China Automotive Systems

CAAS

Auto - Parts · Consumer Cyclical

Price

$4.39

+0.03 (+0.69%)

Market Cap

$132.4M

Exchange

NASDAQ

Winston Score

Winston is curious

A decent business — some strong pillars, some weaker.

Share count falling — buybacks

−2.2% over 4y

The company has reduced its share count over this period, returning value to shareholders through buybacks.

Diluted shares outstanding: 30.9M (2021) → 30.2M (2025)

China Automotive Systems, Inc., through its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells automotive systems and components in the People's Republic of China. It produces rack and pinion power steering gears for cars and light-duty vehicles; integral power steering gears for heavy-duty vehicles; power steering parts for light duty vehicles; sensor modules; automobile steering systems and columns; and automobile electronic and hydraulic power steering systems and parts. The company also offers automotive

Winston Score History

Growth Profile

For growth stock investors

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

Revenue Growth

+21.4% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

Steady revenue growth

EPS Growth

+103.3% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

EPS growth accelerating

R&D Spend

$45M/ year

↑ Rising (+63% vs prior year)

5.9% of revenue

In line with sector average (4%)

R&D investment increasing — building for the future

Insider Activity

69.8%ownership

→ Flat

Insiders holding steady — not selling despite ability to

Cash Position

Cash flow positive

$142M cash & investments

Quarterly Free Cash Flow

↑ Burn rate improving

Company generates more cash than it spends — no dilution risk from fundraising

Growth + cash flow

China Automotive Systems is a rare growth stock that's already generating positive cash flow while growing at 21%. The Winston Score doesn't fully credit this transition from "burner" to "earner."

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

23.1%

Thin — 23.1% gross margin

Operating Margin

11.2%

Modest — 11.2% operating margin

ROCE

4.2%

Weak — 4.2% return on capital

ROIC between 0% and 5%. They earn a few cents back per dollar invested in the business.

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Growth

Sales YoY

+17.6%

Fast-growing sales (17.6% YoY)

EPS YoY

+43.4%

Earnings growing fast (43.4% YoY)

Earnings growing 25%+ a year. The compounder zone.

EPS Consistency

6/8 quarters

Earnings grew in most of the last 8 quarters

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Cash Flow

Cash Conversion

116%

Turns 116% of profit into real cash

FCF Margin

-0.4%

Burning cash (-0.4%)

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

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Stability

Debt / Equity

0.52

Conservative — low debt load (0.52)

Interest Cover

34.98x

Comfortably covers interest (35.0x)

Interest coverage above 8. Profits cover interest many times over.

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Valuation

P/E Ratio (TTM)

3.1x

Attractive valuation — P/E 3.1

P/E under 10. The price tag is small relative to last year's profit.

P/E vs Forward

N/A

not available

Data not available

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Dividends

Not applicable for this business.

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