System1, Inc. SST

Competitive advantage analysis · industrials

Corporate Default
Overall moat score
22/100
Weak

Ranked against 40 peers in Specialty Business Services

About System1, Inc.

System1, Inc. provides omnichannel customer acquisition platform services through its proprietary responsive acquisition marketing platform in the United States and internationally. It operates in two segments: Owned and Operated Advertising, and Partner Network. The company engages in the provision of acquiring traffic to its owned and operated websites, as well as revenue-sharing arrangements and related services. It also operates MapQuest, … Full SST analysis →

Key risks

  • ROIC Below WACC or Peers ROIC at 21.1th percentile suggests inefficient capital deployment.
  • Elevated Debt Risk Debt serviceability is weak (score 0.14), raising refinancing risk.

The dashed ring is the peer median. Defense scores are percentile ranks against peers, so 50 is roughly the typical company in this group.

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Pricing Power

Weak
17
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Signals, strengths and risks for Pricing Power

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Signals, strengths and risks for Cost Advantage

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Signals, strengths and risks for Customer Stickiness

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Signals, strengths and risks for Capital Efficiency

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Signals, strengths and risks for Resilience

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Signals, strengths and risks for Scale & Market Position

Where SST ranks in Specialty Business Services

System1, Inc. ranks #37 of 41 scored companies in Specialty Business Services by moat score — the top 90%. The widest moat in the group is Copart, Inc. (CPRT) at 81/100.

# Company Moat score Rating
33 Samfine Creation Holdings Group SFHG 28/100 Developing
34 Spire Global, Inc. SPIR 28/100 Developing
35 Lichen China Limited LICN 26/100 Developing
36 SPAR Group, Inc. SGRP 23/100 Weak
37 System1, Inc. SST 22/100 Weak
38 Network-1 Technologies, Inc. NTIP 21/100 Weak
39 Powell Max Limited PMAX 20/100 Weak
40 SMX (Security Matters) Public L SMX 8/100 Weak
41 SMX (Security Matters) Public L SMXWW 8/100 Weak

See every General Corporate company ranked by moat score →

How SST scores on the Corporate Default defenses

Pricing Power

Score 16 · 20% of the moat score

Pricing power is the ability to raise prices without losing volume.

Cost Advantage

Score 18 · 15% of the moat score

A cost advantage means delivering the same product for structurally less — better purchasing, denser distribution, a more automated process.

Customer Stickiness

Score 28 · 15% of the moat score

Stickiness is what makes revenue repeat without being re-won every year.

Capital Efficiency

Score 12 · 18% of the moat score

Capital efficiency asks what the company earns on the money tied up in the business.

Resilience

Score 23 · 17% of the moat score

Resilience is the capacity to get through a bad year on its own terms — enough liquidity, enough interest cover, and enough cash generation to avoid a rescue financing or a forced sale.

Scale & Market Position

Score 37 · 15% of the moat score

Scale matters only when it converts into economics.

How each Corporate Default defense is measured, in full →

Understanding SST's moat

What is System1, Inc.'s moat score?

System1, Inc. (SST) scores 22 out of 100 on the StatsAlpha Moat Map, which rates its competitive advantage as weak. It ranks #37 of 41 scored companies in Specialty Business Services, the top 90%. The score is a weighted composite of 6 competitive defenses, each measured against industry peers of 40 companies in Specialty Business Services. Its strongest defense is Scale & Market Position (37/100) and its weakest is Capital Efficiency (12/100).

How does System1, Inc. compare with other Specialty Business Services companies?

System1, Inc. ranks #37 of 41 scored companies in Specialty Business Services by moat score. The widest moat in Specialty Business Services is Copart, Inc. (CPRT) at 81/100. The companies ranked closest are SPAR Group, Inc. (SGRP) at 22 just above it and Network-1 Technologies, Inc. (NTIP) at 20 just below it.

How is the moat score calculated?

Each company is scored with an industry-specific template — Corporate Default in this case, chosen because the defenses that matter to a bank are not the ones that matter to a software company. Every defense combines several financial signals, and each signal is measured as a percentile against a peer group of 40 companies in Specialty Business Services. The defenses are then weighted to produce the overall score out of 100.

Why is System1, Inc. scored with the Corporate Default template?

Most public companies sell a product or a service at a margin, so the moat question is whether that margin survives contact with competitors. The Corporate template scores the six defenses that show up in a general operating company's financial signature: whether it can hold price, produce more cheaply than rivals, keep its customers, earn a return above its cost of capital, withstand a downturn, and turn size into economics.

Which competitive defenses are measured for System1, Inc.?

The Corporate Default template measures 6 defenses, and SST scores: Pricing Power (16), Cost Advantage (18), Customer Stickiness (28), Capital Efficiency (12), Resilience (23), Scale & Market Position (37). Each is scored independently as a percentile against peers, so a company can be strong on one and weak on another — the overall score reflects how those defenses are weighted for this industry.

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