What’s a Stock Worth? In New Economy, Accounting Has Its Critics

It’s been losing money for almost three years, and its book value -- what’s left if you sell off the assets and repay debt -- is negative. “You get numbers which are highly inflated for some companies, and are understated for other companies,” says Baruch Lev, the New York University finance professor whose 2017 paper on the topic ignited a debate about valuation. As the economy changes, proponents say, accounting standards that made sense for shipbuilders and oil drillers are bound to lose relevance.