Equity research
GameStop: the card shop Wall Street refuses to look at
$13.70 a share of cash and securities, a collectibles business at 4.7x EBITDA, and a trade-in counter that funds its own inventory.
Open the presentationDeep value research · nano and micro caps
Cheap stocks, where nobody is looking.
Nano caps, micro caps, post-bankruptcy equities and NAV plays — researched from the filings up. Margin of safety over everything.
Written by Lee RoachSelf-taught investor. Full-time since leaving the factory.
13,000+subscribers. At least one write-up a week, more in earnings season. Publishing since 2024.
“You have passed my filter for no BS high-quality thinking.”Tim Palade · paid subscriber · 40 more below
What you get
- 01Full write-ups on specific companies.
The thesis, the unit economics rebuilt from the filings, the valuation, the risks, and what would make me wrong. Not a ticker and a price target.
- 02Situations most people never see.
Post-bankruptcy equities, NAV plays, nano and micro caps with no analyst coverage and no reason to turn up on anyone's screen.
- 03Every call dated, and graded in public.
When something I said would happen happens — or doesn't — I write that up too. The misses stay on the page.
Free and paid. Some write-ups go to the whole list. Paid subscribers get the full research on every company I write about — not a selection of it, all of it. Subscribing free is where you start, and how you see whether the work is worth paying for.
Read the work before you subscribe.
Two recent reports, free and in full. No email required. If the work isn't for you, you'll know in ninety seconds.
Market research
Real Technology, Fragile Financing
Meta borrowed $27.3 billion through a company named after a doughnut. Sixteen charts on who actually carries the risk in the AI build-out.
Read the reportOr read one exactly as it lands in your inbox. “GameStop Is Extreme Deep Value” — the full written thesis behind the presentation above, free and outside the paywall. This is the format the research comes in.
Read a free issue →Who writes this
I found The Intelligent Investor in a thrift shop.
I went to work in a factory in the thumb of Michigan right out of high school. Somewhere in there I picked up a copy of The Intelligent Investor at a local thrift shop and read it. Then Security Analysis. Then everything else on value investing I could get my hands on.
I started writing on the internet about cheap stocks nobody else was looking at, mostly because nobody else was writing about them. Enough people read it that I was eventually able to leave the factory and do this full time. That's The Value Road.
No MBA. No CFA. No bank behind me. Just filings, annual reports, and a lot of hours on companies most people have never heard of.
Lee Roach · Founder, The Value Road
Writing on Substack since 2024 · hundreds of write-ups
Nano and micro caps · post-bankruptcy · NAV · margin of safety
@leevalueroach
How I work
There is no edge in reading the same sell-side note as everyone else. There is an edge in doing work nobody else is willing to do on companies nobody else is willing to own.
- Read every filing. Rebuild the model from scratch rather than borrowing one.
- Go and look. Store visits, primary data pulled by hand, channel checks I do myself.
- Size the downside before the upside. Margin of safety is the whole job.
- Argue the other side at full strength before saying what I think.
- Label every estimate as an estimate, and say which numbers can't be checked.
- Own the position I write about, and disclose it.
Subscriber notes
Unedited messages people sent through Substack when they subscribed to The Value Road. Nothing here was solicited or written for this page, and nothing has been reworded.
K Tucker AndersenPaid
“Some of the most interesting research that i have seen specifically on microchips , and always with a true deep value orientation.”
Tim PaladePaid
“I have been following The Value Road for a month, reading and thinking about your posts. You have passed my filter for no BS high-quality thinking. I think what you have to say is valuable.”
The Value KittenPaid
“Your analysis is thorough in illiquid stocks with extreme margin of safety. I have no doubt my subscription will pay for itself many times over. :)”
Ron RoachPaid
“Being a retired financial advisor and a fan of small cap value, especially during what I think could be an inflationary/stagflationary environment, I am intrigued by your comments and approach. That, and I am a Roach also. Kindly Ron Roach”
MBPaid
“The wit of your shitposting on Twitter caught my attention and then I was impressed by the rigor and distinctiveness of your pitches.”
Manny PPaid
“I’m a long time value and special situation investor. Also a board member of pull and private companies. Enjoy your writings. I’m an off the run investor. Keep it up. Feel free to visit my Substack if you want to see how I think. It’s free and will stay that way. It’s just my random musings. Happy 4th”
Salim JanmohamedPaid
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Alex CrosbiePaid
“Been following you since 2022, through the turbulent period and finally decided to resubscribe. Happy to be back.”
Luke HovestadtPaid
“I appreciate the shovel-grabbing, dig-deep approach.”
AaronPaid
“I’ve been following you for a while on twitter. I like the type of companies you find and the way you think about investing. Decided to give the paid subscription a shot to support you and invest along side of you.”
Evening StarPaid
“I’ve been into RGR for a few years. While reviewing, I saw that Perplexity sourced your article (I hope you’ve approved that access), and the information provided was more than worth the subscription. Showing my appreciation. Cheers.”
Gunjit SinghPaid
“Huge fan of looking where no one else looks”
Josh LaceyPaid
“referred by Nat Stewart. Drawn by the types of names being covered. seems like a dizzying pace so far, may make sense to prioritize quality over quantity in future and focus on writing up best ideas. look forward to following along in your development.”
