10 days ago we made the argument that the withdrawl of the IBM ($IBM) acquistion offer for Sun ($JAVA) was a problem for $JAVA shareholders. The heading for the post was “Sun ($JAVA) needs IBM ($IBM)“.  The basis of our analysis was that the IBM acquisition offer looked much better than Sun as a standalone business.

It looks like we were half right – the important half.  Today Oracle ($ORCL) announced the acquisition of Sun ($JAVA) at US$9.50 a share – just above the revised $IBM offer of US$9.40 a share.  Sun did not need IBM because of Oracle.  The logic of being acquired in the board price range was still compelling.

$JAVA has found an acquirer and this still looks a higher value option for $JAVA shareholders than remaining an independent company.  This is a good result for $JAVA shareholders.

Disclosure: None

“In the short run, the market is a voting machine, but in the long run it is a weighing machine.” — Benjamin Graham, The Intelligent Investor

That

is the best analysis we can find about the current market. We believe there is an intrinsic value for shares and our analysis attempts to calculate this. But in the short-term market sentiment is a key factor and at the moment the votes are primarily negative. But there are some positives appearing. This week it was IBM ($IBM). $IBM announced better than expected fourth quarter results. At Valuecruncher we have previously looked at $IBM. Our 2008 projections in our previous analysis were not far out – we projected 2008 revenues of US$105.0 billion against actuals of US$103.6. We decided to update our valuation of $IBM.

Valuecruncher valuation model of $IBM with interactive assumptions

Valuecruncher produces a valuation of US$128.62 for $IBM. This is a current valuation (an estimate of intrinsic value using a discounted cash flow model) not a target price. This valuation is 42.8% above the current share price of US$90.07.

Assumptions

• Revenue: Reuters aggregates 15 analysts covering $IBM and these analysts have a mean estimate of 2009 revenues of US$103.2 billion. For our analysis we have used US$105.0 billion in 2009, US$107.0 billion in 2010 and US$110.0 billion in 2011.
• Profitability: We have used an EBITDA margin of 20% flat to 2010. Reuters had $IBM‘s EBITD margin at 20.26% in 2007 but is waiting for detailed profitability results for 2008 (including at the EBITDA line) which have not yet been released by the company.
• Capital Expenditure: We have assumed capital expenditures of US$4.5 billion in 2009 and 2010 rising to US$5.0 billion in 2011 and beyond.
• Discount Rate: 10.5%.
• Terminal Growth Rate: 3.0%.

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

Our analysis has considerable range for downside:

• Increasing the discount rate to 11.5% drops our valuation to US$116.20.
• Lowering the terminal growth rate to 2% drops our valuation to US$117.41.
• Lowering our 2009-11 revenues to US$100.0 billion drops our valuation to US$116.43.
• Lowering our EBITDA margin to 17.5% from 2009 drops our valuation US$111.00.
• Combining all of these sensitivities results in a valuation of US$84.74 – 5.9% below the current share price.

Comparator Analysis

Comparator analysis (sometimes called comparison company analysis) is a relative valuation approach. For $IBM we looked at four peer companies – Accenture ($ACN), HP ($HPQ), Microsoft ($MSFT) and Oracle ($ORCL). 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 $IBM and the peer set.

We have used the last financial year (LFY) as the base set of metrics. $IBM has not yet released the 2008 LFY profitability (EBIT and EBITDA) and free cash flow results. For this analysis we have used the 2008 revenue numbers with the 2007 profitability and free cash flow margins. The highlighted column links our DCF valuation to the current market valuation.

$IBM is currently trading in the middle to the upper-end of the valuation metrics of the peer group. Our DCF valuation places a value on $IBM well above where the market is currently valuing the company and the peer group. Reviewing our assumptions we remain comfortable with our valuation. Using the DCF valuation approach we believe that $IBM is trading at a discount to intrinsic value. The market is definitely voting negative – but in the long-run we believe $IBM represents value at current prices.

Play with our assumptions – what does your analysis say?

Disclosure: None

This week Oracle announced better than expected financial results but gave a conservative outlook moving forward. We decided to have a look at some projected financial numbers using our on-line valuation tool.

ORCL Valuation

Oracle grew revenues from US$11.8 billion in 2005 to US$22.4 billion in 2008 – a 24% compound annual growth rate. Our assumptions of revenues for the next three years are US$25.75 billion in 2009 growing to US$31.5 billion in 2011 – a 12% compound annual growth rate. We have projected EBITDA margins to be flat at 40%. We have used a terminal growth rate of 4%. We calculated this terminal growth rate based on year three growth of 8.6% dropping to a 3% stable growth rate by year 10. We used a terminal capital expenditure number of US$600 million. We have used a WACC (discount rate) of 10.5%.

Valuecruncher Valuation ORCL

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

Our analysis gives a valuation of US$24.14 which is 12.7% above the current share price of US$21.42.

Based on our analysis the current valuation looks slightly undervalued. 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.