Warren Buffett Intrinsic Value Calculator - Determine if Stock is Undervalued or Not.

Warren Buffett's 4 Rules:
1.  Vigilant Leaders
2.  Long Term Prospects
3.  Stock Stability
4.  Undervalued

Non-Predictable Company (Andrew :-) )

1. Lots of Debt
2. No Long Term Prospects
3. Not Stable
4. Price ? - Can't be determined due to stability

Predictable Company (Linda :-) )

1. Manageable Debt
2. Long-term Prospects
3. Stable 
4. Market Price = $44.33  Intrinsic Value = ?

Lesson Objective 1: How do we calculate the intrinsic value of a stock

Lesson Objective 2: How do we use the BuffettsBooks.com intrinsic value calculator

Summary of this lesson

In this lesson, students learned that the intrinsic value can be defined as the discounted value of the cash that can be taken out of a business during it's remaining life. For us, we've defined the life as the next ten years. This way, we can discount that cash by the 10 year federal note. The Cash that we are taking out of the business is simply the dividends and the book value growth during the next 10 years. Since these numbers need to be estimated, it's very important to ensure that Warren Buffett's third rule (a stock must be stable and understandable) is met.

When a company doesn't have a history of linear growth, estimating the cash that they will produce for the next ten years becomes more speculative. When we look at the root of the intrinsic value calculator, it operates off of the same principals as a bond calculator. Instead of using coupons, we substitute dividends. And instead of using par value (or value at maturity) we estimate the book value of the business in 10 years. The value that we use to discount the summation of the cash is simply the 10 year federal note.

Although the previous paragraph might sound confusing to some, it's application is fairly straight forward. The reason Buffett says, "Two people looking at the same set of facts, will almost inevitably come up with at least slightly different intrinsic value figures," is due to a difference in opinion of the future cash flows. Since some investors are more conservative than others, their estimates of book value growth or dividend payments may be lower. This will immediately change the intrinsic value. Your job as an intelligent investor is to determine your own tolerance for risk and conservative estimates on how much money you will receive while owning the stock for a 10 year period.

Intrinsic Value Calculator

Source of Quotes: http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/owners.html

"Intrinsic value can be defined simply: It is the discounted value of the cash that can be taken out of a business during its remaining life." - Warren Buffett

Therefore, the sum of cash that can be taken out of the business over the next ten years is going to be the dividends plus the equity growth. The discounted value is the current value of the 10 year federal note. To start, we'll determine how much a company's book value is growing.

"In other words, the percentage change in book value in any given year is likely to be reasonably close to that year's change in intrinsic value."- Warren Buffett

Click here for the Intrinsic Value Calculator:  

http://www.buffettsbooks.com/intelligent-investor/stocks/intrinsic-value-calculator.html

Related:

Would you rather be with Andrew or Linda? Businesses manage their finances just like individual people. :-)

How to Calculate Intrinsic Value for Stock Investing

How to Calculate Intrinsic Value
Discounted Earnings, Instead of Just Cash Flow

Summarized Overview

You will find information about why you should calculate intrinsic value in stock market investing, and step by step guide on how to do it.

You will also find information about which key financial ratios to use and what you have to do after calculating intrinsic value.

Why You should Calculate Intrinsic Value

Simply because, you don't buy any stock at any price, do you? Do you know why? Because you want as much return as possible!

The price you are paying is the ultimate determinant for the rate of return that you'll be earning. The higher the price you pay for it, you'll be getting lower rate of return. This is why, you need to know how much a stock worth. Once you know its value, you can identify which stocks are traded at discounted price.

However, buying a stock simply because it is cheap is not the right approach either. This is another reason to calculate intrinsic value. To buy quality stocks at discounted price, value for money right?

How to Calculate Intrinsic Value

The way to go is, search for stocks whose prospects you believe in ( with good stock pick method ) and then use a valuation technique to ensure the purchase price is acceptable. Here, I use net present value (NPV) formula.

