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MLNK (MeridianLink) Beneish M-Score : -3.08 (As of Dec. 14, 2024)


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What is MeridianLink Beneish M-Score?

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 -3.08 no higher than -1.78, which implies that the company is unlikely to be a manipulator.

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

MLNK' s Beneish M-Score Range Over the Past 10 Years
Min: -3.12   Med: -2.79   Max: -2.46
Current: -3.08

During the past 5 years, the highest Beneish M-Score of MeridianLink was -2.46. The lowest was -3.12. And the median was -2.79.


MeridianLink Beneish M-Score Historical Data

The historical data trend for MeridianLink'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.

* Premium members only.

MeridianLink Beneish M-Score Chart

MeridianLink Annual Data
Trend Dec19 Dec20 Dec21 Dec22 Dec23
Beneish M-Score
- - -2.78 -2.46 -3.03

MeridianLink Quarterly Data
Dec19 Mar20 Jun20 Sep20 Dec20 Mar21 Jun21 Sep21 Dec21 Mar22 Jun22 Sep22 Dec22 Mar23 Jun23 Sep23 Dec23 Mar24 Jun24 Sep24
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 -2.79 -3.03 -3.07 -3.12 -3.08

Competitive Comparison of MeridianLink's Beneish M-Score

For the Software - Application subindustry, MeridianLink'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.


MeridianLink's Beneish M-Score Distribution in the Software Industry

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

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



MeridianLink 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 MeridianLink 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 * 0.9626+0.404 * 1.0021+0.892 * 1.0396+0.115 * 0.9668
-0.172 * SGAI+4.679 * TATA-0.327 * LVGI
-0.172 * 1.1368+4.679 * -0.127992-0.327 * 1.1848
=-3.08

* 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 (Sep24) TTM:Last Year (Sep23) TTM:
Total Receivables was $39.2 Mil.
Revenue was 80.369 + 78.676 + 77.816 + 74.579 = $311.4 Mil.
Gross Profit was 52.719 + 50.5 + 51.743 + 49.549 = $204.5 Mil.
Total Current Assets was $133.4 Mil.
Total Assets was $967.9 Mil.
Property, Plant and Equipment(Net PPE) was $3.0 Mil.
Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization(DDA) was $58.1 Mil.
Selling, General, & Admin. Expense(SGA) was $148.6 Mil.
Total Current Liabilities was $71.6 Mil.
Long-Term Debt & Capital Lease Obligation was $466.1 Mil.
Net Income was -7.051 + -9.67 + -5.306 + -29.574 = $-51.6 Mil.
Non Operating Income was 0 + -0.988 + -3.191 + 0 = $-4.2 Mil.
Cash Flow from Operations was 20.595 + 14.356 + 29.038 + 12.478 = $76.5 Mil.
Total Receivables was $34.9 Mil.
Revenue was 76.488 + 75.415 + 77.135 + 70.551 = $299.6 Mil.
Gross Profit was 49.476 + 46.921 + 49.18 + 43.799 = $189.4 Mil.
Total Current Assets was $144.2 Mil.
Total Assets was $1,045.3 Mil.
Property, Plant and Equipment(Net PPE) was $5.1 Mil.
Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization(DDA) was $57.6 Mil.
Selling, General, & Admin. Expense(SGA) was $125.8 Mil.
Total Current Liabilities was $69.2 Mil.
Long-Term Debt & Capital Lease Obligation was $420.9 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)
=(39.19 / 311.44) / (34.909 / 299.589)
=0.125835 / 0.116523
=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)
=(189.376 / 299.589) / (204.511 / 311.44)
=0.632119 / 0.656663
=0.9626

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 - (133.443 + 3.001) / 967.943) / (1 - (144.196 + 5.058) / 1045.317)
=0.859037 / 0.857217
=1.0021

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
=311.44 / 299.589
=1.0396

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))
=(57.624 / (57.624 + 5.058)) / (58.13 / (58.13 + 3.001))
=0.919307 / 0.950909
=0.9668

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)
=(148.621 / 311.44) / (125.766 / 299.589)
=0.477206 / 0.419795
=1.1368

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)
=((466.137 + 71.619) / 967.943) / ((420.921 + 69.248) / 1045.317)
=0.555566 / 0.468919
=1.1848

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
=(-51.601 - -4.179 - 76.467) / 967.943
=-0.127992

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.

MeridianLink has a M-score of -3.08 suggests that the company is unlikely to be a manipulator.


MeridianLink Beneish M-Score Related Terms

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MeridianLink Business Description

Traded in Other Exchanges
N/A
Address
3560 Hyland Avenue, Suite 200, Costa Mesa, CA, USA, 92626
MeridianLink Inc is a cloud-based software solution for financial institutions, including banks, credit unions, mortgage lenders, specialty lending providers, and consumer reporting agencies. It generates maximum revenue from Lending Software Solutions.
Executives
Timothy Nguyen director, officer: Chief Strategy Officer PROJECT ANGEL PARENT, LLC, 1600 SUNFLOWER AVENUE, SUITE #200, COSTA MESA CA 92626
Thoma Bravo Discover Fund, L.p. 10 percent owner 300 NORTH LASALLE STREET, SUITE 4350, CHICAGO IL 60654
Chris Maloof officer: President, Go To Market MERIDIANLINK, INC., 3560 HYLAND AVENUE, SUITE 200, COSTA MESA CA 92626
Sean W Blitchok officer: Chief Financial Officer MERIDIANLINK, INC., 3560 HYLAND AVENUE, SUITE 200, COSTA MESA CA 92626
Edward H Mcdermott director 60 E. SIR FRANCIS DRAKE BLVD., SUITE 300, LARKSPUR CA 94939
Cowan Cody director MERIDIANLINK, INC., 3560 HYLAND AVENUE, SUITE 200, COSTA MESA CA 92626
Mark Sachleben director C/O NEW RELIC, INC., 188 SPEAR STREET, STE. 1200, SAN FRANCISCO CA 94105
Duston Williams director C/O NUTANIX, INC., 1740 TECHNOLOGY DRIVE, SUITE 150, SAN JOSE CA 95110
Alan R. Arnold officer: Chief Operating Officer MERIDIANLINK, INC., 3560 HYLAND AVENUE, SUITE 200, COSTA MESA CA 92626
Yael Zheng director 345 ENCINAL STREET, SANTA CRUZ CA 95060
Reema Poddar director 1600 SUNFLOWER AVENUE, #200, COSTA MESA CA 92626
Paul Andrew Zuber director C/O HOULIHAN LOKEY, INC., 10250 CONSTELLATION BLVD., 5TH FLOOR, LOS ANGELES CA 90067
Chad H. Martin officer: Chief Financial Officer MERIDIANLINK, INC., 3560 HYLAND AVENUE, SUITE 200, COSTA MESA CA 92626
Nicolaas Vlok director, officer: Chief Executive Officer MERIDIANLINK, INC., 3560 HYLAND AVENUE, SUITE 200, COSTA MESA CA 92626
Thoma Bravo Discover Fund Ii, L.p. 10 percent owner 300 NORTH LASALLE STREET, SUITE 4350, CHICAGO IL 60654