Despite extensive research on price and earnings estimations, there are still puzzling results that have not been resolved. One of the puzzles in price estimation is that multiples using earnings forecasts outperform multiples using the residual income model (Liu, Nissim and Thomas, 2002). This puzzle undermines the validity of theory-based valuation models, which are originated from valuation theory and have been developed over the century. The first two projects of this thesis address this puzzle and explain mathematically how the pricing error of a multiple is determined by the correlation coefficient between price and a value driver. The projects then demonstrate that the puzzle in Liu, Nissim and Thomas (2002) is caused by the bad selection of residual income models and, in fact, the majority of residual income models (i.e. well-chosen residual income models) actually outperform multiples using earnings forecasts in pricing error. When models are examined in terms of future return generation, residual income models again outperform multiples using earnings forecasts, providing evidence that theory-based valuation models are superior to rule-of- thumb based multiples in price and intrinsic value estimations. The third project addresses an issue in earnings estimation by cross-sectional models. Recently, Hou, van Dijk and Zhang (2012) and Li and Mohanram (2014) introduce cross-sectional models in earnings estimation and argue that their cross-sectional models produce better earnings forecasts than analyst forecasts. However, their models suffer from one fundamental problem of cross-sectional models: the loss of firm-specific information in earnings estimation (Kothari, 2001). In other words, cross-sectional models apply the same coefficients (i.e. the same earnings persistence and future prospects) to all firms to estimate their earnings forecasts. The third project of this thesis addresses this issue by proposing a new model, a conditional cross-sectional model, which allows the coefficient on earnings to vary across firms. By allowing firms to use different earnings coefficients (i.e. different earnings persistence and future prospects), the project shows that a conditional cross-sectional model improves a cross-sectional model in all dimensions: a) bias, accuracy and earnings response coefficient; b) unscaled and scaled earnings estimations; and c) across all forecast horizons. The thesis contributes to the price and earnings estimations literature. First, the thesis addresses the decade-old puzzle in price estimation and rectifies the previous misunderstanding of valuation model performance. By demonstrating the superiority of theory-based valuation models over rule-of-thumb based multiples, the thesis encourages further development of theory-based valuation models. Second, in earnings estimation, the thesis provides future researchers a new model, which overcomes the fundamental problem of cross-sectional models in earnings estimation while keeping their advantages. In sum, the thesis improves the knowledge and practices of price and earnings estimations.

Short-termism and myopia on the part of corporate managers, analysts, and investors have created a business environment driven by the excessive focus on short-term results and the need to meet earnings targets at the expense of long-term value creation. These are accompanied by numerous consequences, including the potential for short-term-oriented firms, particularly in the U.S., to lag behind global long-term-oriented firms, as well as the potential for short-term mindsets in the corporate world to catalyze financial crises. In this paper, I demonstrate that the market generally assigns higher values to long-term firms rather than short-term ones. This is evidenced by the fact that firms characterized to be long-term according to various financial metrics have higher valuation multiples than their short-term counterparts. The results suggest that the market has a degree of sophistication that rewards investments for the future rather than earnings management and present gratification, and that the corporate world should therefore increasingly develop a long-term mentality.

Market multiples are a common and simple tool for estimation of corporate value. It can express temporal dynamics and differences in markets, industries and firms. Despite their practical usefulness, some critical problems remains which continue to be debated. This thesis investigates if there exists characteristics for explaining market capitalization by market multiples within the life science industry in Sweden. The approach follows well known theory of multiple linear regression analysis. The results indicated only a linear relationship between the market cap and the R\&D expenditures of a company. This does not mean that the other explanatory variables does not have effect on market cap only that there is no linear relationship that could be statistically proven. / Värderingsmultiplar är ett vanligt och enkelt verktyg för att approximera företags värde. Det kan beskriva temporär dynamik och skillnader hos marknader, industrier och bolag. Trots dess praktiska användbarhet finns en del kritiska problem som fortfarande debatteras. Denna uppsats undersöker om det existerar några egenskaper för att förklara marknadsvärdet med hjälp av värderingsmultiplar inom life science industrin i Sverige. Tillvägagångssättet följer välkänd teori om multipel linjär regressions analys. Resultaten visade att det endast finns ett samband mellan marknadsvärdet och utgifter för forskning och utveckling för ett bolag. Detta innebär inte att de andra variablerna inte har någon effekt på marknadsvärdet, utan att det inte finns ett linjärt samband som kan bevisas på ett statistiskt vis.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-25T18:39:45Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Carlos Eduardo Furlanetti.pdf: 957434 bytes, checksum: 4d15c672f25586845118ea42ab2bd576 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-12-12 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This work analyzes the mean quarterly returns produced by portfolios, selected between 2002 and 2010, compounded by stocks traded in the BM&FBovespa, based on the use of two popular multiples, Price/Earnings (P/E), or Price/Book Value (P/B), aiming at verifying whether these returns were consistently higher than the mean valuation of the Bovespa‟s index. Thus, by investigating the possible existence of a market anomaly, this study fits in the field of controversial academic debate: the Efficient Market Hypothesis (Fama, 1970). For each selected date, the shares were sorted by the selected multiple, and were divided, then, into four portfolios (by quartiles). To analyze the results, descriptive statistics were calculated, Jarque-Bera (JB) and Student tests were performed. The results suggest that portfolios formed by stocks 'P / E Very Low' (below the first quartile) were able to produce, over that period, quarterly average returns higher than the Bovespa‟s index, within a confidence interval of approximately 96.2%. In addition, portfolios formed by stocks 'P / B Low‟ or P / E Low‟ (between the 1st and 2nd quartile) produced good performance as well, but at a much lower level of confidence, set between 82,2 and 83,5%, respectively / Este trabalho analisa os retornos médios trimestrais produzidos por carteiras de ações negociadas na BM&FBovespa, montadas entre 2002 e 2010, a partir do uso dos múltiplos Preço/Lucro (P/L) ou Preço/Valor Contábil (P/B). Investiga a existência de possível anomalia de mercado ao verificar se retornos produzidos por carteiras formadas por ações de baixo P/L ou P/B podem ser consistentemente superiores à valorização do Ibovespa. Assim, este estudo transita em campo de controvertido debate acadêmico: a Hipótese de Mercado Eficiente (Fama, 1970). Para cada data selecionada, as ações foram ordenadas de acordo com o múltiplo escolhido e divididas em quatro carteiras (por quartis). Para a análise dos resultados, foram calculadas estatísticas descritivas e realizados testes de normalidade Jarque-Bera (JB) e paramétricos t de Student. Os resultados obtidos sugerem que carteiras de ações formadas por ações de P/L Muito Baixo‟ (abaixo do 1º quartil) foram capazes de produzir, no período analisado, retornos médios trimestrais superiores ao Ibovespa, dentro de um intervalo de confiança de aproximadamente 96,2%. Carteiras formadas por ações de P/B Baixo ou P/L Baixo‟ (entre o 1º e o 2º quartil) tiveram boa performance, porém a um nível de confiança bem menor, fixado entre 82,2 e 83,5%, respectivamente

