How is cash accounted for in equity value
can someone explain?
Trending Content
Career Resources
WSO Free Modeling Series - Now Open Through
April 30, 2024
9 Free Financial Modeling Lessons
Get instant access to lessons taught by experienced private equity pros and bulge bracket investment bankers including financial statement modeling, DCF, M&A, LBO, Comps and Excel Modeling.
+Bonus: Get 27 financial modeling templates in swipe file
+Bonus: Get 27 financial modeling templates in swipe file
.
.
think about it like this, two companies otherwise equal except one has a shitload of cash and the other has nothing. which one has a higher market value of equity? and you don't add excess cash to get to enterprise value. only on wso...
Left Handed Monkey, in Patrick's technical guide, it says "cash is already accounted for within the market value of equity."
some of these responses are completely off, i wonder where the hell u guys are getting these junks from...
to the OP: if you're valuing a company's equity using the DCF method cash flow is basically the most important variable in determining the value of a company
A company's total enterprise value/worth is made up of Equity/Debt more like every dollar on the asset side of the BS is financed with either debt or equity so to value a firm's equity you first find how much the entire enterprise is worth and subtract the outstanding debt from it to get the equity value
Lets put aside the argument of whether DCF accurately captures a firm's value for a second and just go over the theory. Much like valuation of bonds, DCF derives the value of a company based on expected future cash flow. Sum it up, you project the amount of free cash flow available to both creditor/shareholders into the future, discount it by the proper WACC/rate and you'll get yourself an enterprise value.
Obviously the model/theory is only as good as the assumptions, thats the tricky part of DCF, you're are basically projecting into the future, hence many ppl on the street discredits it
I hope I've helped with your question OP
I'm actually referring to a question in the M&I guide: Why do you subtract cash from EV. His answer was that cash Equity Value implicitly accounts for it. How?
I've always thought of it like paying for cash with cash. If a company's value is determined to $1mm, and the cash balance is $100k, I'm not going to pay $100k to get $100k. That's like taking a dollar out of my left pocket and putting it into my right pocket. Instead, the $100k cash balance is subtracted to get to EV, and the assumption is that the cash balance will be used to retire debt or shore up the cap structure in some way.
So you'd essentially be paying 900k?
So you're basically only paying 900k?
Cash is subtracted because it can be used to pay off some of the debt or to pay dividends. Also, it is already accounted for in the market value of the equity.
Yeah that was my question...why/how is it accounted for the in market value of equity?
when the cash is used to pay down debt, the equity portion of the EV increases and the debt portion of EV decreases. the assumption is that cash on hand is limited because the return is very low. Either it is paid out in dividends, reinvested in another project, or used to pay down debt -- all activities that flow to equity holders.
Thanks for the explanation, but I'm a little bit confused. The equity portion of the EV is the Market cap, not the shareholders' equity on BS. I was confused why the equity portion of the EV increases when the cash is used to pay down debt? Market cap is price times shares outstanding.. so do you mean there happens something to share price or share count when the debt is paid out w/ cash?
Enterprise value-Debt (must pay off debt before equity has a claim)+cash (because current cash on hand is not factored into the DCF calc) =Equity value
i'd like to hear the definitive answer to this as well. my thinking is that if i'm holding stock in a company sitting on a ton of cash, i'm assuming that the company will either a) invest cash into products that generate returns above the hurdle rate or b) redistribute the cash back to equity holders in dividends or stock repurchases.
Because I'm seeing a return either way on that cash hoard, it affects my purchase and pricing decision, and therefore is captured in the equity value.
easiest way I think about it is the balance sheet equation: A- L = Stockholders Equity
Thus equity implicity values the cash on the bs
For Valuation purposes: Equity value= EV - Debt (since equity holders have no claim on this and is included in EV calc) + cash... This is used usually in a private company where you use a DCF to calculate EV and want to figure out the value of the common shares
But if you are solving for Enterprise value; Stock price * shares outstanding=equity value; Equity Value + Debt - cash= enterprise value...This is why you use EV/EBITDA multiple or P/E; the former are both before consideration of debt and the latter after...
Final answer.
Think about this intuitively, would you rather pay more for a company with $50 billion in cash or $50 million in cash - ALL ELSE EQUAL?
Subtracting cash makes no sense. Upon purchase, a buyer gets the excess cash sitting on the BS of the target, so the buyer needs to pay for that cash right? Say there's $100 of cash on the BS - if that $100 is not included in the price (i.e. the enterprise value) paid for the target, then the buyer is getting $100 in cash for free, right?
In other words, that cash has a value ($100) so why is something of value not included in the purchase price? The $100 is implicitly included in equity value and should REMAIN included in the equity value rather than being subtracted and netted out - otherwise, as I explained, it's a free $100 for the buyer, right?
Because that cash doesn't belong to you upon purchase it belongs to the shareholders.
Hey guys,
This is the height of us confusing the unnecessary. It would be amateur of us to simply follow a rule to deduct cash from EV and forget about how the EV is derived.
As already pointed out by other friends, Equity = Assets - Liability. It can also be pointed out by using: Equity = Assets - Net liability (debt net off excess cash). Hence Equity value has in itself the cash component which is a current asset.
How to derive Equity Value same from EV? When deriving EV from Discounted Cash Flow (DCF), we tend to forget what D/E ratio we had used. Few people use net debt (net off excess cash) for D/E while others use total debt in (D/E) ratio. The latter is greater than the former because excess cash increases both sides of the equation D + E = Assets. Moreover, it is appropriate to use total debt because of the tax advantage for the debt.
When WACC is calculated using D/E (total debt/equity), the resulting EV will have the excess cash component.
For actual EV in the above case, the excess cash is deducted to keep both sides of the equation at optimum level. L + E = Assets. When excess cash is not deducted, the Liability shows high against high cash balance on the asset side.
When deriving Equity value from Enterprise value we can use two methods: EV - Net debt = Equity value EV - Total Debt + Excess cash = Equity Value
Both will be the same. But what would be wrong? EV - Net debt - Excess Cash = Equity Value (Never !!!)
If we see where we started, we know where to end and what to add or subtract. Nothing biggie ;)
Thanks, Ari
SHAREHOLDERS Equity is equal to Asset - Liabilities not Equity Value
Dolor doloribus qui assumenda voluptates. Quia deserunt delectus rerum ducimus earum accusantium consequuntur. Molestiae accusantium omnis corrupti iure libero libero. Id et est aut aliquam quaerat quia. Ut quasi qui earum molestiae. Non quo et enim.
Explicabo consequatur eos enim sed numquam doloremque. Cum molestias dolores debitis aut ipsa.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...
Labore incidunt quisquam excepturi soluta explicabo. Sed blanditiis ad vel animi. Odit est illum voluptates error qui quia. Fuga iure error repellendus consequuntur ut asperiores in. Ab velit impedit velit molestiae eligendi. Incidunt error at aliquam dignissimos voluptatem. Soluta fuga et maxime culpa eius.
Ut et laboriosam eum fugit est temporibus molestiae. Labore voluptas qui occaecati sequi. Repudiandae totam aperiam porro sapiente autem ad dolore porro.
Enim recusandae totam aut asperiores architecto. Voluptates officia praesentium accusantium id perspiciatis eos est laborum. Porro alias repudiandae voluptatibus facilis et unde. Id quidem ratione consequuntur et.