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Would You Buy This Whole Company?
Top stock picker and Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A) (BRK-B) Chairman Warren Buffett has famously counseled investors to consider whether they'd purchase the entire business when contemplating a stock buy. Why? A stock represents a single share in a business. If the overall business isn't attractively priced, the stock won't be either.
There are two ways to determine the overall value of a publicly traded entity:
Say you like that Wal-Mart's (WMT) P/E ratio is less than 11, yet also feel compelled to heed Buffett's advice and price out the entire business. Here's the math for market cap:
[Current price per share * total shares outstanding]
And here's the equation when you plug in the numbers: [$50.28 * 3.45 billion] = $173 billion
Here's the math for enterprise value:
[Market cap - cash and equivalents + debt]
And here's the equation when you plug in the numbers: [$173 billion - $8.1 billion + $57.1 billion] = $222 billion
Why You Need To Run These Numbers
Both market cap and enterprise value have their uses, but remember that they don't say the same thing. Market cap is merely a measure of the outstanding equity, or the price to get a 100% claim on earnings. Enterprise value figures the cost of buying out both the equity and bondholders, since it adds debt into the equation.
Sure, it seems like a steal to buy Delta Air Lines (DAL) for $6.4 billion in market cap when the business produces $33.6 billion in annual revenue. Figure enterprise value, and you'll see the $14.7 billion in debt that comes with buying a claim on the airline's earnings.
Top stock picker and Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A) (BRK-B) Chairman Warren Buffett has famously counseled investors to consider whether they'd purchase the entire business when contemplating a stock buy. Why? A stock represents a single share in a business. If the overall business isn't attractively priced, the stock won't be either.
There are two ways to determine the overall value of a publicly traded entity:
- Market capitalization (or "market cap") defines the value of all the outstanding shares in a business.
- Enterprise value specifies the cost of buying a business outright, and as such combines the equity (i.e., stock) value with cash and debt.
Say you like that Wal-Mart's (WMT) P/E ratio is less than 11, yet also feel compelled to heed Buffett's advice and price out the entire business. Here's the math for market cap:
[Current price per share * total shares outstanding]
And here's the equation when you plug in the numbers: [$50.28 * 3.45 billion] = $173 billion
Here's the math for enterprise value:
[Market cap - cash and equivalents + debt]
And here's the equation when you plug in the numbers: [$173 billion - $8.1 billion + $57.1 billion] = $222 billion
Why You Need To Run These Numbers
Both market cap and enterprise value have their uses, but remember that they don't say the same thing. Market cap is merely a measure of the outstanding equity, or the price to get a 100% claim on earnings. Enterprise value figures the cost of buying out both the equity and bondholders, since it adds debt into the equation.
Sure, it seems like a steal to buy Delta Air Lines (DAL) for $6.4 billion in market cap when the business produces $33.6 billion in annual revenue. Figure enterprise value, and you'll see the $14.7 billion in debt that comes with buying a claim on the airline's earnings.
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