How to do it? Let say you are valuing stock ABC,

From 13 years historical data, you get the information as above. To proceed, you also need to firm up your expectation based on your risk profile. In this example:

• I set my investment horizon as long as ten years from 2007. So that in 2018 I can use the fund to finance my children's study
• I am confident stock ABC will continue growing 13 per cent per year for the next ten years (13 years records prove this stock able to grow 13 per cent EPS per year)
• I assume stock ABC will be having the same PER and dividend payout by end of 2017 (or early in 2018)

I am expecting 12 per cent return on investment (ROI) so that my initial investment able to cover my children's tuition costs in ten years time.

Let's start calculating intrinsic value of stock ABC.

Step One: Forecast Share Price

First of all, you need to forecast its share price ten years down the road. In this case, I project the price for the next ten years using 13 per cent per year growth.

Step Two: Forecast Total Future Value

Secondly, you need to calculate the total future value. This must include the potential dividend as well.

Look, some investors doesn't care much about dividend. To them, dividend is just too small to be considered. But as it has effect to the total future value, it should be taken into consideration.

By the end of the day, you can compare the stock's profitability to others; which may not pay any dividend at all.

Step Three: Calculate Intrinsic Value

After having all these data, then only you can calculate the intrinsic value for stock ABC.

Step Four: Compare with Current Stock Price

The intrinsic value above is because my goal is to get 12 per cent per annum from this stock. If so, current stock's price, which is $33.50, is acceptable indeed (stock price is below the intrinsic value).

How Do You Calculate Intrinsic Value? Discounted Cashflow Discounted Dividend Discounted Earnings Never Calculate What For?

But if your goal is about getting 25 per cent per annum return on investment, the intrinsic value will be $22. In this case, the current stock price will no longer acceptable for you.

For this same reason, you can say that current stock price is suit to those who are aiming for 15 per cent return per annum (in economics, this called as Internal Rate of Return or IRR)

What's Next?

As you can see, intrinsic value can be relatively different from one investor to another depending on the expected return. Expecting very high return will limit your investment options. On the other hand, having very low expected return may as well better keep the cash in fixed deposit.

As an investor, it is crucial to set a realistic target on the expected profits.

It is better if before you calculate intrinsic value of your selected stock, assess your own risk profile first. This will help you to determine your realistic preferred return based on your need, ability and investing habits.

Eager to buy stock? Hang on first! You need to have the fair value as another comparison. This is what mention by Warren Buffet's guru, the margin of safety 

http://www.stock-investment-made-easy.com/calculate-intrinsic-value.html

Related Reading

How to Value Stock - 3 Methods Warren Buffet Wants You to Learn
If you are looking for ways on how to value stock, click here. I'll share with you 3 stock valuation model most commonly used by stock analyst.

Additional Reading

How to Determine Margin of Safety in Stock Investing
Margin of safety is a way to preserve capital. Find out how to determine fair value for each stock effectively.

Guide in Analyzing Company for Stock Investing
Four guidelines in analyzing company that you are about to invest in. Find how companies difference to each other.

Fundamental Analysis: Definition and Basic Guide for Beginners
Fundamental analysis is a practice that attempt to determine stocks’ valuation. This technique is focusing on the underlying factors that affect the company’s actual business performance.

Unlimited Profits From Good Stock Pick
Discover my simple but profitable stock screening criteria. It is proven to be a good stock pick strategy for all stock investors.

Related Books

Security Analysis
Security Analysis is the bible of fundamental analysis. Originally published in 1934, the tome systematically lays bare the science of security analysis.

Value Investing: From Graham to Buffett and Beyond (Wiley Finance)
Discusses where to look for underpriced securities, how to determine the intrinsic value of a stock, and alternative methods for constructing a portfolio that control risk without restricting investment return.

The Intelligent Investor: The Definitive Book on Value Investing. A Book of Practical Counsel (Revised Edition)
Among the library of investment books promising no-fail strategies for riches, Benjamin Graham's classic, The Intelligent Investor, offers no guarantees or gimmicks but overflows with the wisdom at the core of all good portfolio management.

