Is There An Opportunity With BeiGene, Ltd.'s (NASDAQ:BGNE) 39% Undervaluation?

Key Insights

• BeiGene's estimated fair value is US$317 based on 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity

• BeiGene is estimated to be 39% undervalued based on current share price of US$192

• Our fair value estimate is 3.6% higher than BeiGene's analyst price target of US$306

Today we will run through one way of estimating the intrinsic value of BeiGene, Ltd. (NASDAQ:BGNE) by estimating the company's future cash flows and discounting them to their present value. This will be done using the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model. It may sound complicated, but actually it is quite simple!

We would caution that there are many ways of valuing a company and, like the DCF, each technique has advantages and disadvantages in certain scenarios. 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 BeiGene

Crunching The Numbers

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.

A DCF is all about the idea that a dollar in the future is less valuable than a dollar today, and so the sum of these future cash flows is then discounted to today's value:

10-year free cash flow (FCF) forecast

	2024	2025	2026	2027	2028	2029	2030	2031	2032	2033
Levered FCF ($, Millions)	-US$965.8m	-US$317.2m	US$570.4m	US$948.7m	US$1.26b	US$1.56b	US$1.82b	US$2.05b	US$2.25b	US$2.41b
Growth Rate Estimate Source	Analyst x11	Analyst x9	Analyst x6	Analyst x5	Est @ 32.73%	Est @ 23.54%	Est @ 17.11%	Est @ 12.61%	Est @ 9.46%	Est @ 7.26%
Present Value ($, Millions) Discounted @ 6.9%	-US$904	-US$278	US$467	US$727	US$904	US$1.0k	US$1.1k	US$1.2k	US$1.2k	US$1.2k

("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St)
Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = US$6.8b

After calculating the present value of future cash flows in the initial 10-year period, we need to calculate the Terminal Value, which accounts for all future cash flows beyond 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 (2.1%) 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$2.4b× (1 + 2.1%) ÷ (6.9%– 2.1%) = US$52b

Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)¹⁰= US$52b÷ ( 1 + 6.9%)¹⁰= US$27b

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$33b. The last step is to then divide the equity value by the number of shares outstanding. Compared to the current share price of US$192, the company appears quite undervalued at a 39% discount to where the stock price trades currently. 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.

dcf

The Assumptions

The calculation above is very dependent on two assumptions. The first is the discount rate and the other is the 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 BeiGene 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 0.800. 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 BeiGene

Strength

• Debt is well covered by earnings.

Weakness

• Shareholders have been diluted in the past year.

Opportunity

• Forecast to reduce losses next year.

• Trading below our estimate of fair value by more than 20%.

Threat

• Debt is not well covered by operating cash flow.

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

• Not expected to become profitable over the next 3 years.

Next Steps:

Although the valuation of a company is important, it is only one of many factors that you need to assess for a company. The DCF model is not a perfect stock valuation tool. 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. Why is the intrinsic value higher than the current share price? For BeiGene, there are three further items you should further examine:

1. Risks: We feel that you should assess the 3 warning signs for BeiGene we've flagged before making an investment in the company.

2. Future Earnings: How does BGNE'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. The Simply Wall St app conducts a discounted cash flow valuation for every stock on the NASDAQGS every day. If you want to find the calculation for other stocks just search here.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

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.

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