A Look At The Fair Value Of Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (NYSE:EW)

Key Insights

• Using the 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity, Edwards Lifesciences fair value estimate is US$76.62

• With US$85.94 share price, Edwards Lifesciences appears to be trading close to its estimated fair value

• The US$94.48 analyst price target for EW is 23% more than our estimate of fair value

How far off is Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (NYSE:EW) from its intrinsic value? Using the most recent financial data, we'll take a look at whether the stock is fairly priced by taking the forecast future cash flows of the company and discounting them back to today's value. One way to achieve this is by employing the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model. Models like these may appear beyond the comprehension of a lay person, but they're fairly easy to follow.

Remember though, that there are many ways to estimate a company's value, and a DCF is just one method. Anyone interested in learning a bit more about intrinsic value should have a read of the Simply Wall St analysis model.

View our latest analysis for Edwards Lifesciences

The Model

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. To begin with, we have to get estimates of 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.

A DCF is all about the idea that a dollar in the future is less valuable than a dollar today, so we need to discount the sum of these future cash flows to arrive at a present value estimate:

10-year free cash flow (FCF) forecast

	2024	2025	2026	2027	2028	2029	2030	2031	2032	2033
Levered FCF ($, Millions)	US$1.37b	US$1.63b	US$1.77b	US$1.85b	US$2.04b	US$2.15b	US$2.25b	US$2.34b	US$2.42b	US$2.50b
Growth Rate Estimate Source	Analyst x8	Analyst x6	Analyst x6	Analyst x2	Analyst x2	Est @ 5.67%	Est @ 4.65%	Est @ 3.94%	Est @ 3.45%	Est @ 3.10%
Present Value ($, Millions) Discounted @ 6.5%	US$1.3k	US$1.4k	US$1.5k	US$1.4k	US$1.5k	US$1.5k	US$1.4k	US$1.4k	US$1.4k	US$1.3k

("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St)
Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = US$14b

The second stage is also known as Terminal Value, this is the business's cash flow after the first stage. 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 2.3%. We discount the terminal cash flows to today's value at a cost of equity of 6.5%.

Terminal Value (TV)= FCF₂₀₃₃ × (1 + g) ÷ (r – g) = US$2.5b× (1 + 2.3%) ÷ (6.5%– 2.3%) = US$60b

Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)¹⁰= US$60b÷ ( 1 + 6.5%)¹⁰= US$32b

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$46b. The last step is to then divide the equity value by the number of shares outstanding. Compared to the current share price of US$85.9, 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

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 Edwards Lifesciences 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 6.5%, which is based on a levered beta of 0.923. 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 Edwards Lifesciences

Strength

• Debt is not viewed as a risk.

Weakness

• Earnings declined over the past year.

Opportunity

• Annual revenue is forecast to grow faster than the American market.

• Good value based on P/E ratio compared to estimated Fair P/E ratio.

Threat

• Annual earnings are forecast to grow slower than the American market.

Next Steps:

Whilst important, the DCF calculation ideally won't be the sole piece of analysis you scrutinize 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 instance, if the terminal value growth rate is adjusted slightly, it can dramatically alter the overall result. For Edwards Lifesciences, we've compiled three further aspects you should assess:

1. Financial Health: Does EW have a healthy balance sheet? Take a look at our free balance sheet analysis with six simple checks on key factors like leverage and risk.

2. Management:Have insiders been ramping up their shares to take advantage of the market's sentiment for EW's future outlook? Check out our management and board analysis with insights on CEO compensation and governance factors.

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.