Chris RobinsonPaid
“Hi Lee, i sent you multiple messages directly. Thanks for responding. and staying on topic. Weird stocks on the Value Road. Seat belt is on. Looking forward to the journey.”
scott callahanPaid
“I admire and respect the work you have put in to learning. Tremendous. Plus I want to be subscriber #501 like Levi’s blue jeans. Blue collar. Blue jeans. I don’t know. I like it. Just lie to me if I’m not really 501. Thank You”
Mack BTPaid
“While I can’t buy Penny Stocks because of my company, I look forward to more fallen angel type work like what you’re doing on broadcasters. But generally looking forward to the interesting ideas you put out there.”
P2bl0Paid
“Been watching your newsletter for few months and that’s few months wasted really... I should have subscribed to premium long time ago! 🙃”
SimonPaid
“been following you for free and like your work. the recent thread also made me want to upgrade and take up your discounted offer.”
August WestPaid
“I’ve been following you on twitter and I like your adverse risk default and focus on low priced stocks.”
Warren ArmstrongPaid
“I believe the article I just read about Timber etc in Tennessee is a valuable tip and I would like to not only read your reports but I am a high net worth investor who would also like to be able to make private placements with some of these companies”
Giffen_GoodPaid
“I just read you post about what you hold in your portfolio and its filled with interesting ideas. Thanks for sharing your work and happy to be a paid subscriber. Best, Pete”
Barry CampbellPaid
“I have a similar approach to what you describe so always interested in new “value” ideas.”
Andrew · Shorewind CapitalPaid
“Love your tweets and I’m pumped to see your stock analysis”
TrentPaid
“Followed Jack Kerouac back when he did Alpha Letter and love him. Reached out to him to see if he was working on anything and he pointed me to you.”
Darryl RandallPaid
“63 years old and want to handle my own investments wisely.........Darryl (Owner) SwissLuxury.Com”
BillPaid
“I have been interested in several of your ideas, but Conversion Investing is something that I have a particular affinity for.”
marc johnsonPaid
“Always looking for value - ADMQ worked well for me”
HamilPaid
“Interested in broadcasters, and hearing more about other people investing their money into small caps.”
Russell MoenichPaid
“Thank you for your great work. You are my kind of investor.”
Brad LedbetterPaid
“I appreciate your write ups and ideas. Keep up the good work”
IIUPaid
“Thank you for sharing your research and your journey. Autodidacts are the best investors.”
germanPaid
“Hi Lee, I am German from Spain. I read the writtings that you sent to me and I enjoyed them a lot. I have just suscribed to your substack. I hope to learn a lot from you. Thanks for sharing your work.”
CalumPaid
“I thought I’d take a chance on an up and coming investor and you seem like smart guy with a non traditional background. I like the contrarian thinking also.”
David JohnsonPaid
“How do you not like Temu Charlie Munger, who looks like he plays in a rock band and shoots guns?”
No Clever PseudonymPaid
“I really admire what you do, and how you do it - and the style of your approach.”
GeraldPaid
“A hard working person who produces valued output should be compensated.”
GrumpierByTheDayPaid
“You deserve it.”
Joe PernaPaid
“Niche research”
NickFoxPaid
“You have some very interesting idea.”
André LibeauxPaid
“Because you do exceptional work”
Howard GPaid
“Though we’ve not yet met beyond the flicker of our groupchat, your writing already reveals a mind both lucid and uncommonly alive — one that turns the familiar into something quietly radiant. Unfortunately, I remain in OC until the end of the month, yet the thought of meeting you in NYC feels inevitable. Until then, I’ll keep reading your essays, each a precise unfolding of thought and temperament”
Questions before you subscribe
How often will you email me?
At least once a week. More during earnings season, or whenever several things worth writing about turn up at once. I've been publishing on Substack since 2024 — hundreds of write-ups — so you can go and look at the archive rather than take my word for the pace.
Is it free, or paid?
Both. Subscribing costs nothing and always will, and some write-ups go to the whole list. Paid subscribers get the full research on every company I write about — every thesis, every model, every one of them. Start on the free list, read what comes, and decide from there. Plenty of the people in the notes above did exactly that.
What actually arrives?
Full write-ups on specific companies: nano caps, micro caps, post-bankruptcy equities and NAV plays. The thesis, the numbers rebuilt from the filings, the valuation, the risks, and what would make me wrong. Not a ticker and a price target.
These companies are tiny. Can I actually buy them?
Some of them trade by appointment, and that is part of why they're cheap — the lack of attention is the reason the opportunity exists at all. It also means patience and position sizing matter more than the idea does. I write up what I find and how I think about it; what fits your account is your call. I'm not an investment advisor.
Do you own the stocks you write about?
Usually, and I say so in the write-up. Owning the position is the point — I'm not writing about companies I wouldn't buy myself.
What happens to my email address?
It goes to Substack, which hosts the list. I don't sell it, rent it, or hand it to anyone else. One click unsubscribes you and that's the end of it.
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Long-form deep value research on companies nobody is covering. Free to subscribe; paid subscribers get the full research on every company I write about.
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