MRLN

MKT CAP:$306M

Merlin, Inc.

Market Cap

$306M

Technology·Software - Application·🇺🇸 United States·NASDAQ

Technology·Software App·🇺🇸·NASDAQ

Stock Price

$12.73+$4.43 (+53.37%)

Apr 23, 2026

Company Details

Marlin Business Services Corp. provides credit products and services to small and mid-sized businesses in the United States. The company's products and services include loans and leases for the acquisition of commercial equipment and workin...

CEO

Jeffrey Hilzinger

IPO Date

Nov 12, 2003

Website

marlincapitalsolutions.com

Key Metrics TTM

Revenue

$84M

-31.9% YoY

Net Income

$38M

EPS (Diluted)

$3.17

Free Cash Flow

-$660M

Revenue / Share

$6.98

Gross Margin

100.0%

Operating Margin

75.3%

Net Margin

45.0%

FCF Margin

-783.3%

P/S

3.6x

P/E

8.1x

Earnings Reports

Q3 2021

Oct 29, 2021

$21M-16.5%EPS $0.45

Q2 2021

Jul 30, 2021

$21M-18.8%EPS $0.85

Q1 2021

Apr 30, 2021

$21M-41.2%EPS $0.58

FY 2020

Mar 4, 2021

$102M-27.8%EPS $0.03

Q4 2020

Mar 5, 2021

$22M-42.0%EPS $1.29

Revenue & Profitability

Quarter	Revenue	Gross Profit	Operating Income
Q4 17	$29M	$29M	$12M
Q1 18	$29M	$29M	$11M
Q2 18	$29M	$29M	$12M
Q3 18	$28M	$28M	$13M
Q4 18	$31M	$31M	$14M
Q1 19	$37M	$37M	$13M
Q2 19	$31M	$31M	$14M
Q3 19	$35M	$35M	$17M
Q4 19	$38M	$38M	$36.9K
Q1 20	$36M	$36M	-$19M
Q2 20	$25M	$25M	-$2M
Q3 20	$25M	$25M	$8M
Q4 20	$22M	$22M	$24M
Q1 21	$21M	$21M	$13M
Q2 21	$21M	$21M	$17M
Q3 21	$21M	$21M	$10M

Valuation

Quarter	P/S	P/E
Q4 17	2.8x	12.1x
Q1 18	2.7x	10.2x
Q2 18	2.7x	9.6x
Q3 18	2.7x	8.9x
Q4 18	2.6x	12.3x
Q1 19	2.5x	12.8x
Q2 19	2.4x	13.0x
Q3 19	2.3x	12.2x
Q4 19	2.2x	11.3x
Q1 20	2.2x	30.2x
Q2 20	2.3x	—
Q3 20	2.5x	—
Q4 20	2.8x	895.8x
Q1 21	3.3x	16.1x
Q2 21	3.5x	8.7x
Q3 21	3.6x	8.1x

Operating Cash Flow

Quarter	Operating CF	Free CF
Q4 17	$13M	-$166M
Q1 18	$22M	-$144M
Q2 18	$23M	-$151M
Q3 18	$17M	-$159M
Q4 18	$23M	-$185M
Q1 19	$12M	$12M
Q2 19	$15M	$14M
Q3 19	$18M	$15M
Q4 19	$18M	-$801M
Q1 20	$10M	-$147M
Q2 20	$15M	-$59M
Q3 20	$20M	$249M
Q4 20	$15M	-$371M
Q1 21	$7M	-$79M
Q2 21	-$14M	-$117M
Q3 21	$10M	-$93M

Capital Expenditures

Quarter	CapEx
Q4 17	$180M
Q1 18	$166M
Q2 18	$174M
Q3 18	$176M
Q4 18	$209M
Q1 19	$376.0K
Q2 19	$440.0K
Q3 19	$3M
Q4 19	$819M
Q1 20	$157M
Q2 20	$74M
Q3 20	$229M
Q4 20	$386M
Q1 21	$86M
Q2 21	$103M
Q3 21	$102M

CapEx

OpEx vs Revenue Growth (YoY)

Quarter	Revenue Growth	OpEx Growth
Q4 17	+16.4%	+12.0%
Q1 18	+14.1%	-15.6%
Q2 18	+7.4%	-2.1%
Q3 18	+5.7%	-14.8%
Q4 18	+6.7%	+0.6%
Q1 19	+27.0%	+35.9%
Q2 19	+9.1%	+2.2%
Q3 19	+25.2%	+15.4%
Q4 19	+23.2%	+126.1%
Q1 20	-3.1%	+127.3%
Q2 20	-18.9%	+61.5%
Q3 20	-30.5%	-8.0%
Q4 20	-42.0%	-105.7%
Q1 21	-41.2%	-84.7%
Q2 21	-18.8%	-84.9%
Q3 21	-16.5%	-37.3%

