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Burford Capital Limited

BUR
23
Asset Management · Financial Services
Winston Score
23
Winston is worried
Weak fundamentals across most pillars.

Burford Capital is a finance company that pays for other people's lawsuits. When a business or individual has a strong legal case but can't afford the legal fees, Burford steps in and covers the costs. In return, Burford gets a share of the money if the case wins. This is called litigation finance, and Burford is the largest publicly traded company in this niche industry.

Burford makes money when cases settle or go to court and the client wins — it earns a portion of the payout, sometimes many times what it originally invested. The company operates globally, with major activity in the United States, United Kingdom, and international arbitration courts. Its size and track record give it an edge over smaller rivals, since law firms and corporations tend to trust larger, established funders. The biggest risk is that legal outcomes are unpredictable, cases can take years to resolve, and a string of losses could hurt returns significantly.

Winston Score History

Growth Profile

When traditional metrics don't capture the full picture, these are the signals growth stock investors use instead.

Revenue Growth

-67.7% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

Revenue declining

EPS Growth

-187.6% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

Earnings declining

Insider Activity

14.8%ownership

Rising

Insiders increasing their stake — aligned with shareholders

Cash Runway

~21 months

$566M cash & investments

Quarterly Free Cash Flow

↑ Burn rate improving

Adequate runway but may need to raise capital within 2 years

Revenue declining

Burford Capital Limited's revenue is actually shrinking. In a growth stock, that removes the core investment thesis. The low Winston Score here may be warranted — unless there's a turnaround story.

The Winston Score above measures business quality today. Growth stocks often score lower because they invest in the future rather than maximising current profits. These metrics show what matters most for evaluating that future.

Score breakdown

Every number that matters to educated investors.

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Quality

Gross Margin
-583.1%
Thin — -583.1% gross margin
Operating Margin
-912.0%
Losing money on operations — -912.0%
ROCE
-1.2%
Weak — -1.2% return on capital

Negative ROIC means the business is losing money on every dollar invested in it.

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Growth

Sales YoY
-19.3%
Shrinking sales (-19.3% YoY)
EPS YoY
-58.3%
Earnings shrinking (-58.3% YoY)

Earnings per share down more than 10%. Either a bad year, or a real decline.

EPS Consistency
4/8 quarters
Earnings inconsistent quarter-to-quarter

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Cash Flow

Cash Conversion
-46%
Weak — only -46% of profit becomes cash
FCF Margin
-8.6%
Burning cash (-8.6%)

Free cash flow is negative. They are burning cash, not generating it.

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Stability

Debt / Equity
0.88
Moderate — manageable debt (0.88)
Interest Cover
0.57x
Dangerous — barely covers interest (0.6x)

Interest coverage below 1. Their profits don't cover the interest bill.

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Valuation

P/E Ratio (TTM)
15.0x
no trend
Fair value — P/E 15.0

P/E in the normal range. Price is roughly $15 for every $1 of yearly profit.

P/E vs Forward
N/A
not available
Data not available

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Dividends

Dividend Yield
3.05%
no trend
Moderate income — 3.05% yield

Standard yield zone for stable dividend payers. A meaningful piece of total return.

Dividend Growth
+1.0%
no trend
Dividend flat

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