Forum. The market capitalization of global Gafam (Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple, Microsoft) exceeds 4 000 billion, more than twice the total of the values of the CAC 40 French, or the equivalent of the accumulated public debt of France and Germany. As for the ” BAT ” in chinese (Baidu, Ali Baba, Tencent), they have nearly 1 000 billion dollars of capitalization. The heavy weight of the actual odds are more oil companies, or automobiles, with their preponderance of real assets and ” locked in “.
What are the “basics” of such values ? The economy of the Net gate to the pinnacle of economic models “out of nowhere” that can collapse as quickly as they flood the planet and encroach upon the businesses of the old world. Facebook was created in 2004, ipo in 2012 at $ 38. Thursday 11 October, the share stood at 151 dollars. Its market value is close to 500 billion dollars !
How do I find in the balance sheet justification for this price ? The total assets, us $ 84 billion, essentially includes 18 billion of fixed assets (machinery, equipment, buildings), $ 33 billion of short-term investments, and $ 18 billion of “goodwill” (the goodwill virtual in the event of redemption of the company). The stock market value of Facebook, therefore, represents six times its book value ; this same ratio is 9.56 for Apple.
The cash flow forecasts uncertain
It is certainly not relevant to frontal opposition to stock market value and book value. This asset-based approach is also rightly disputed, and not only for the Gafam. Because the investor purchases, in reality, the future – and a machine to ” cash “. But we know that in times of doubt, investors tend to consider that the carrying value of the net assets may constitute a solid floor, provided that it does not fall from too high.
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