Free Cash Flow Return on Invested Capital

Free Cash Flow Analysis of NetFlix 

Mar 10, 2010

The following is a free cash flow analysis of NetFlix’s(NFLX) using FROIC and Price to Free Cash Flow.

FROIC for those who don’t know is = Free Cash Flow Return on Invested Capital.

Over the years I have tested out various ratios and have found very few that can compete with FROIC, in getting down to the real cash that a company is generating on Main Street .

Basically FROIC tells the investor how much free cash flow is actually generated as a percentage of the total capital that the company employs. To put it more simply, “How much free cash flow is generated for every $1 of capital that a company employs”

How does one calculate FROIC?

FROIC = Free Cash Flow/Total Capital

The way to determine Free Cash Flow is by taking a company's “Cash from Operations” and subtracting its “Capital expenditures” from it.

So in Netflix’s case its 2009 “Cash from Operations” was $325.1 million while its capital expenditures were only $45.9 million. Thus when we subtract $45.1 from $325.1 we get $280 million in free cash flow. We next take the company's $280 in free cash flow and divide it by its 58.416 million diluted shares outstanding and we get $4.79 a share in free cash flow.

If we then divide that number into the closing price of March 9, 2010 of $69.94, ($69.94/$4.79) we get a price to free cash flow of 14.6.

A price to free cash flow result of 14.6 is very attractive and I proved that in doing a backtest on price to free cash flow in the investment process”, using the DJIA 30 stocks from 1950-2007, and found that by only buying stocks that were selling for 15 times their price to free cash flow or less one would have substantially beat the DJIA 30 by a very large margin compared to buying the entire Index.

Now that we have seen what the free cash flow is for Netflix, let us now go and determine what its total capital employed is.

Basically Total Capital = Long Term Debt + Shareholders Equity

Taking just basic Total Capital is too easy in my view and I prefer is make it a little more difficult for a company to pass this test and add “other long term debt” to the equation. So for NetFlix we have the following for the year 2009.

Long Term Debt = $200 million

Other Long Term Debt = $54.2 million

Shareholders Equity = $199 million

When you add all those together you get $453.20 million for total capital employed.

Having done that we can now calculate FROIC as $280/$453.2 million or 61.78%.

What does this 61.78% mean?

For every $1 of total capital employed, NetFlix generates 62 cents in free cash flow.

I welcome everyone to go and try out FROIC on your own. In the end you will find that there are very few companies whose stock price trades for less than 15 times their free cash flow and generates 61.785 cents in free cash flow for every dollar of capital employed.


http://seekingalpha.com/instablog/498843-peter-mycroft-psaras/58154-free-cash-flow-analysis-of-netflix

POS Malaysia generates strong Free Cash Flow.

Have taken a brief look at POS.

1.  Cash rich company.  Cash RM 398.033 m, little debt.

2.  Net CFO is strong .. RM 198.451m

3.  Its FCF is strong ... net CFO 198.451 - capex 64.898 = RM 133.553m

4.  Market cap = RM 1670.2 m @ share price of RM 3.11 each.

5.  FCF/Market cap = 8% (very good).

6.  Dividend paid 50.346 m  DY = 50.346/1670.2 = 3%


It is no wonder that so many suitors are lining to acquire this stock from Khazanah.

Latest valuation based on closing price of 7.4.2011

Outstanding shares of POS = 537.03 million.

At the closing price of  MR 3.74 per share on 7.4.2011, its market cap = MR 2,008.5 million.

The FCF generated by POS in the last FY was MR 133.553 million.

Its FCF/Market Cap on 7.4.2011 = 6.65%.

Its Market Cap/FCF = 15 x

The successful company that acquire POS would have bought a company that is generating good net CFO and strong FCF.  

It is on the basis of this FCF that makes the valuation of POS seems reasonable for the moment.

Using Yield-based measures to value stocks: Say Yes to Yield

Say Yes to Yield

1.  Earnings yield

Earnings yield
= Earnings/Price

The nice thing about yields , as opposed to P/Es, is that we can compare them with alternative investments, such as bonds, to see what kind of a return we can expect from each investment. (The difference is that earnings generally grow over time, whereas bond payments are fixed.)

For example:
In late-2003:
Risk-free return from 10-year treasury bond: 4.5%
Earnings yield of Stock with P/E of 20 = 5% (This is a bit better than treasuries, but not much considering the additional risk taken.)
Earnings yield of stock with P/E of 12 = 1/12 = 8.3% (This is much better than the treasury bond. The investor might be induced to take the additional risk.)

2.  Cash return

Cash return
= Free Cash Flow/Enterprise Value
= FCF/(Market capitalization + long term debt – cash)

However the best yield-based valuation measure is a relatively little-known metric called cash return. In many ways, it’s actually a more useful tool than the P/E.

To calculate a cash return, divide free cash flow (FCF) by enterprise value. (Enterprise value is simply a stock’s market capitalization plus its long-term debt minus its cash.)

The goal of the cash return is to measure how efficiently the business is using its capital – both equity and debt – to generate free cash flow.

Essentially, cash return tells you how much free cash flow a company generates as a percentage of how much it would cost an investor to buy the whole company, including the debt burden. An investor buying the whole company would not only need to buy all the shares at market value, but also would be taking on the burden of any debt (net of cash) the company has.


An example of how to use cash return to find reasonably valued investments:
Company A’s
In late 2003,
Market cap = $9.8 billion
Long-term debt = $495 million
Cash in balance sheet = $172 million
Enterprise value = $9,800 + $495 - $172 = $10,100 million or $10.1 billion.

Review its FCF over the past decade
In 2003, FCF = about $600 million

Therefore,
Cash return of Company A = $600/$10,100 = 5.9%

In late 2003:
Yield of 10-year treasuries = 4.5%
Yield on corporate bonds = 4.9% (This is higher but still relatively paltry.)
Cash return of Company A = 5.9% (Looks pretty good. Moreover, this FCF is likely to grow over time, whereas those bond payments are fixed. Thus, Company A starts to look like a pretty solid value.)

Cash return is a great first step to finding cash cows trading at reasonable prices, but don’t use cash return for financials or foreign stocks.
• Cash flow isn’t terribly meaningful for banks and other firms that earn money via their balance sheets.
• A foreign stock that looks cheap based on its cash return may simply be defining cash flow more liberally, as the definitions of cash flow can vary widely in other countries.


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Free Cashflow to Capital

FCF/Capital
=FCF/ Total Capital Employed
= FCF/TOCE
= FCF / (Total shareholders equity + Debt)

The Stock Performance Guide published by Dynaquest Sdn. Bhd. gives data on Free Cashflow (FCF) to Capital.  FCF is the amount of nett cashflow left after paying for re-investment in fixed and current assets. FCF measures the ability of a firm to pay out dividend.

FCF/Capital compares the FCF of a firm with the total capital employed (defined as total shareholders equity & debt). The higher is this ratio, the more efficiently is the firm using its capital.

Cash cows are those companies with FCF/Capital of > 10%.

FCF/Capital is not the same as Cash Return discussed above.