In the last post, we talked about the basic valuation equation. This equation is derived from something called the Gordon Model (and a couple of other names). We said before that valuation is a combination of art and science. It is time for a bit of the science. We’ll introduce a few equations in support of the basic valuation equation, so don’t let this bother you. After we see the “science” underlying this equation and understand a few more things about valuation, we can talk about more interesting questions.

While the basic valuation equation is simplistic, business valuation is not as easy as the equation may suggest. In this post we discuss some of the basics and how it intersects with fair market value, a prevalent standard of value that business owners are commonly required (or find desirable) to obtain in their normal course of business.

With the election of Donald Trump as the 45th President of the United States, the stock market has rallied in what has come to be called the Trump Rally. The Trump Rally has been fueled in part by the anticipation of cuts in corporate taxes, which was a campaign and early-presidency goal. Something is happening with the multiples of earnings placed on public shares. So what is likely to happen to multiples for successful private companies if the Trump tax cut is implemented? Let’s take a look.

In mid-2015, I commented on the apparent anomaly of a financing round for Uber that had an implied market value of equity (MVE) in excess of that of FedEx (FDX). At the time, Uber’s implied MVE was $51 billion, and that of FedEx was $48 billion. My post addressed some of the issues that I saw at the time. Similarly, last week, I read an article in the Wall Street Journal titled “Tesla, on a Hot Streak, Passes Ford in Investor Value”. That caught my attention, because Tesla is young and quite small and Ford is 100 years old and quite large. Why then does Tesla have such a high valuation?