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Hacksaw (HACK.ST)
Teknik & Gaming · B2B iGaming-innehall (slots/skraplotter) · LTM Q2 2026
Analysis date: 2026-07-21
Price at analysis: SEK 71.40
Method: mttssn_streamlined_v1
Conviction: MEDIUM
BUY
Conviction: MEDIUM
A rare clean compounder, freshly de-rated. LTM Q2 2026: 82% adjusted EBIT margin, debt-free with ~EUR 99M net cash (after a EUR 116M dividend), 100% organic revenue +31% YoY (+33% cc), and a spotless APM (0.0% divergence). The Q2 print was in line, but the stock fell ~12% on decelerating rounds-played and a sequential stall, plus an abrupt CEO dismissal — pushing the price ~15% below its zero-growth reverse-DCF fair value. ROIC is mathematically meaningless (capital-light) — value it on earnings. The offsetting risk is revenue quality: only ~12% of bets are locally-licensed. BUY, medium.
Adj. ROIC
513.0%
WACC 8% → spread +505.0pp
Economic Profit
+SEK 1,832M
SEK +1,832M; ~= NOPAT (capital charge trivial)
FCF Yield
9.3%
~90% conversion; SEK 1,811M LTM
Price / Target
SEK 71 → SEK 110
+54% base; BUY
Revenue (LTM)
SEK 2.5B
LTM EUR 224M; +31% YoY / +33% cc, 100% organic
EBIT Margin
80.7%
82% adj EBIT (81% reported) - genuine, verified
EV / IC
53.87×
Enterprise value / invested capital
Net Debt
n/a
Net cash SEK 1,100M; debt-free (post EUR 116M dividend)
Thesis

Hacksaw is a B2B iGaming content studio: it develops high-volatility slots and scratchcards and distributes them — plus third-party studios' games via its OpenRGS platform — to operators on a GGR rev-share basis across 40+ licensed markets. The economics are exceptional: 82% adjusted EBIT margin, ~EUR 99M net cash (even after a EUR 116M May dividend), no debt, no goodwill, ~90% FCF conversion. A 354-game back-catalogue is an annuity that funds new launches, and it has already reached >60% of Evolution's RNG revenue at a higher margin.

Adjusted NOPAT of SEK ~1,861M sits on an invested-capital base of just ~SEK 363M (15% of revenue), so ROIC (~510%) is a meaningless artefact — this is an earnings/FCF story. Two live questions frame the thesis: (1) growth durability — Q2 was +31% YoY but only +3% QoQ, largely seasonal/FX (cc growth held 33-37%), yet the market punished decelerating rounds-played; and (2) revenue quality — only ~12% of bets are locally-licensed (~88% .com/grey), with Stake (~20% of revenue) also a ~4% shareholder, against tightening UK/Brazil supplier rules.

Valuation · reverse-DCF & scenarios

Capitalising adjusted NOPAT of SEK 1,861M at WACC-g and adding SEK 1,100M net cash over 289.2M shares: zero-growth fair value = SEK 84 (price ~72, i.e. ~15% below), 2% = SEK 111 (+54%), 5% = SEK 218. The -12% de-rating means the market now implies slightly NEGATIVE perpetual growth on a 30%+ organic grower — the reverse-DCF margin of safety widened materially versus the LTM Q1 record (where price = FV).

Base SEK 110 (~+54%) on a conservative ~2% terminal in a multi-year high-growth fade; bull SEK 150 if US/regulated expansion sustains 30%+ growth and margins hold; bear SEK 60 (-17%) if growth decelerates structurally, the UK/Brazil regime forces a grey-revenue exit (Evolution read-across), or margins normalise. Consensus target mean SEK ~104; 4 analysts all BUY (Citi 91, Berenberg 95 post-trim).

Market-implied growth
-10.0%
NOPAT CAGR over 5y the EV already requires
No-growth value / share
SEK 111
155% of price; rest = priced-in growth
ROIC − WACC
+505.0 pp
ROIC 513.0% vs WACC 8.0% — positive = value creation
CAP (priced-in)
n/a
years of excess returns the price implies (fades to WACC)

The market pays today’s enterprise value for roughly -10.0% NOPAT growth over 5 years. The business earns 513% on capital against a 8% cost of capital (spread +505.0 pp); the no-growth value is SEK 111/share (155% of price), so the rest is priced-in growth.

Scenario24m targetImpl. gUpsideProb.Driver
BullSEK 150+7%+110%35%US/regulated expansion sustains 30%+ growth, margins hold
BaseSEK 110-0%+54%45%~2% terminal in a high-growth fade; -12% de-rating opened the cushion
BearSEK 60-14%-16%20%Grey-revenue re-rate/exit (UK/Brazil) or structural deceleration
Prob-weightedSEK 114+60%100%Scenario-weighted expected value

Sensitivity — fair value / share at WACC × growth

WACC \ g0%3%5%8%10%15%
6.50%150172187213232284
7.25%127145158179195238
8.00% (base)111126137155168205
8.75%98111121136148180
9.50%88100108122132160

Green = fair value above the current price of SEK 71.40. The reverse-DCF conclusion is dominated by WACC and growth — see the whole surface, not a single fair value.

Method & data. NOPAT SEK 1,861, invested capital and ROIC 513.0% are observed (adjustments.json); WACC 8.0% and terminal g 2.5% are assumptions. EV→equity uses net debt SEK -1,100. The model holds ROIC constant (no fade) over the explicit horizon; the CAP figure instead fades excess returns to WACC.

