A Look At The Intrinsic Value Of Workday, Inc. (NASDAQ:WDAY)

Key Insights

• The projected fair value for Workday is US$241 based on 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity

• With US$216 share price, Workday appears to be trading close to its estimated fair value

• Our fair value estimate is 5.6% higher than Workday's analyst price target of US$228

Today we will run through one way of estimating the intrinsic value of Workday, Inc. (NASDAQ:WDAY) by projecting its future cash flows and then discounting them to today's value. We will take advantage of the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model for this purpose. It may sound complicated, but actually it is quite simple!

We generally believe that a company's value is the present value of all of the cash it will generate in the future. However, a DCF is just one valuation metric among many, and it is not without flaws. Anyone interested in learning a bit more about intrinsic value should have a read of the Simply Wall St analysis model.

See our latest analysis for Workday

Step By Step Through The Calculation

We are going to use a two-stage DCF model, which, as the name states, takes into account two stages of growth. The first stage is generally a higher growth period which levels off heading towards the terminal value, captured in the second 'steady growth' period. 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

	2023	2024	2025	2026	2027	2028	2029	2030	2031	2032
Levered FCF ($, Millions)	US$1.27b	US$1.68b	US$2.11b	US$2.69b	US$3.71b	US$4.22b	US$4.60b	US$4.91b	US$5.18b	US$5.41b
Growth Rate Estimate Source	Analyst x20	Analyst x16	Analyst x18	Analyst x7	Analyst x3	Analyst x2	Est @ 8.90%	Est @ 6.87%	Est @ 5.44%	Est @ 4.44%
Present Value ($, Millions) Discounted @ 8.2%	US$1.2k	US$1.4k	US$1.7k	US$2.0k	US$2.5k	US$2.6k	US$2.6k	US$2.6k	US$2.5k	US$2.5k

("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St)
Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = US$22b

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 8.2%.

Terminal Value (TV)= FCF₂₀₃₂ × (1 + g) ÷ (r – g) = US$5.4b× (1 + 2.1%) ÷ (8.2%– 2.1%) = US$91b

Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)¹⁰= US$91b÷ ( 1 + 8.2%)¹⁰= US$41b

The total value is the sum of cash flows for the next ten years plus the discounted terminal value, which results in the Total Equity Value, which in this case is US$63b. In the final step we divide the equity value by the number of shares outstanding. Relative to the current share price of US$216, the company appears about fair value at a 10% discount to where the stock price trades currently. Remember though, that this is just an approximate valuation, and like any complex formula - garbage in, garbage out.

dcf

Important Assumptions

We would point out that the most important inputs to a discounted cash flow are the discount rate and of course the actual cash flows. You don't have to agree with these inputs, I recommend redoing the calculations yourself and playing with them. 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 Workday 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 8.2%, which is based on a levered beta of 1.027. 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 Workday

Strength

• Debt is not viewed as a risk.

Weakness

• Shareholders have been diluted in the past year.

Opportunity

• Expected to breakeven next year.

• Has sufficient cash runway for more than 3 years based on current free cash flows.

• Good value based on P/S ratio and estimated fair value.

Threat

• No apparent threats visible for WDAY.

Looking Ahead:

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. Rather it should be seen as a guide to "what assumptions need to be true for this stock to be under/overvalued?" For instance, if the terminal value growth rate is adjusted slightly, it can dramatically alter the overall result. For Workday, we've put together three important factors you should further examine:

1. Risks: You should be aware of the 2 warning signs for Workday we've uncovered before considering an investment in the company.

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

3. Other Solid Businesses: Low debt, high returns on equity and good past performance are fundamental to a strong business. Why not explore our interactive list of stocks with solid business fundamentals to see if there are other companies you may not have considered!

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.

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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