Zhejiang Songyuan Automotive Safety Systems Co.,Ltd. (SZSE:300893) Shares Could Be 24% Below Their Intrinsic Value Estimate

Key Insights

• Using the 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity, Zhejiang Songyuan Automotive Safety SystemsLtd fair value estimate is CN¥38.00
• Current share price of CN¥28.70 suggests Zhejiang Songyuan Automotive Safety SystemsLtd is potentially 24% undervalued
• The CN¥35.00 analyst price target for 300893 is 7.9% less than our estimate of fair value

How far off is Zhejiang Songyuan Automotive Safety Systems Co.,Ltd. (SZSE:300893) from its intrinsic value? Using the most recent financial data, we'll take a look at whether the stock is fairly priced by taking the forecast future cash flows of the company and discounting them back to today's value. We will use the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model on this occasion. Models like these may appear beyond the comprehension of a lay person, but they're fairly easy to follow.

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.

View our latest analysis for Zhejiang Songyuan Automotive Safety SystemsLtd

Crunching The Numbers

We use what is known as a 2-stage model, which simply means we have two different periods of growth rates for the company's cash flows. Generally the first stage is higher growth, and the second stage is a lower growth phase. 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, so we discount the value of these future cash flows to their estimated value in today's dollars:

10-year free cash flow (FCF) forecast

	2025	2026	2027	2028	2029	2030	2031	2032	2033	2034
Levered FCF (CN¥, Millions)	CN¥16.0m	CN¥94.0m	CN¥169.0m	CN¥264.8m	CN¥372.2m	CN¥481.0m	CN¥583.6m	CN¥675.7m	CN¥756.1m	CN¥825.6m
Growth Rate Estimate Source	Analyst x1	Analyst x1	Est @ 79.79%	Est @ 56.71%	Est @ 40.55%	Est @ 29.24%	Est @ 21.32%	Est @ 15.78%	Est @ 11.90%	Est @ 9.19%
Present Value (CN¥, Millions) Discounted @ 8.7%	CN¥14.7	CN¥79.5	CN¥131	CN¥190	CN¥245	CN¥291	CN¥325	CN¥346	CN¥356	CN¥358

("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St)
Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = CN¥2.3b

We now need to calculate the Terminal Value, which accounts for all the future cash flows after this ten year period. 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 (2.9%) 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 8.7%.

Terminal Value (TV)= FCF₂₀₃₄ × (1 + g) ÷ (r – g) = CN¥826m× (1 + 2.9%) ÷ (8.7%– 2.9%) = CN¥14b

Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)¹⁰= CN¥14b÷ ( 1 + 8.7%)¹⁰= CN¥6.3b

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 CN¥8.6b. To get the intrinsic value per share, we divide this by the total number of shares outstanding. Compared to the current share price of CN¥28.7, the company appears a touch undervalued at a 24% discount to where the stock price trades currently. The assumptions in any calculation have a big impact on the valuation, so it is better to view this as a rough estimate, not precise down to the last cent.

Important 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 Zhejiang Songyuan Automotive Safety SystemsLtd 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 8.7%, which is based on a levered beta of 1.180. 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 Zhejiang Songyuan Automotive Safety SystemsLtd

Moving On:

Whilst important, the DCF calculation is only one of many factors that you need to assess for a company. It's not possible to obtain a foolproof valuation with a DCF model. Preferably you'd apply different cases and assumptions and see how they would impact the company's valuation. If a company grows at a different rate, or if its cost of equity or risk free rate changes sharply, the output can look very different. Why is the intrinsic value higher than the current share price? For Zhejiang Songyuan Automotive Safety SystemsLtd, we've put together three essential items you should further research:

1. Risks: We feel that you should assess the 3 warning signs for Zhejiang Songyuan Automotive Safety SystemsLtd (1 is a bit concerning!) we've flagged before making an investment in the company.
2. Future Earnings: How does 300893'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. Simply Wall St updates its DCF calculation for every Chinese stock every day, so if you want to find the intrinsic value of any other stock just search here.

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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.