Calculating The Intrinsic Value Of Newmont Corporation (NYSE:NEM)

Key Insights

• Newmont's estimated fair value is US$35.29 based on 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity
• Current share price of US$39.67 suggests Newmont is potentially trading close to its fair value
• The US$44.18 analyst price target for NEM is 25% more than our estimate of fair value

Today we'll do a simple run through of a valuation method used to estimate the attractiveness of Newmont Corporation (NYSE:NEM) as an investment opportunity by taking the expected future cash flows and discounting them to today's value. We will use the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model on this occasion. Before you think you won't be able to understand it, just read on! It's actually much less complex than you'd imagine.

We generally believe that a company's value is the present value of all of the cash it will generate in the future. However, a DCF is just one valuation metric among many, and it is not without flaws. Anyone interested in learning a bit more about intrinsic value should have a read of the Simply Wall St analysis model.

View our latest analysis for Newmont

What's The Estimated Valuation?

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 need to discount the sum of these future cash flows to arrive at a present value estimate:

10-year free cash flow (FCF) forecast

	2024	2025	2026	2027	2028	2029	2030	2031	2032	2033
Levered FCF ($, Millions)	US$1.76b	US$3.14b	US$3.25b	US$5.99b	US$4.26b	US$3.36b	US$2.89b	US$2.63b	US$2.48b	US$2.39b
Growth Rate Estimate Source	Analyst x10	Analyst x12	Analyst x8	Analyst x1	Analyst x1	Est @ -21.04%	Est @ -14.04%	Est @ -9.14%	Est @ -5.71%	Est @ -3.31%
Present Value ($, Millions) Discounted @ 8.2%	US$1.6k	US$2.7k	US$2.6k	US$4.4k	US$2.9k	US$2.1k	US$1.7k	US$1.4k	US$1.2k	US$1.1k

("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St)
Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = US$22b

We now need to calculate the Terminal Value, which accounts for all the future cash flows after this ten year period. 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 2.3%. We discount the terminal cash flows to today's value at a cost of equity of 8.2%.

Terminal Value (TV)= FCF₂₀₃₃ × (1 + g) ÷ (r – g) = US$2.4b× (1 + 2.3%) ÷ (8.2%– 2.3%) = US$42b

Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)¹⁰= US$42b÷ ( 1 + 8.2%)¹⁰= US$19b

The total value, or equity value, is then the sum of the present value of the future cash flows, which in this case is US$41b. The last step is to then divide the equity value by the number of shares outstanding. Compared to the current share price of US$39.7, the company appears around fair value at the time of writing. The assumptions in any calculation have a big impact on the valuation, so it is better to view this as a rough estimate, not precise down to the last cent.

The Assumptions

Now 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 Newmont 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 8.2%, which is based on a levered beta of 1.275. 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.

SWOT Analysis for Newmont

Next Steps:

Although the valuation of a company is important, 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 example, changes in the company's cost of equity or the risk free rate can significantly impact the valuation. For Newmont, we've put together three important items you should further examine:

1. Risks: Take risks, for example - Newmont has 2 warning signs (and 1 which shouldn't be ignored) we think you should know about.
2. Future Earnings: How does NEM'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 High Quality Alternatives: Do you like a good all-rounder? Explore our interactive list of high quality stocks to get an idea of what else is out there you may be missing!

PS. Simply Wall St updates its DCF calculation for every American 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.