{"id":1306,"date":"2024-08-29T11:47:27","date_gmt":"2024-08-29T11:47:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tejwin.com\/en\/insights\/2-common-dcf-valuations-fcff-and-fcfe\/"},"modified":"2024-08-29T11:47:27","modified_gmt":"2024-08-29T11:47:27","slug":"2-common-dcf-valuations-fcff-and-fcfe","status":"publish","type":"insight","link":"https:\/\/www.tejwin.com\/en\/insights\/2-common-dcf-valuations-fcff-and-fcfe\/","title":{"rendered":"2 Common DCF Valuations \u2014 FCFF and FCFE"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"In business, managers need a method to assess the value of every decision or project. Hence, valuation is developed to help stakeholders assess the worth of almost everything. It involves determining the fair market value of an asset, company, or investment opportunity. In this article, we will introduce the concept of valuation (DCF) and some common ways to perform valuation in business.\" class=\"wp-image-27741\" height=\"585\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tejwin.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/9badbcba-1ee0-4068-b19e-ddec6c1e0b8f.jpg\" width=\"1024\"\/><\/figure>\n<div aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\" style=\"height:22px\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In business, managers need a method to assess the value of every decision or project. Hence, valuation is developed to help stakeholders assess the worth of almost everything. It involves determining the fair market value of an asset, company, or investment opportunity. In this article, we will introduce the concept of valuation (DCF) and some common ways to perform valuation in business.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Concept of Valuation\u00a0<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The idea of valuation is to add up all the cash flow generated and deduct all the cost needed to get the net value. However, when calculating costs, opportunity costs should also be considered. Opportunity cost refers to the potential benefits lost when choosing one investment over another. Additionally, once money is invested, its time value is lost, so future cash flows should be discounted at the risk-free rate.\u201d. Net present value (NPV) is obtained by discounting each cash flow by risk free rate then adding them up together.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Discounted Cash Flow Model (DCF)<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" height=\"84\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tejwin.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/3_AD_4nXeiGfkRECnrq3vNncAdJwcdOSdfHFp329VOo0hguVJMyhvBcnB6-6kH7SukyTugI8tGpWBU2eYq5QqL48q4g1a0YOoJ9DdzIePoI0F7XagWuHRXWpKpDJI0fxhFlJW0QTRXdHvJwOBaM1bisM_j4TTlqmHekeysBiQU2CYCWuDXmy_-na6lQ.png\" width=\"602\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">i = year,                                                                                                                                                            n = terminal year,                                                                                                                                          CF<sub>i <\/sub>= Cash Flow in year i,                                                                                                                                  r = Discount rate<\/p>\n<div aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\" style=\"height:14px\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To value a business project, we will have to estimate the cash flow generated from the project each year and the residual value of the project\u2019s remainings after the project is over (after year n). Normally, the <a class=\"ek-link\" href=\"https:\/\/tradingeconomics.com\/country-list\/deposit-interest-rate\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">CD rate<\/a> (Certificate of Deposit Rate) that matches the project\u2019s duration is used as the discount rate, as it represents a risk-free short-term return rate. After acquiring NPV, managers should only choose projects with positive NPVs. When determining which project to invest in which project, NPV and the investing duration should be considered simultaneously. NPV only helps determine the earnings from the investment, while the length of the investing period is another crucial factor for avoiding cash flow problems.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">DCF for Stock Valuations\u00a0<\/h3>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For stock investment, DCF calculates all the cash flow generated from the firm in the future, for the hope of finding the value per share of stock. DCF for stock valuation can be categorized into two types \u2014 FCFF valuation and FCFE valuation.<\/p>\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size\"><strong>FCFF (Free Cash Flow to Firm)<\/strong><\/h4>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tejwin.