A Look At The Fair Value Of Studio City International Holdings Limited (NYSE:MSC)

Key Insights

• The projected fair value for Studio City International Holdings is US$5.90 based on 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity

• With US$6.82 share price, Studio City International Holdings appears to be trading close to its estimated fair value

Today we will run through one way of estimating the intrinsic value of Studio City International Holdings Limited (NYSE:MSC) by estimating the company's future cash flows and discounting them to their present value. We will take advantage of the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model for this purpose. 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.

See our latest analysis for Studio City International Holdings

Crunching The Numbers

We are going to use a two-stage DCF model, which, as the name states, takes into account two stages of growth. The first stage is generally a higher growth period which levels off heading towards the terminal value, captured in the second 'steady growth' period. 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.

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) estimate

	2024	2025	2026	2027	2028	2029	2030	2031	2032	2033
Levered FCF ($, Millions)	US$93.0m	US$112.0m	US$126.1m	US$138.0m	US$148.1m	US$156.5m	US$163.8m	US$170.2m	US$176.0m	US$181.3m
Growth Rate Estimate Source	Analyst x1	Analyst x1	Est @ 12.59%	Est @ 9.46%	Est @ 7.27%	Est @ 5.73%	Est @ 4.66%	Est @ 3.90%	Est @ 3.38%	Est @ 3.01%
Present Value ($, Millions) Discounted @ 14%	US$81.6	US$86.2	US$85.2	US$81.8	US$77.0	US$71.4	US$65.6	US$59.8	US$54.2	US$49.0

("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St)
Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = US$712m

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 2.2%. We discount the terminal cash flows to today's value at a cost of equity of 14%.

Terminal Value (TV)= FCF₂₀₃₃ × (1 + g) ÷ (r – g) = US$181m× (1 + 2.2%) ÷ (14%– 2.2%) = US$1.6b

Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)¹⁰= US$1.6b÷ ( 1 + 14%)¹⁰= US$424m

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$1.1b. The last step is to then divide the equity value by the number of shares outstanding. Relative to the current share price of US$6.8, the company appears around fair value at the time of writing. 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.

dcf

Important Assumptions

Now the most important inputs to a discounted cash flow are the discount rate, and of course, the actual cash flows. Part of investing is coming up with your own evaluation of a company's future performance, so try the calculation yourself and check your own 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 Studio City International Holdings 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 14%, which is based on a levered beta of 2.000. 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 Studio City International Holdings

Strength

• Debt is well covered by earnings.

Weakness

• Expensive based on P/S ratio and estimated fair value.

Opportunity

• Forecast to reduce losses next year.

Threat

• Debt is not well covered by operating cash flow.

• Has less than 3 years of cash runway based on current free cash flow.

Looking Ahead:

Although the valuation of a company is important, it ideally won't be the sole piece of analysis you scrutinize for a company. The DCF model is not a perfect stock valuation tool. Rather it should be seen as a guide to "what assumptions need to be true for this stock to be under/overvalued?" For example, changes in the company's cost of equity or the risk free rate can significantly impact the valuation. For Studio City International Holdings, we've put together three further items you should further research:

1. Risks: Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 2 warning signs with Studio City International Holdings , and understanding these should be part of your investment process.

2. Future Earnings: How does MSC'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.