Is Lightspeed Commerce Inc. (TSE:LSPD) Trading At A 49% Discount?
Key Insights
Lightspeed Commerce's estimated fair value is CA$45.64 based on 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity
Lightspeed Commerce's CA$23.14 share price signals that it might be 49% undervalued
Our fair value estimate is 60% higher than Lightspeed Commerce's analyst price target of US$28.50
Today we'll do a simple run through of a valuation method used to estimate the attractiveness of Lightspeed Commerce Inc. (TSE:LSPD) as an investment opportunity by taking the forecast future cash flows of the company and discounting them back to today's value. We will take advantage of the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model for this purpose. It may sound complicated, but actually it is quite simple!
Companies can be valued in a lot of ways, so we would point out that a DCF is not perfect for every situation. For those who are keen learners of equity analysis, the Simply Wall St analysis model here may be something of interest to you.
View our latest analysis for Lightspeed Commerce
The Calculation
We're using the 2-stage growth model, which simply means we take in account two stages of company's growth. In the initial period the company may have a higher growth rate and the second stage is usually assumed to have a stable growth rate. In the first stage we need to estimate the cash flows to the business over the next ten years. Where possible we use analyst estimates, but when these aren't available we extrapolate the previous free cash flow (FCF) from the last estimate or reported value. We assume companies with shrinking free cash flow will slow their rate of shrinkage, and that companies with growing free cash flow will see their growth rate slow, over this period. We do this to reflect that growth tends to slow more in the early years than it does in later years.
Generally we assume that a dollar today is more valuable than a dollar in the future, so we discount the value of these future cash flows to their estimated value in today's dollars:
10-year free cash flow (FCF) forecast
2024 | 2025 | 2026 | 2027 | 2028 | 2029 | 2030 | 2031 | 2032 | 2033 | |
Levered FCF ($, Millions) | -US$48.4m | US$18.9m | US$89.3m | US$165.2m | US$218.4m | US$258.5m | US$293.3m | US$322.6m | US$347.0m | US$367.5m |
Growth Rate Estimate Source | Analyst x8 | Analyst x8 | Analyst x4 | Analyst x1 | Analyst x1 | Est @ 18.39% | Est @ 13.45% | Est @ 9.99% | Est @ 7.58% | Est @ 5.88% |
Present Value ($, Millions) Discounted @ 6.9% | -US$45.2 | US$16.5 | US$73.1 | US$127 | US$156 | US$173 | US$184 | US$189 | US$190 | US$189 |
("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St)
Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = US$1.3b
The second stage is also known as Terminal Value, this is the business's cash flow after the first stage. For a number of reasons a very conservative growth rate is used that cannot exceed that of a country's GDP growth. In this case we have used the 5-year average of the 10-year government bond yield (1.9%) to estimate future growth. In the same way as with the 10-year 'growth' period, we discount future cash flows to today's value, using a cost of equity of 6.9%.
Terminal Value (TV)= FCF2033 × (1 + g) ÷ (r – g) = US$367m× (1 + 1.9%) ÷ (6.9%– 1.9%) = US$7.5b
Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= US$7.5b÷ ( 1 + 6.9%)10= US$3.9b
The total value is the sum of cash flows for the next ten years plus the discounted terminal value, which results in the Total Equity Value, which in this case is US$5.1b. In the final step we divide the equity value by the number of shares outstanding. Relative to the current share price of CA$23.1, the company appears quite good value at a 49% discount to where the stock price trades currently. Remember though, that this is just an approximate valuation, and like any complex formula - garbage in, garbage out.
The 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 Lightspeed Commerce 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 6.9%, which is based on a levered beta of 0.993. 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 Lightspeed Commerce
Strength
Currently debt free.
Weakness
No major weaknesses identified for LSPD.
Opportunity
Forecast to reduce losses next year.
Has sufficient cash runway for more than 3 years based on current free cash flows.
Good value based on P/S ratio and estimated fair value.
Threat
Not expected to become profitable over the next 3 years.
Moving On:
Whilst important, the DCF calculation is only one of many factors that you need to assess for 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 Lightspeed Commerce, we've compiled three fundamental aspects you should further examine:
Risks: As an example, we've found 1 warning sign for Lightspeed Commerce that you need to consider before investing here.
Future Earnings: How does LSPD'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.
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 Canadian 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.
