Shutterstock (SSTK) Stock Analysis & Winston Score

Shutterstock is a company that sells photos, videos, music, and other creative content that businesses and individuals can legally use in their projects. Its massive online library contains hundreds of millions of images and clips, and its main customers are marketers, designers, media companies, and small businesses that need ready-made visuals. Shutterstock competes in the stock media industry alongside rivals like Getty Images and Adobe Stock.

The company makes most of its money through subscriptions and on-demand download packages, where customers pay a fee to access and download content. It operates globally, with a significant portion of revenue coming from outside the United States, and its large content library and contributor network create some switching costs. However, the rise of AI-generated images is a serious threat, as tools like Midjourney and DALL-E allow users to create custom visuals without buying stock photos — putting pressure on Shutterstock's core business model going forward.

Winston Score History

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0 Congressional buys and 2 sells on SSTK in the last 12 months.

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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

-17.9% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

Revenue declining

EPS Growth

-348.1% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

Earnings declining

Insider Activity

31.3%ownership

→ Flat

Insiders holding steady — not selling despite ability to

Cash Position

Cash flow positive

$163M cash & investments

Quarterly Free Cash Flow

↑ Burn rate improving

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

Revenue declining

Shutterstock'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

52.4%

Healthy — 52.4% gross margin

Operating Margin

-15.5%

Losing money on operations — -15.5%

ROCE

-3.8%

Weak — -3.8% return on capital

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

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Growth

Sales YoY

-1.8%

Shrinking sales (-1.8% YoY)

EPS YoY

-151.8%

Earnings shrinking (-151.8% YoY)

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

EPS Consistency

2/8 quarters

Earnings rarely grow — volatile business

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Cash Flow

Cash Conversion

N/A

Data not available

FCF Margin

12.0%

Converts sales into free cash efficiently (12.0%)

FCF margin between 10% and 20%. Every $100 in sales becomes $10 to $20 in real cash.

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Stability

Debt / Equity

0.51

Conservative — low debt load (0.51)

Interest Cover

1.20x

Dangerous — barely covers interest (1.2x)

Interest coverage between 1 and 3. Profits cover interest, but with little room to spare.

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Valuation

P/E Ratio (TTM)

N/M

no trend

Negative earnings — P/E not meaningful

P/E vs Forward

N/A

not available

Data not available

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Dividends

Dividend Yield

13.94%

no trend

Healthy income — 13.94% yield

Yield above 6% — often a flag the market is pricing in a cut.

Dividend Growth

+9.5%

no trend

Dividend growing modestly (9.5% YoY)

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