⤓ Download the full model (.xlsx) — formula-driven sheets; flex the blue input cells and the model cascades in Excel.

Key drivers

1. Ultra-high margins

82% adjusted EBIT margin, ~90% FCF conversion — a capital-light cash machine; every growth krona drops through.

2. Organic growth engine

+31% reported / +33% cc in Q2 2026, 100% organic; 354-game portfolio, in-house cadence up to 5/month, OpenRGS at 11 partner studios.

3. Reverse-DCF now embeds negative growth

After the -12% de-rating, price ~SEK 72 sits ~15% below the SEK 84 zero-growth fair value — the market pays less than nothing for a 30%+ grower.

4. Net-cash + capital return

~EUR 99M net cash after a EUR 116M (81% payout) dividend funds Hacksaw Ventures studio stakes and US/Canada expansion without dilution or debt.

5. Clean accounting

APM divergence 0.0%, no goodwill, no PPA, no SBC add-back — earnings quality as high as the headline margin.

Catalysts
Key risks
What would prove us wrong

These are the observable events that would break the thesis. We track them in the follow-up notes; if one triggers, the thesis status moves to weakened or closed.

Conclusion

Hacksaw is the rare 'cheap and exceptional' profile made cheaper: a debt-free, net-cash, 82%-margin organic compounder with spotless accounting, now ~15% below its zero-growth reverse-DCF fair value after an in-line Q2 print triggered a ~12% de-rating. We keep BUY, medium; base target SEK 110.

Conviction stays medium — not for anything in the numbers, which remain pristine, but for the two overhangs the re-stream sharpened: the ~88%-grey revenue base into a tightening UK/Brazil supplier regime, and an abrupt CEO dismissal into an interim seat. Watch rounds-played re-acceleration, the permanent-CEO appointment, and regulatory headlines.

Footnote evidence & sources

Every adjustment traces to the cited note/page in the source filing — click to open it there. Annual report / 10-K: 📄 open  ·  Latest interim: 📄 open

Adjustment / figureValueSourceWhy mttssn treats it this way
LTM revenue EUR 224,012k2,478Condensed consolidated income statement, LTM Jul-Jun column 📄 p.8Company discloses a clean trailing-12-month column; used directly rather than reconstructing FY - Q + Q.
LTM adjusted EBIT EUR 182,911k (82% margin)2,024Reconciliation of non-IFRS measures, LTM column 📄 p.17Reported EBIT EUR 180,736k + IAC EUR 2,175k; mttssn accepts the IAC add-back as genuinely non-recurring, so our adjusted EBIT equals the company's (0% divergence).
Items affecting comparability EUR 2,175k (IPO 1,457 + severance 718)24.1Note 5: Items affecting comparability 📄 p.15One-off IPO advisory plus severance to the departed Group CEO - both normalized per mttssn as non-operating.
Cash & equivalents EUR 99,413k1,100Condensed consolidated statement of cash flows, period-end cash 📄 p.11Taken from the clean cash-flow statement (the balance sheet renders as rotated text); halved from EUR 176M by the EUR 116M May dividend.
Total equity EUR 129,176k, NCI 01,429Condensed consolidated statement of changes in equity, closing balance 2026-06-30 📄 p.10Post-dividend equity; NCI eliminated after the minority share-swap buyout, so IC and per-share economics are now on a fully-attributable base.
EUR 116M dividend paid (EUR 0.40/sh, 81% of 2025 earnings)1,100CEO comments / statement of changes in equity 📄 p.2Confirms the capital-return posture; drives the cash and equity step-down and lifts IC modestly.
Analysis history

How the mttssn view has evolved — each prior dated note is preserved.

Quality · Buffett tenets11 / 15
Understandable business
B2B iGaming content supplier — builds high-volatility slots/scratchcards and licenses them to operators on a GGR rev-share basis, plus the OpenRGS platform for third-party studios. Simple model, but a ~1-year listed record (June-2025 IPO) in a regulated, less-familiar niche.
Durable moat
354-game back-catalogue annuity + OpenRGS (11 partner studios) across 40+ licensed markets; top-10 games 49% of GGR, avg daily rounds +58% YoY, and it has reached >60% of Evolution's RNG revenue at a higher margin. Real but young — OpenRGS third-party is still <10% of GGR vs Relax's 7,000-game network, and content is hit-driven.
Able & honest management
Clean reporting (APM 0.0%, no PPA/SBC games) and disciplined capital return (EUR 116M / 81% payout), but the Board abruptly no-cause-dismissed CEO Christoffer Kallberg on 30 Apr 2026 into an interim board-member CEO, plus a withdrawn mis-valued LTIP — leadership continuity is now a live watch item (down from 3).
Financial strength
82% adjusted EBIT margin, debt-free, still ~EUR 99M net cash after a EUR 116M dividend, ~90% FCF conversion, ~5% effective tax. Returns on capital are off-the-scale (IC ~15% of revenue). Survives any bad year trivially.
Margin of safety
The -12% report-day de-rating put the price (~SEK 72) ~15% BELOW the zero-growth reverse-DCF fair value (SEK 84) — the market now pays less than nothing for terminal growth against 30%+ organic growth; ~9% FCF yield and +46% to the SEK ~104 consensus target. Cushion opened, but contingent on the ~88%-grey revenue base holding (up from 1).