Intrinsic Value Calculator and Spreadsheet Template

http://www.intrinsicvaluecalc.com/

Intrinsic Value Calculator  Value investors actively seek stocks of companies that they believe the market has  undervalued.  They believe the market overreacts to good and bad news, resulting  in stock price movements that do not correspond with the company's long-term  fundamentals. The result is an opportunity for value investors to profit by buying  when the price is deflated. (courtesy of Investopedia.com) Want to estimate the value of a stock? Try this top-rated Intrinsic Value Calculator! Simply enter your stock symbol and click "Submit" to get started. Read more about Value Investing

Enter Stock Symbol and click Submit Enter Stock Symbol  Terms of Use STEP 1:   Input values and click "Calculate Intrinsic Value" Input or Adjust values: Current EPS (TTM) : Where to find EPS(ttm)? Estimated Growth Rate to use: % Where to find growth rate? Future PE To use: View current PE  View historic PEs Current Price $: Where to find current quote? STEP 2:   Review Results Review Results Estimated Intrinsic Value Price: $ Estimated Margin of Safety Value Price: $ 5-Year Return on Investment Capital (ROIC): (A strong business will have a 5-Year ROIC of 10% or greater)    Review Technical Chart View Technical Chart for ; trade on momentum [MACD(17,8,9) and 10-day MA]  Other useful research links: View Key Statistics for  View Historic Equity Growth (Book Value / Share) for  View Historic EPS and Sales Growth for

How is the Estimated Intrinsic Value calculated?
The software determines an estimated growth rate based on the historic EPS and Equity growth rates. It then applies FV (future value) calculations to determine the expected EPS and stock price at some point in the future. It then reverses the calculation using a minimum acceptable rate of return (15%) to determine the intrinsic value in today’s dollars. The MOS price is half of that estimated intrinsic value price. Value investors
believe that risk can be minimized by only investing when the current price falls below the MOS price.




http://www.valuestockmoves.com/spreadsheetinfo.php

Click to Download this FREE!
Intrinsic Value Excel Spreadsheet Template

(or Right-Click and select 'Save-As')

Calculates the intrinsic value and MOS (margin of safety) for your stocks

Additional notes:

If you’re worried about earnings and earnings growth consistency and want to factor it in somehow, you may want to attenuate growth rates or bump up the discount rate to account for uncertainty.

The keep-it-simple-safe (KISS) approach used by most value investors, including Warren Buffett, is to discount at a relatively high rate, usually higher than the growth rate. 

Buffett uses 15 percent as a discount, or “hurdle” rate – investments must clear a 15 percent “hurdle” before clearing the bar.  The 15 percent hurdle incorporates a lot of risk, especially in today’s environment of relatively low interest rate and inflation. Conservative value investors usually use discount rates in the 10 to 15 percent range.

Computing Intrinsic Value

Individuals differ from one another in assessing companies' future prospects.  They also differ in their risk tolerance.  Hence, it should be no great leap to accept that there is no unique intrinsic value that can be assigned to a common stock upon which everyone will agree.  

In computing intrinsic value you should start by examining a company's balance sheet.  

• Some assets, such as cash and investments in marketable securities, are reported at market value.  
• As a first approximation, the intrinsic value of such items can be taken to be the same as their market values.  

For most companies, however, the major component of intrinsic value comes from their future earnings.
For valuation of future earnings:

1. You can start with estimating a growth rate based on your evaluation of the company's past performance.  
2. Then you can apply the estimated growth rate to current earnings to approximate expected earnings for a future year, say, 10 years from the current year.  
3. Finally, apply a P/E multiple to the future earnings per share to estimate the value of those earnings in the future and discount them to their present value.
4. In addition, dividends should be properly accounted for.

While it is a simple approach, it requires many assumptions.  For example, 

• you may have to adjust reported earnings in an attempt to obtain underlying or sustainable earnings. 
• You also need to assume a growth rate, a P/E multiple, and a discount rate.  

With this approach, it is important to know the company's business well for you to come up with reliable estimates.

Related posts:

Intrinsic value described by Ben Graham in Security Analysis.

