jun. 25, 2026)


JSE:MST Mustek Ltd JSE:MST
76 GF Score
Price R14.56
GF Value R12.58
Valuation Modestly Overvalued
! 8 Warning Signs
View Full Analysis

What is Mustek Beneish M-Score?

Mustek JSE:MST -4.84% 76 Beneish M-Score is -2.88 as of Jun. 25, 2026. GuruFocus rates JSE:MST with a GF Score™ of 76/100 and a GF Value™ of R12.58 (Modestly Overvalued). The stock has 8 warning signs investors should review. Among 2,403 Hardware companies, Mustek ranks better than 77.86% on this metric.

The zones of discrimination for M-Score is as such:

An M-Score of equal or less than -1.78 suggests that the company is unlikely to be a manipulator.
An M-Score of greater than -1.78 signals that the company is likely to be a manipulator.

Good Sign:

Beneish M-Score -2.88 no higher than -1.78, which implies that the company is unlikely to be a manipulator.

The historical rank and industry rank for Mustek's Beneish M-Score or its related term are showing as below:

JSE:MST' s Beneish M-Score Range Over the Past 10 Years
Min: -2.88   Med: -2.38   Max: -2.03
Current: -2.88

During the past 13 years, the highest Beneish M-Score of Mustek was -2.03. The lowest was -2.88. And the median was -2.38.


Mustek Beneish M-Score Historical Data

* Premium members only.

The historical data trend for Mustek's Beneish M-Score can be seen below:

* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD.
* For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.

Mustek Beneish M-Score Chart

Mustek Annual Data
Trend Jun16 Jun17 Jun18 Jun19 Jun20 Jun21 Jun22 Jun23 Jun24 Jun25
Beneish M-Score
Get a 7-Day Free Trial Premium Member Only Premium Member Only -2.17 -2.35 -2.11 -2.30 -2.88

Mustek Semi-Annual Data
Jun16 Dec16 Jun17 Dec17 Jun18 Dec18 Jun19 Dec19 Jun20 Dec20 Jun21 Dec21 Jun22 Dec22 Jun23 Dec23 Jun24 Dec24 Jun25 Dec25
Beneish M-Score Get a 7-Day Free Trial Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only 0.00 -2.30 0.00 -2.88 0.00

JSE:MST vs DELL, SNDK, ANET: Beneish M-Score Comparison

For the Computer Hardware subindustry, Mustek's Beneish M-Score, along with its competitors' market caps and Beneish M-Score data, can be viewed below:

* Competitive companies are chosen from companies within the same industry, with headquarter located in same country, with closest market capitalization; x-axis shows the market cap, and y-axis shows the term value; the bigger the dot, the larger the market cap. Note that "N/A" values will not show up in the chart.


Mustek Beneish M-Score vs Hardware Industry

For the Hardware industry and Technology sector, Mustek's Beneish M-Score distribution charts can be found below:

* The bar in red indicates where Mustek's Beneish M-Score falls into.


JSE:MST
76GF Score
Mustek Ltd JSE:MST
Beneish M-Score is just one metric. See GF Score™, valuation, warning signs, and more.
View Full Analysis

Mustek Beneish M-Score Calculation

The M-score was created by Professor Messod Beneish. Instead of measuring the bankruptcy risk (Altman Z-Score) or business trend (Piotroski F-Score), M-score can be used to detect the risk of earnings manipulation. This is the original research paper on M-score.

The M-Score Variables:

The M-score of Mustek for today is based on a combination of the following eight different indices:

M=-4.84+0.92 * DSRI+0.528 * GMI+0.404 * AQI+0.892 * SGI+0.115 * DEPI
=-4.84+0.92 * 1.0799+0.528 * 0.916+0.404 * 1.1829+0.892 * 0.8501+0.115 * 0.9358
-0.172 * SGAI+4.679 * TATA-0.327 * LVGI
-0.172 * 0+4.679 * -0.121589-0.327 * 0.8909
=-2.88

* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD.
* For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.