No description available.

The aim of this thesis is business valuation of Zabka Polska, SA. This company operates retail convenience stores in Poland. The goal of this thesis is to estimate fair market value of the Company as of December 31st 2010. DCF Equity valuation method has been used as the main valuation method. Comparable traded companies and comparable historic transaction analyses methods have been used as complementary valuation methods. Master thesis has similar structure as legal valuation report and is divided into six parts.

Till följd av marknadens reaktion på viruset covid-19 föll aktieindexet OMXS30 i början av år 2020 med cirka 32 procent på en månad, för att sedan återhämta sig och uppnå värderingsnivåer som OMXS30 aldrig tidigare varit på. Vi har valt att studera coronapandemins effekt på företagsvärderingarna av de noterade företagen på OMXS30. Syftet med uppsatsen är att bredda förståelsen för hur svenska företagsvärderingar i noterade företag kan bete sig under pågående börs- och samhällskriser. Genom att uppnå syftet kommer vi kunna öka kunskapen om övervärderade tillgångspriser kan leda till att stora värden går förlorade för investerare vid en eventuell börskris. Vi jämför företagens värderingar vid den högsta punkten innan coronapandemins utbrott (2020-02-19; indexkurs 1900.28) med värdet av samma företag ett år in i coronapandemin (2021-02-19; indexkurs 2036.97). Genom medelvärdesberäkningar och Paired Sample t-Test undersöker vi variationer i medelvärdet i sex nyckeltal och fyra värderingsmultiplar. Vi finner ingen statistiskt signifikant förändring i de undersökta nyckeltalen och värderingsmultiplarna, med undantag för en statistisk signifikant reducering av företagens totala omsättning. Vårt resultat talar för att värdeökningen i OMXS30 under den studerade perioden till stor del varit driven av de större företagen i indexet med högre viktning, snarare än en bred genomgående värdeökning för alla företagen i indexet. Vidare finner vi även att företagen verkar ha reducerat kostnader och/eller erhållit coronastöd från svenska staten för att kunna bibehålla vinstnivåerna på grund av den minskade omsättningen som coronapandemin medfört. / As a result of the market’s reaction to the virus COVID-19, OMXS30 fell 32 percent at the beginning of 2020 and was able to recover itself and reach new higher levels in which OMXS30 had never been before. We have chosen to study the corona pandemic’s effect on the company valuations of the listed companies on OMXS30. The purpose of the essay is to broaden the understanding of how Swedish company valuations in listed companies can behave during a stock market crisis and crisis in society. Through the purpose, we can increase the knowledge if overvalued asset prices can lead to large values being lost to investors in the event of a stock market crisis. We compare the valuations of the companies on the highest point before the corona pandemic (2020-02-19; index point: 1900.28) with the valuations of the same companies one year into the corona pandemic (2021-02-19; index point: 2036.97). Through calculations of averages and Paired Sample t-Test, we study whether there occurred any changes in the mean of six key figures and four valuation multiples. We find no statistical significance in neither the studied key figures nor the valuation multiples except for a statistically significant decrease in the companies’ total revenues. Our result points in a direction that suggests that the increase in value of OMXS30 during the studied period was mainly driven by an increase in value of the bigger companies with higher weights in the index rather than a broader increase in value of all companies in the index. We also find that companies might have reduced their overall cost and/or received financial support from the Swedish government to be able to maintain the previous earnings levels because of the decrease in total revenue that the corona pandemic has caused.