Choosing a Discount Assumption

Intrinsic Value Model

Estimation of Intrinsic Value

Introduction to Valuation - Videos

Graham's Intrinsic Value Formula

Graham did create a very useful and easy-to-use intrinsic value formula.

Graham's formula: You take a current earnings, apply a base P/E ratio, add a growth factor if there is a growth, and adjust according to current bond yield. The result is an intrinsic value that the stock can be expected to achieve in the real world if growth targets are met.

Formula: Intrinsic value = E x (2g + 8.5) x 4.4/Y

E = current annual earnings per share
g = annual earnings growth rate. (Graham would have suggested using a conservative number for growth.)
8.5 = base P/E ratio for a stock with no growth
Y = current interest rate, represented as the average rate on high-grade corporate bonds. (Note that lower bond rates make the intrinsic value higher, as future earnings streams are worth more in a lower interest rate environment.)

Take Hewlett Packard as an example. With current earnings (trailing 12 months) of $2.30 per share, a growth rate of 10%, and a corporate bond interest rate of 6%, the intrinsic value is

= $2.30 x [(2 x 10) + 8.5] x (4.4/6)
= $48.07 per share

This value almost exactly matches the price at the time that these calculations were made. That suggests little potential price appreciation in the stock - unless per share earnings growth accelerates or bond yields dip.

Acceleration in the business would increase the earnings growth rate, and share repurchases would increase the earnings per share. Both changes, especially taken together, would stimulate growth in intrinsic value.

You shouldn't go out and buy or sell stock based on this formula alone, of course, but it's a great "quick" test of a stock's price and true value.

Stock-Picking Strategies: Fundamental Analysis

Stock-Picking Strategies: Fundamental Analysis

Ever hear someone say that a company has "strong fundamentals"? The phrase is so overused that it's become somewhat of a cliché. Any analyst can refer to a company's fundamentals without actually saying anything meaningful. So here we define exactly what fundamentals are, how and why they are analyzed, and why fundamental analysis is often a great starting point to picking good companies.

The Theory

Doing basic fundamental valuation is quite straightforward; all it takes is a little time and energy. The goal of analyzing a company's fundamentals is to find a stock's intrinsic value, a fancy term for what you believe a stock is really worth - as opposed to the value at which it is being traded in the marketplace. If the intrinsic value is more than the current share price, your analysis is showing that the stock is worth more than its price and that it makes sense to buy the stock.


Although there are many different methods of finding the intrinsic value, the premise behind all the strategies is the same: a company is worth the sum of its discounted cash flows. In plain English, this means that a company is worth all of its future profits added together. And these future profits must be discounted to account for the time value of money, that is, the force by which the $1 you receive in a year's time is worth less than $1 you receive today. (For further reading, see Understanding the Time Value of Money).


The idea behind intrinsic value equaling future profits makes sense if you think about how a business provides value for its owner(s). If you have a small business, its worth is the money you can take from the company year after year (not the growth of the stock). And you can take something out of the company only if you have something left over after you pay for supplies and salaries, reinvest in new equipment, and so on. A business is all about profits, plain old revenue minus expenses - the basis of intrinsic value.



Greater Fool Theory

One of the assumptions of the discounted cash flow theory is that people are rational, that nobody would buy a business for more than its future discounted cash flows. Since a stock represents ownership in a company, this assumption applies to the stock market. But why, then, do stocks exhibit such volatile movements? It doesn't make sense for a stock's price to fluctuate so much when the intrinsic value isn't changing by the minute. The fact is that many people do not view stocks as a representation of discounted cash flows, but as trading vehicles. Who cares what the cash flows are if you can sell the stock to somebody else for more than what you paid for it? Cynics of this approach have labeled it the greater fool theory, since the profit on a trade is not determined by a company's value, but about speculating whether you can sell to some other investor (the fool). On the other hand, a trader would say that investors relying solely on fundamentals are leaving themselves at the mercy of the market instead of observing its trends and tendencies. This debate demonstrates the general difference between a technical and fundamental investor. A follower of technical analysis is guided not by value, but by the trends in the market often represented in charts. So, which is better: fundamental or technical? The answer is neither. As we mentioned in the introduction, every strategy has its own merits. In general, fundamental is thought of as a long-term strategy, while technical is used more for short-term strategies. (We'll talk more about technical analysis and how it works in a later section.)