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/3_AD_4nXd8lt_8rqhuoMPhMqgjveaAYoSa7dwIW8vJtIW3Wm88KT5OkvyrRbpmphu1GfIgDIk8IAAaBfq4WuXL-RwK14VrLej-hOlmzy5Y39R3H3wrG1b5rlljm05Q3H2VXJzh4fHCsIb9XAOnTcKLPeGyxEnZO_LDkeysBiQU2CYCWuDXmy_-na6lQ.png\"\/><\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">EBIT = Earnings Before Interests and Taxes (Can be found in Income Statement),                                          t = Tax rate,                                                                                                                                                 Non Cash Expense = Amortization, Depreciation, etc.,                                                                           \u0394NWC (Net Working Capital) = Change in Current assets \u2013 Change in Current liabilities,                             CapEx (Capital Expenditure) = Change in PP&amp;E + Current Depreciation<\/p>\n<div aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\" style=\"height:14px\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">FCFF refers to the free cash flow received by the firm. Hence, the discount rate for FCFF should be based on the firm\u2019s point of view. According to accounting standards, all of a company\u2019s assets, which are used for generating FCFF, are bought through using either liability or equity \u2014 to be more specific, debt and share capital. Therefore, the opportunity cost of FCFF should be a combination of the cost of both debt and share capital.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WACC (weighted average Cost of capital) measures the weighted average cost of raising capital through debt and issuing shares, which are also known as cost of debt and cost of equity.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tejwin.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/3_AD_4nXfgycgDZBJe-nj-o4sVovp4X62tL3BabA3F1PxbFcItuQdZbwH0RInPkrRaLGhVK-74qRQJ_pkNmbf2Y7TyTWc9-H6wJjRUCSz_CRSzhasIXYZ_uQv46wKl5xSAHdwe-9QZK1RZQ9DuRHhh36ah2Wb40nFdkeysBiQU2CYCWuDXmy_-na6lQ.png\"\/><\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">D (Debt) = Market value of Debt,                                                                                                                    E (Equity)= Market value of Share Capital,                                                                                                      R<sub>d<\/sub> = Cost of Debt,                                                                                                                                           R<sub>e<\/sub> = Cost of Equity,                                                                                                                                          t = Tax rate<\/p>\n<div aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\" style=\"height:14px\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Cost of debt is the borrowing rate of the company offered by lenders, and is affected by the company\u2019s capital structure and industry prospective. Moreover, since debt financing provides tax shields, tax rates have to be deducted from cost of debt. On the other hand, cost of equity is normally obtained by using CAPM. Using the company\u2019s history stock return to run regression with the market provides a point estimate of the required return of the company for investors.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After acquiring WACC and FCFF for each year, we estimated a perpetual growth rate, usually denoted as g, for FCFF. For accuracy, analysts often estimate perpetual growth rate for every factor in calculating FCFF, to come up with a more reasonable estimate of perpetual growth rate for FCFF. The perpetual growth rate should always be smaller than the discount rate (WACC) of the company, or else the company would grow way much faster than it discounts, leading to a company value of almost infinity. (WACC &gt; Perpetual Growth Rate)<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tejwin.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/3_AD_4nXcIJY5lkZjfdS1EZeKaMYBgBH8E_Yqw6S33B5vC4hyvhisYkY9CcjIx4uYmX7RFt4cN3SbWSEvqsjl21xfDpbfipWxPtwT5fMFhengbCr5wqnMEq4XuxOF6ZyCAgCxo30yI1BR0-APHaLMnoyZZ1-xSBLuqkeysBiQU2CYCWuDXmy_-na6lQ.png\"\/><\/figure>\n<div aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\" style=\"height:14px\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hence, the full DCF valuation formula for FCFF is<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tejwin.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/3_AD_4nXefZbCWf0HMG2BvNmMjnFEfKZK9IGhFSzFvtsVKa5LaVoP1htOqtqKNh5ok6Q7cOAXkcJje7XF5oWl9H5GvUUL9M1-6C9y2c6_qO6WPVQEcsV8HTxsYsADd65RhtI4OJpg3G4gWDiJ0vSTrvfQ_-05X3-ObkeysBiQU2CYCWuDXmy_-na6lQ.png\"\/><\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">PV = the present value of the company,                                                                                                         n = the last year before the company starts to grow perpetually.<\/p>\n<div aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\" style=\"height:14px\"><\/div>\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size\"><strong>FCFE (Free Cash Flow to Equity)<\/strong><\/h4>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tejwin.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/3_AD_4nXdm0ZKK4G_mj9LRKckjL2dP3olRzgANlo6e7QUI9VasSth81bHZNuE_UolZhZgSwEESKOQkccL5S4qqF-B3_ujGJaOYBc7kY_codZmH3Nj83Cfdbg9bpd62q-49LUck7ofIRcdCcPplZxHzOY3CB2JV5cgkeysBiQU2CYCWuDXmy_-na6lQ.png\"\/><\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">NI = Net Income,                                                                                                                                       \u0394Net Borrowing = Total borrowing of this year \u2013 Total borrowing of last year<\/p>\n<div aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\" style=\"height:14px\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hence, we can arrive at a solution that the relationship between FCFF and FCFE is\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tejwin.