Wednesday, 18 December 2024

Only one definition for valuation: the discounted cash flow

The most popular valuation metrics are 
  • Price/Earnings, 
  • Price/Ebidta, 
  • Price/Sales, 
  • Price/Book value and 
  • EV/Ebitda. (EV or Enterprise Value = Market cap + Debt).

Many different methods as listed above are used to arrive at the valuation for stocks. 

However, remember that there is ever only one definition for valuation: the discounted cash flow. 

All the above metrics are merely short forms or shortcuts for discounted cash flow. 

These metrics are widely used because they are easier to compute and understand, and can be compared across companies, sectors and markets. 

Critically, while these shortcut metrics are useful, they are insufficient and sometimes, can be misused to present a false picture

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