Stock-Based Compensation

Quarter	SBC ($)	% of Revenue
Q4 17	$525.0K	1.8%
Q1 18	$921.0K	3.2%
Q2 18	$763.0K	2.7%
Q3 18	$910.0K	3.2%
Q4 18	$800.0K	2.6%
Q1 19	$861.0K	2.3%
Q2 19	$990.0K	3.2%
Q3 19	$894.0K	2.5%
Q4 19	$334.0K	0.9%
Q1 20	$518.0K	1.4%
Q2 20	-$149.0K	-0.6%
Q3 20	$437.0K	1.8%
Q4 20	$434.0K	2.0%
Q1 21	$583.0K	2.8%
Q2 21	$600.0K	2.9%
Q3 21	$625.0K	3.0%

OpEx Breakdown

Quarter	G&A	S&M
Q4 17	$15M	—
Q1 18	$17M	—
Q2 18	$16M	—
Q3 18	$16M	—
Q4 18	$16M	—
Q1 19	$25M	—
Q2 19	$19M	—
Q3 19	$17M	—
Q1 20	$14M	$502.0K
Q2 20	$14M	—
Q3 20	$12M	$162.0K
Q4 20	$11M	$256.0K
Q1 21	$12M	$218.0K
Q2 21	$12M	$301.0K
Q3 21	$12M	$398.0K

Rule of 40

Quarter	Rev Growth %	EBITDA Margin %	Rule of 40
Q4 17	16.4%	45.0%	61.5
Q1 18	14.1%	42.3%	56.4
Q2 18	7.4%	46.7%	54.1
Q3 18	5.7%	43.9%	49.6
Q4 18	6.7%	49.1%	55.8
Q1 19	27.0%	37.7%	64.7
Q2 19	9.1%	50.0%	59.1
Q3 19	25.2%	52.4%	77.6
Q4 19	23.2%	47.0%	70.2
Q1 20	-3.1%	-35.0%	-38.1
Q2 20	-18.9%	-3.2%	-22.2
Q3 20	-30.5%	36.2%	5.7
Q4 20	-42.0%	114.1%	72.1
Q1 21	-41.2%	64.2%	23.1
Q2 21	-18.8%	84.6%	65.8
Q3 21	-16.5%	54.2%	37.8

Rule of 40

War Chest

Quarter	Cash	Short-term Investments	Total
Q4 17	$75M	$12M	$87M
Q1 18	$93M	$0	$93M
Q2 18	$108M	$11M	$118M
Q3 18	$98M	$0	$98M
Q4 18	$107M	$0	$107M
Q1 19	$152M	$0	$152M
Q2 19	$152M	$0	$152M
Q3 19	$147M	$0	$147M
Q4 19	$136M	$0	$136M
Q1 20	$225M	$0	$225M
Q2 20	$222M	$0	$222M
Q3 20	$204M	$0	$204M
Q4 20	$142M	$0	$142M
Q1 21	$115M	$0	$115M
Q2 21	$118M	$0	$118M
Q3 21	$223M	$0	$223M

Shares Outstanding

Quarter	Shares (Diluted)	QoQ Change	YoY Change
Q4 17	12M	-0.2%	+0.5%
Q1 18	12M	+0.1%	+0.2%
Q2 18	12M	+0.2%	+0.2%
Q3 18	12M	+0.2%	+0.3%
Q4 18	12M	-0.1%	+0.5%
Q1 19	12M	-0.3%	+0.1%
Q2 19	12M	+0.1%	-0.0%
Q3 19	12M	-0.8%	-1.0%
Q4 19	12M	-0.4%	-1.4%
Q1 20	12M	-2.0%	-3.1%
Q2 20	12M	-1.0%	-4.1%
Q3 20	12M	+0.6%	-2.8%
Q4 20	12M	+0.1%	-2.3%
Q1 21	12M	+0.2%	-0.1%
Q2 21	12M	+1.2%	+2.2%
Q3 21	12M	+0.4%	+1.9%

Shares Outstanding

Revenue Per Employee

Period	Revenue/Employee	Employees
Q4 17	$87.5K	330
Q1 18	$88.1K	330
Q2 18	$87.1K	330
Q3 18	$85.6K	330
Q4 18	$90.3K	341
Q1 19	$108.2K	341
Q2 19	$92.0K	341
Q3 19	$103.7K	341
Q4 19	$109.1K	348
Q1 20	$102.7K	348
Q2 20	$73.1K	348
Q3 20	$70.7K	348
Q4 20	$86.6K	254
Q1 21	$82.8K	254
Q2 21	$81.3K	254
Q3 21	$80.9K	254

Revenue / Employee