Microsoft ($MSFT) continues to trade under US$20 a share.  We have previously looked at $MSFT and felt it was undervalued in the US$20-25 range.  We decided it was time to revisit our valuation.

Valuecruncher valuation model of $MSFT with interactive assumptions

Valuecruncher produces a valuation of US$25.34 for $MSFT. This is a current valuation (an estimate of intrinsic value using a discounted cash flow model) not a target price. This valuation is 33.6% above the current share price of US$18.96.

Assumptions

• Revenue: Reuters aggregates 30 analysts covering $MSFT and the mean estimate of 2009 revenues is US$67.3 billion. For our analysis we have used US$64.0 billion in 2009, US$68.5 billion in 2010 and US$72.5 billion in 2011.  Between 2004 and 2008 $MSFT grew revenues at a compound annual growth rate of 13.2% - revenues of US$36.8 billion in 2004 to US$60.4 billion in 2008.
• Profitability: We have used an EBITDA margin of 40.0% to 2011. Reuters has $MSFT‘s EBITD margin at 39.25% last year and an average of 37.0% over the last five-years.
• Capital Expenditure: We have assumed capital expenditures of US$3.75 billion per annum moving forward.
• Discount Rate: 11.0%.
• Terminal Growth Rate: 3.0%. In our assumptions we have 2010/11 revenue growth at 5.8% - we have assumed that growth eventually slows to a 3.0% long-term stable growth rate.  We have used 3.0% as our terminal growth rate.

Our analysis incorporates the cash on the $MSFT balance sheet – Valuecruncher calculates a net debt number.

Comparator Analysis

Comparator analysis (sometimes called comparison company analysis) is a relative valuation approach. For $MSFT we looked at four peer companies - IBM ($IBM), Apple ($AAPL), HP ($HPQ) and Google ($GOOG). We calculated enterprise values - market capitalisation plus net debt (long-term borrowings less cash). Then we measured a range of metrics against the enterprise value for $MSFT and the peer set.

We have used the last financial year (LFY) as the base set of metrics. $MSFT is currently priced at the bottom of the peer group for the EV/EBITDA and EV/EBIT metrics and in the middle for the EV/FCF metric.  The market is currently valuing the profits (EBIT and EBITDA) and free cash flow produced by $MSFT at less than half that of the comparable numbers for $GOOG. This reflects the perceived different future growth prospects of the two businesses.  The comparator numbers show $MSFT is comparably priced against the peer group - even with the strengths of their business model (39.8% EBITDA margins vs 18.9% for $IBM and 11.7% for $HPQ).  $MSFT’s growth is slowing - but it is still a very good business.  Should $MSFT’s profits (at the EBITDA and EBIT levels) really be valued less than $IBM and $HPQ?

Play with our assumptions – what does your analysis say? We think that $MSFT looks undervalued.  Our model is interactive - you can change any of our assumptions.

Disclosure: None

Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) has traded between US$39.99 and US$53.48 over the last 52-weeks. We decided to run the numbers on HPQ using the Valuecruncher interactive valuation tool to form a view on the current US$44.46 share price.

HPQ Valuation

HPQ grew revenues from US$79.9 billion in 2004 to US$104.3 billion in 2007 – a 9.0% compound annual growth rate. Our assumptions of revenues for the next three years are US$115.0 billion in 2008 growing to US$135.0 billion in 2010 – a 9.3% compound annual growth rate. We have projected EBITDA margins to grow from 12.5% in 2008 to 13.0% in 2010. We have used a terminal growth rate of 3.5%. We used a terminal capital expenditure number of US$4.0 billion. We have used a WACC (discount rate) of 10%.

Key assumptions as we see them are:

HPQ terminal growth rate of 3.5%. We believe this long-term growth rate could be anywhere between 3% and 4-4.5%. We have taken 3.5% as a mid-point terminal growth rate.

HPQ WACC of 10%. We believe that HPQ’s WACC (discount rate) is in the 9-11% range. Again we have taken a mid-point.

Valuecruncher valuation model of HPQ with interactive assumptions

Our analysis incorporates the cash and debt on the HPQ balance sheet – Valuecruncher calculates a net debt number.

Our analysis gives a valuation of US$55.38 which is 24.6% above the current share price of US$44.46.

Based on our analysis, HPQ shares look cheap. Play with our assumptions – what does your analysis say?

Valuecruncher has a database of over 1,000 companies on major international exchanges. You can explore, create and share valuations for any of these companies.