Is There An Opportunity With Pagaya Technologies Ltd.'s (NASDAQ:PGY) 47% Undervaluation?

Key Insights

• Pagaya Technologies' estimated fair value is US$2.10 based on 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity

• Current share price of US$1.12 suggests Pagaya Technologies is potentially 47% undervalued

• The US$1.70 analyst price target for PGY is 19% less than our estimate of fair value

Today we'll do a simple run through of a valuation method used to estimate the attractiveness of Pagaya Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:PGY) as an investment opportunity by taking the expected future cash flows and discounting them to today's value. Our analysis will employ the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model. Don't get put off by the jargon, the math behind it is actually quite straightforward.

We would caution that there are many ways of valuing a company and, like the DCF, each technique has advantages and disadvantages in certain scenarios. If you want to learn more about discounted cash flow, the rationale behind this calculation can be read in detail in the Simply Wall St analysis model.

See our latest analysis for Pagaya Technologies

Crunching The Numbers

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) estimate

	2023	2024	2025	2026	2027	2028	2029	2030	2031	2032
Levered FCF ($, Millions)	-US$79.3m	US$86.1m	US$107.2m	US$126.3m	US$142.9m	US$156.9m	US$168.7m	US$178.6m	US$187.1m	US$194.5m
Growth Rate Estimate Source	Analyst x1	Analyst x1	Est @ 24.55%	Est @ 17.82%	Est @ 13.11%	Est @ 9.81%	Est @ 7.50%	Est @ 5.88%	Est @ 4.75%	Est @ 3.96%
Present Value ($, Millions) Discounted @ 11%	-US$71.6	US$70.3	US$79.1	US$84.2	US$86.0	US$85.3	US$82.8	US$79.2	US$75.0	US$70.4

("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St)
Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = US$641m

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 2.1%. We discount the terminal cash flows to today's value at a cost of equity of 11%.

Terminal Value (TV)= FCF₂₀₃₂ × (1 + g) ÷ (r – g) = US$194m× (1 + 2.1%) ÷ (11%– 2.1%) = US$2.3b

Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)¹⁰= US$2.3b÷ ( 1 + 11%)¹⁰= US$838m

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$1.5b. The last step is to then divide the equity value by the number of shares outstanding. Relative to the current share price of US$1.1, the company appears quite undervalued at a 47% discount to where the stock price trades currently. 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

The Assumptions

Now 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 Pagaya Technologies 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 11%, which is based on a levered beta of 1.199. 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 Pagaya Technologies

Strength

• Debt is well covered by earnings.

Weakness

• No major weaknesses identified for PGY.

Opportunity

• Forecast to reduce losses 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

• Debt is not well covered by operating cash flow.

Moving On:

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. 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. Can we work out why the company is trading at a discount to intrinsic value? For Pagaya Technologies, there are three essential aspects you should assess:

1. Risks: For example, we've discovered 1 warning sign for Pagaya Technologies that you should be aware of before investing here.

2. Future Earnings: How does PGY's growth rate compare to its peers and the wider market? Dig deeper into the analyst consensus number for the upcoming years by interacting with our free analyst growth expectation chart.

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. The Simply Wall St app conducts a discounted cash flow valuation for every stock on the NASDAQCM every day. If you want to find the calculation for other stocks 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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