Putting Theory into Practice

The idea of discounting cash flows seems okay in theory, but implementing it in real life is difficult. One of the most obvious challenges is determining how far into the future we should forecast cash flows. It's hard enough to predict next year's profits, so how can we predict the course of the next 10 years? What if a company goes out of business? What if a company survives for hundreds of years? All of these uncertainties and possibilities explain why there are many different models devised for discounting cash flows, but none completely escapes the complications posed by the uncertainty of the future.


Let's look at a sample of a model used to value a company. Because this is a generalized example, don't worry if some details aren't clear. The purpose is to demonstrate the bridging between theory and application. Take a look at how valuation based on fundamentals would look:




The problem with projecting far into the future is that we have to account for the different rates at which a company will grow as it enters different phases. To get around this problem, this model has two parts:

(1) determining the sum of the discounted future cash flows from each of the next five years (years one to five), and

(2) determining 'residual value', which is the sum of the future cash flows from the years starting six years from now.

In this particular example, the company is assumed to grow at 15% a year for the first five years and then 5% every year after that (year six and beyond). First, we add together all the first five yearly cash flows - each of which are discounted to year zero, the present - in order to determine the present value (PV). So once the present value of the company for the first five years is calculated, we must, in the second stage of the model, determine the value of the cash flows coming from the sixth year and all the following years, when the company's growth rate is assumed to be 5%. The cash flows from all these years are discounted back to year five and added together, then discounted to year zero, and finally combined with the PV of the cash flows from years one to five (which we calculated in the first part of the model). And voilà! We have an estimate (given our assumptions) of the intrinsic value of the company. An estimate that is higher than the current market capitalization indicates that it may be a good buy. Below, we have gone through each component of the model with specific notes:

1. Prior-year cash flow - The theoretical amount, or total profits, that the shareholders could take from the company the previous year.
2. Growth rate - The rate at which owner's earnings are expected to grow for the next five years.
3. Cash flow - The theoretical amount that shareholders would get if all the company's earnings, or profits, were distributed to them.
4. Discount factor - The number that brings the future cash flows back to year zero. In other words, the factor used to determine the cash flows' present value (PV).
5. Discount per year - The cash flow multiplied by the discount factor.
6. Cash flow in year five - The amount the company could distribute to shareholders in year five.
7. Growth rate - The growth rate from year six into perpetuity.
8. Cash flow in year six - The amount available in year six to distribute to shareholders.
9. Capitalization Rate - The discount rate (the denominator) in the formula for a constantly growing perpetuity.
10. Value at the end of year five - The value of the company in five years.
11. Discount factor at the end of year five - The discount factor that converts the value of the firm in year five into the present value.
12. PV of residual value - The present value of the firm in year five.

So far, we've been very general on what a cash flow comprises, and unfortunately, there is no easy way to measure it. The only natural cash flow from a public company to its shareholders is a dividend, and the dividend discount model (DDM) values a company based on its future dividends (see Digging Into The DDM.). However, a company doesn't pay out all of its profits in dividends, and many profitable companies don't pay dividends at all.


What happens in these situations? Other valuation options include analyzing net income, free cash flow, EBITDA and a series of other financial measures. There are advantages and disadvantages to using any of these metrics to get a glimpse into a company's intrinsic value. The point is that what represents cash flow depends on the situation. Regardless of what model is used, the theory behind all of them is the same.

Reference:


http://www.investopedia.com/university/stockpicking/stockpicking1.asp?partner=WBW
Next: Stock-Picking Strategies: Qualitative Analysis

Choosing a Discount Assumption

Choosing a discount assumption

In theory, the discount rate should be your own personal cost of capital for this kind of investment. If you have a million dollars and can invest it with no risk in a Treasury bond at 6 percent, your cost of capital is the risk-free 6 percent you would forgo by not investing in the bond. So the implied cost of your dollars made available to invest in Business XYZ starts at 6 percent. Financial types refer to this opportunity cost as the risk-free cost of capital.