This Year (Jun25) TTM:Last Year (Jun24) TTM:
Total Receivables was R1,341 Mil.
Revenue was R7,183 Mil.
Gross Profit was R958 Mil.
Total Current Assets was R3,434 Mil.
Total Assets was R4,037 Mil.
Property, Plant and Equipment(Net PPE) was R310 Mil.
Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization(DDA) was R69 Mil.
Selling, General, & Admin. Expense(SGA) was R0 Mil.
Total Current Liabilities was R2,395 Mil.
Long-Term Debt & Capital Lease Obligation was R66 Mil.
Net Income was R39 Mil.
Gross Profit was R0 Mil.
Cash Flow from Operations was R530 Mil.
Total Receivables was R1,461 Mil.
Revenue was R8,449 Mil.
Gross Profit was R1,032 Mil.
Total Current Assets was R4,245 Mil.
Total Assets was R4,889 Mil.
Property, Plant and Equipment(Net PPE) was R344 Mil.
Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization(DDA) was R71 Mil.
Selling, General, & Admin. Expense(SGA) was R769 Mil.
Total Current Liabilities was R3,266 Mil.
Long-Term Debt & Capital Lease Obligation was R79 Mil.




1. DSRI = Days Sales in Receivables Index

Measured as the ratio of Revenue in Total Receivables in year t to year t-1.

A large increase in DSR could be indicative of revenue inflation.

DSRI=(Receivables_t / Revenue_t) / (Receivables_t-1 / Revenue_t-1)
=(1340.929 / 7183.089) / (1460.627 / 8449.292)
=0.186679 / 0.17287
=1.0799

2. GMI = Gross Margin Index

Measured as the ratio of gross margin in year t-1 to gross margin in year t.

Gross margin has deteriorated when this index is above 1. A firm with poorer prospects is more likely to manipulate earnings.

GMI=GrossMargin_t-1 / GrossMargin_t
=(GrossProfit_t-1 / Revenue_t-1) / (GrossProfit_t / Revenue_t)
=(1032.127 / 8449.292) / (957.879 / 7183.089)
=0.122155 / 0.133352
=0.916

3. AQI = Asset Quality Index

AQI is the ratio of asset quality in year t to year t-1.

Asset quality is measured as the ratio of non-current assets other than Property, Plant and Equipment to Total Assets.

AQI=(1 - (CurrentAssets_t + PPE_t) / TotalAssets_t) / (1 - (CurrentAssets_t-1 + PPE_t-1) / TotalAssets_t-1)
=(1 - (3434.2 + 310.198) / 4036.925) / (1 - (4245.057 + 344.232) / 4888.758)
=0.072463 / 0.061257
=1.1829

4. SGI = Sales Growth Index

Ratio of Revenue in year t to sales in year t-1.

Sales growth is not itself a measure of manipulation. However, growth companies are likely to find themselves under pressure to manipulate in order to keep up appearances.

SGI=Sales_t / Sales_t-1
=Revenue_t / Revenue_t-1
=7183.089 / 8449.292
=0.8501

5. DEPI = Depreciation Index

Measured as the ratio of the rate of Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization in year t-1 to the corresponding rate in year t.

DEPI greater than 1 indicates that assets are being depreciated at a slower rate. This suggests that the firm might be revising useful asset life assumptions upwards, or adopting a new method that is income friendly.

DEPI=(Depreciation_t-1 / (Depreciaton_t-1 + PPE_t-1)) / (Depreciation_t / (Depreciaton_t + PPE_t))
=(70.701 / (70.701 + 344.232)) / (69.054 / (69.054 + 310.198))
=0.170391 / 0.182079
=0.9358

Note: If the Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization data is not available, we assume that the depreciation rate is constant and set the Depreciation Index to 1.

6. SGAI = Sales, General and Administrative expenses Index

The ratio of Selling, General, & Admin. Expense(SGA) to Sales in year t relative to year t-1.

SGA expenses index > 1 means that the company is becoming less efficient in generate sales.

SGAI=(SGA_t / Sales_t) / (SGA_t-1 /Sales_t-1)
=(0 / 7183.089) / (768.585 / 8449.292)
=0 / 0.090964
=0

7. LVGI = Leverage Index

The ratio of total debt to Total Assets in year t relative to yeat t-1.

An LVGI > 1 indicates an increase in leverage

LVGI=((LTD_t + CurrentLiabilities_t) / TotalAssets_t) / ((LTD_t-1 + CurrentLiabilities_t-1) / TotalAssets_t-1)
=((65.841 + 2395.313) / 4036.925) / ((79.463 + 3266.02) / 4888.758)
=0.609661 / 0.684322
=0.8909

8. TATA = Total Accruals to Total Assets

Total accruals calculated as the change in working capital accounts other than cash less depreciation.