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/3_AD_4nXfhiZlLzSqab8fDNV-_yy0lDs70hQFAZ-B4bZi32RpcunMg2dY_7yR7cE0x_LUfcOgriEjzazN68rU0U1K2cDKEdMo4UJ19fsANNpNmWrentCkWngKcIH57T8MNpP4uTGCBJn1NbsPczC9PHjvtKAJ_aXckeysBiQU2CYCWuDXmy_-na6lQ.png\"\/><\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Int = Interest Expense<\/p>\n<div aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\" style=\"height:14px\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">FCFE is the free cash flow to equity \u2014 to be more specific, the shareholders. Since FCFF is for both shareholders and creditors, interest expense is added back to FCFF, because it is also a part of FCFF used to pay back to creditors. However, FCFE is only for shareholders; thus, interest expense is deducted in FCFE, since creditors are paid first before shareholders. Furthermore, change in net borrowing is not included in FCFF since borrowings are still money lent from creditors, so it would still have to be repaid. However, because borrowing can be used to pay dividends to shareholders first, it is included in FCFE.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The discount rate for FCFE also differs from FCFF. Since FCFE is the free cash flow to shareholders only, the opportunity cost should also be the cost for shareholders only. Hence, the discount rate for FCFE is the cost of equity for shareholders acquired through CAPM.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tejwin.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/3_AD_4nXf2Ge8Y_vxmHnmRKb9AAFZu8mjqqTOtW7TjADTmLIG7BU57GhYm1OC0OJB7A80sM2xBbRTucJZfyaPgU4JFEtqVuy9bb-KE1eUQlG_afUAa3K20I4dFMsGCvez5D4ZcZwSWNZ1o_3Cnt1u73updVsB_a27skeysBiQU2CYCWuDXmy_-na6lQ.png\"\/><\/figure>\n<div aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\" style=\"height:14px\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After obtaining the Present Value of the company with FCFF or FCFE, we acquire the rational stock price by dividing PV with the company\u2019s total shares outstanding instead of the total share issued. Since treasury stocks (stock repurchased) are also a part of the company\u2019s equity, the free cash flow for treasury stock still flows back to the firm, and given back to the outstanding shareholders.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n<div aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\" style=\"height:14px\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Valuation methods for Business M&amp;A:\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><a class=\"ek-link\" href=\"\/en\/insight\/mastering-ma-valuation-key-strategies-for-accurate-assessments\/\"><strong><span class=\"ek-underline\" style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Mastering M&amp;A Valuation: Key Strategies for Accurate Assessments \u2013 TEJ (tejwin.com)<\/span><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Conclusion<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Valuation provides insights into whether an asset is overvalued or undervalued. Investors use valuation techniques to make informed decisions about buying, selling, or holding investments. DCF serves as an instrument for performing fundamental analysis to reach a reasonable stock price of a company. However,\u00a0 since DCF heavily relies on future cash flow estimates, deep understanding and insights into the industry and business are essential for making accurate forecasts..<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Navigating Valuation with TEJ\u2019s Expertise<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Accurate valuation is the key to successful M&amp;A deals, guiding decisions, and mitigating risks. TEJ excels at providing precise valuation services, considering every transaction nuance, from synergies to intangible assets. Our detailed approach ensures decisions are well-informed, paving the way for successful transactions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Learn more about\u00a0<strong> <a class=\"ek-link\" href=\"\/en\/solution\/valuation-analytics-solution\/\"><span class=\"ek-underline\" style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">TEJ Valuation Analytics Solution<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In business, managers need a method to assess the value of every decision or project. Hence, valuation is developed to help stakeholders assess the worth of almost everything. It involves determining the fair market value of an asset, company, or investment opportunity. In this article, we will introduce the concept of valuation (DCF) and some common ways to perform valuation in business.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":1305,"template":"","tags":[50,112],"insight_category":[88],"class_list":["post-1306","insight","type-insight","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-market-data","tag-valuation","insight_category-market-knowledge-data-guides"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tejwin.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/insight\/1306","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tejwin.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/insight"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tejwin.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/insight"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tejwin.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1305"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tejwin.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tejwin.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1306"},{"taxonomy":"insight_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tejwin.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/insight_category?post=1306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}