But implicitly, Company XYZ common stock is riskier than the bond investment. Sales, earnings, and myriad other intrinsic things can change, as can markets and the market perception of XYZ’s worth. So an equity premium is added to the risk-free cost of capital rate. In effect, the total cost of capital is your required compensation, or hurdle, for the opportunity you’ve lost by not buying the bond, plus the assumption of risk by investing in XYZ.

Much has gone into identifying appropriate risk premiums and the like. Modern portfolio theory and its reliance on beta – a measure of relative stock price volatility – doesn’t really do much for most value investors. (Remember: Price doesn’t determine value.)

The keep-it-simple-safe (KISS) approach used by most value investors, including Warren Buffett, is to discount at a relatively high rate, usually higher than the growth rate. Buffett uses 15 percent as a discount, or “hurdle” rate – investments must clear a 15 percent “hurdle” before clearing the bar. The 15 percent hurdle incorporates a lot of risk, especially in today’s environment of relatively low interest rate and inflation. Conservative value investors usually use discount rates in the 10 to 15 percent range.

As you build and run models, you’ll see firsthand how the discount rate affects the resulting intrinsic value. Here are a few points to remember:

• The higher the discount rate, the lower the intrinsic value – and vice versa.
• The second-stage discount rate should always be higher than the first stage. Risk increases the farther out you go.
• If you choose an aggressive growth rate, it makes sense also to choose a higher discount rate. Risk of failure is higher with high growth rates.
• If the discount rate exceeds the growth rate, intrinsic value will be low and implode more quickly the larger the gap. Aggressive growth assumptions with low discount rates yield very high intrinsic values.

If you’re worried about earnings and earnings growth consistency and want to factor it in somehow, but don’t want to do a deep statistical analysis on a zillion numbers, Value Line does one for you. At the bottom right corner of the Value Line Investment Survey sheet is a figure called “Earnings Predictability” if the Survey covers the company you’re evaluating.

It’s really a statistical predictability score normalised to 100 (100 is best, 0 is worst). A score of 80 and higher indicates relative safety; below 80 means that you may want to attenuate growth rates or bump up the discount rate to account for uncertainty.

Here again is the set of growth and discount assumptions used for an example. Consistency is important, but growth rates will vary for each company, and discount rates may change also with differing risk assessments.
First-stage growth 10%
Second-stage growth 5%
First-stage discount rate 12%
Second-stage discount rate 15%

Ref: Intrinsic Value Model

Intrinsic Value Model

Intrinsic value is driven by current and especially future earnings. Projecting future growth in these earnings is vital to determining intrinsic value.

First-stage growth
Near-term growth is by nature easier to model, and as a result of the discounting process, they contribute more towards the final result anyway. So intrinsic value models are set up to specifically value a first stage in detail, year-by-year. Typically, the first stage is 10 years, although in some analyses it may be more or less.
More often than not, the first stage is assumed to have a higher growth rate and a lower discount rate than the second stage.

Second-stage growth
The second stage covers the more nebulous period of business life beyond the first stage. Second-stage returns are harder to project accurately, so intrinsic value models use one of two assumptions to estimate what’s known as continuing value:

• Indefinite life: The indefinite life model assumes ongoing returns and uses a mathematical formula to project returns over an indefinite period and assign a value to those returns.
  
• Acquisition: Want a convenient way to bypass mathematical approximations? Assume that someone will come along and buy your business after the first stage at a reasonable valuation. Returns include all future payouts, including lump sums, so this method works too, so long as resale value is projected reasonably.
  
  

Summary.

Each stage of a business life has a growth rate and discount rate applicable to that stage. One growth rate and one discount rate is applied to the first stage, and another growth and discount rate to the second. Then, you calculate net future earnings by first compounding growth over the first stage and then discounting that value back to the present. A generalised formula, either indefinite life or acquisition-based, is applied to the second stage. The value attributed to the second stage is called continuing value.