TATA=(IncomefromContinuingOperations_t - CashFlowsfromOperations_t) / TotalAssets_t
=(NetIncome_t - NonOperatingIncome_t - CashFlowsfromOperations_t) / TotalAssets_t
=(38.82 - 0 - 529.667) / 4036.925
=-0.121589

An M-Score of equal or less than -1.78 suggests that the company is unlikely to be a manipulator. An M-Score of greater than -1.78 signals that the company is likely to be a manipulator.

Mustek has a M-score of -2.88 suggests that the company is unlikely to be a manipulator.

Frequently Asked Questions Learn more about Beneish M-Score →
What does a Beneish M-Score of -2.88 mean?
Mustek (JSE:MST) has a Beneish M-Score of -2.88 as of Jun. 25, 2026. The Beneish M-score measures the likelihood of earnings manipulation. View historical data on Mustek and its competitors. According to the industry distribution chart, Mustek ranks #532 out of 2403 companies in the Hardware industry, placing it in the top 22.1%.
Is Mustek's Beneish M-Score too high?
Mustek's current Beneish M-Score is -2.88. Based on the distribution chart, Mustek ranks #532 out of 2403 companies in the Hardware industry, which is in the top quartile — a strong position relative to peers. Overall, Mustek has a GF Score™ of 76/100 and is considered Modestly Overvalued, reflecting its overall financial health beyond just this single metric.
How does Mustek's Beneish M-Score compare to DELL and SNDK?
According to the Hardware industry distribution chart, Mustek ranks #532 out of 2403 companies for Beneish M-Score. This places Mustek in the top 22% of its industry — outperforming the majority of peers. See the competitive comparison table and distribution chart on this page for a detailed peer-by-peer breakdown.
What is a good Beneish M-Score for a Hardware company?
A good Beneish M-Score depends on the Hardware industry context. However, Beneish M-Score should not be evaluated in isolation — investors should consider it alongside profitability, growth, and financial strength metrics. Use the industry distribution chart on this page to see where any company falls relative to its peers.
What does a high Beneish M-Score mean?
A high Beneish M-Score can signal that a stock is expensive relative to its fundamentals. The Beneish M-score measures the likelihood of earnings manipulation. View historical data on Mustek and its competitors. Mustek's current Beneish M-Score is -2.88. However, context matters — high-growth companies often justify higher valuations. Always evaluate alongside other metrics like GF Score™ and GF Value™.
Is Mustek stock overvalued right now?
Based on GuruFocus' analysis, Mustek (JSE:MST) is currently considered Modestly Overvalued. The stock's GF Value™ is R12.58, compared to a current price of R14.56 — trading 15.7% above its estimated fair value. The current Beneish M-Score is -2.88. Mustek's overall GF Score™ is 76/100 with 8 warning signs to review. Investors should evaluate multiple metrics — including profitability, growth, and financial strength — before making a decision.
How is Beneish M-Score calculated?
Beneish M-Score is calculated from a company's financial statements. For Mustek (JSE:MST), the current Beneish M-Score is -2.88 as of Jun. 25, 2026. GuruFocus calculates this using data sourced from SEC filings and annual reports. See the calculation section and 30-year financial data on this page for the full breakdown.

Is Mustek (JSE:MST) Overvalued in 2026?

Based on GuruFocus' analysis, Mustek stock appears to be overvalued. The current stock price of R14.56 is trading 15.7% above its estimated GF Value™ of R12.58. GuruFocus considers Mustek to be Modestly Overvalued.

Key valuation signals for JSE:MST:

  • Beneish M-Score: -2.88
  • GF Value™: R12.58 vs. price of R14.56 (15.7% above fair value)
  • GF Score™: 76/100 with 8 warning signs

No single metric tells the full story. See the JSE:MST stock analysis page for a complete view including 30-year financials, guru trades, and insider activity.


Mustek Business Description

Address 322 15th Road, Randjespark, Midrand, GT, ZAF, 1685
Mustek Ltd is an assembler and distributor of personal computers and complementary Information and Communication Technology (ICT) products in South Africa. The company's segments include Mustek, Rectron, MIE, and the Group. Mustek includes assembly and distribution of computer products and peripherals, including Mecer-branded products and related services. Rectron includes the distribution of computer components and peripherals. Mecer Inter-Ed (MIE) includes a training provider of accredited training programmes, and the group includes investments in associates and other investments, and loans. Geographically, operates in the region of South Africa. It derives a substantial part of its revenue from the Mustek segment.
76GF Score

Get the complete analysis for JSE:MST

Beneish M-Score is just one metric. See GF Value™, 30-year financials, guru trades, warning signs, and more.

R14.56
Price
R12.58
GF Value