Is There An Opportunity With East Buy Holding Limited's (HKG:1797) 39% Undervaluation?

Key Insights

• Using the 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity, East Buy Holding fair value estimate is HK$51.02
• East Buy Holding is estimated to be 39% undervalued based on current share price of HK$31.35
• Our fair value estimate is 13% higher than East Buy Holding's analyst price target of CN¥44.97

Does the June share price for East Buy Holding Limited (HKG:1797) reflect what it's really worth? Today, we will estimate the stock's intrinsic value by estimating the company's future cash flows and discounting them to their present value. We will use the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model on this occasion. It may sound complicated, but actually it is quite simple!

We would caution that there are many ways of valuing a company and, like the DCF, each technique has advantages and disadvantages in certain scenarios. If you want to learn more about discounted cash flow, the rationale behind this calculation can be read in detail in the Simply Wall St analysis model.

View our latest analysis for East Buy Holding

The Method

We're using the 2-stage growth model, which simply means we take in account two stages of company's growth. In the initial period the company may have a higher growth rate and the second stage is usually assumed to have a stable growth rate. To start off with, we need to estimate the next ten years of cash flows. Where possible we use analyst estimates, but when these aren't available we extrapolate the previous free cash flow (FCF) from the last estimate or reported value. We assume companies with shrinking free cash flow will slow their rate of shrinkage, and that companies with growing free cash flow will see their growth rate slow, over this period. We do this to reflect that growth tends to slow more in the early years than it does in later years.

A DCF is all about the idea that a dollar in the future is less valuable than a dollar today, so we discount the value of these future cash flows to their estimated value in today's dollars:

10-year free cash flow (FCF) forecast

	2023	2024	2025	2026	2027	2028	2029	2030	2031	2032
Levered FCF (CN¥, Millions)	CN¥1.40b	CN¥1.11b	CN¥1.68b	CN¥2.13b	CN¥2.55b	CN¥2.90b	CN¥3.21b	CN¥3.46b	CN¥3.66b	CN¥3.84b
Growth Rate Estimate Source	Analyst x4	Analyst x4	Analyst x4	Est @ 26.79%	Est @ 19.29%	Est @ 14.05%	Est @ 10.37%	Est @ 7.80%	Est @ 6.00%	Est @ 4.74%
Present Value (CN¥, Millions) Discounted @ 7.8%	CN¥1.3k	CN¥959	CN¥1.3k	CN¥1.6k	CN¥1.8k	CN¥1.9k	CN¥1.9k	CN¥1.9k	CN¥1.9k	CN¥1.8k

("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St)
Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = CN¥16b

The second stage is also known as Terminal Value, this is the business's cash flow after the first stage. The Gordon Growth formula is used to calculate Terminal Value at a future annual growth rate equal to the 5-year average of the 10-year government bond yield of 1.8%. We discount the terminal cash flows to today's value at a cost of equity of 7.8%.

Terminal Value (TV)= FCF₂₀₃₂ × (1 + g) ÷ (r – g) = CN¥3.8b× (1 + 1.8%) ÷ (7.8%– 1.8%) = CN¥65b

Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)¹⁰= CN¥65b÷ ( 1 + 7.8%)¹⁰= CN¥31b

The total value, or equity value, is then the sum of the present value of the future cash flows, which in this case is CN¥47b. The last step is to then divide the equity value by the number of shares outstanding. Relative to the current share price of HK$31.4, the company appears quite good value at a 39% discount to where the stock price trades currently. Valuations are imprecise instruments though, rather like a telescope - move a few degrees and end up in a different galaxy. Do keep this in mind.

Important Assumptions

We would point out that the most important inputs to a discounted cash flow are the discount rate and of course the actual cash flows. If you don't agree with these result, have a go at the calculation yourself and play with the assumptions. The DCF also does not consider the possible cyclicality of an industry, or a company's future capital requirements, so it does not give a full picture of a company's potential performance. Given that we are looking at East Buy Holding as potential shareholders, the cost of equity is used as the discount rate, rather than the cost of capital (or weighted average cost of capital, WACC) which accounts for debt. In this calculation we've used 7.8%, which is based on a levered beta of 0.835. Beta is a measure of a stock's volatility, compared to the market as a whole. We get our beta from the industry average beta of globally comparable companies, with an imposed limit between 0.8 and 2.0, which is a reasonable range for a stable business.

Moving On:

Valuation is only one side of the coin in terms of building your investment thesis, and it shouldn't be the only metric you look at when researching a company. DCF models are not the be-all and end-all of investment valuation. Preferably you'd apply different cases and assumptions and see how they would impact the company's valuation. For instance, if the terminal value growth rate is adjusted slightly, it can dramatically alter the overall result. Why is the intrinsic value higher than the current share price? For East Buy Holding, we've put together three fundamental aspects you should consider:

1. Risks: For instance, we've identified 3 warning signs for East Buy Holding (1 is a bit unpleasant) you should be aware of.
2. Future Earnings: How does 1797's growth rate compare to its peers and the wider market? Dig deeper into the analyst consensus number for the upcoming years by interacting with our free analyst growth expectation chart.
3. Other Solid Businesses: Low debt, high returns on equity and good past performance are fundamental to a strong business. Why not explore our interactive list of stocks with solid business fundamentals to see if there are other companies you may not have considered!

PS. Simply Wall St updates its DCF calculation for every Hong Kong stock every day, so if you want to find the intrinsic value of any other stock just search here.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.