excess cash
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Excess Cash – Valuation Adjustment

For most companies, we estimate the required amount of cash for normal business operations to be around 5% of sales. However, many companies hold cash or other liquid investments above and beyond this amount. We refer to this extra amount as excess cash. This surplus cash can be used for any number of purposes, including acquisitions, research and development, and cushioning the company against economic downturns. Excess cash is immediately available for distribution to shareholders, so we add a company’s excess cash to our calculation of shareholder value.
by David Trainer, Founder & CEO
discontinued operations assets
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Discontinued Operations – Valuation Adjustment

There is one last adjustment we must make involving discontinued operations: adding net assets from discontinued operations to shareholder value. Because discontinued operations are parts of a company being held for sale, the value of the net assets from these discontinued operations approximate the cash the company will receive from the sale. This cash will then be available for distribution to shareholders.
by David Trainer, Founder & CEO
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Preferred Stock – Valuation Adjustment

Preferred stock is a hybrid instrument that carries no voting rights but has a senior claim on assets and cash flows to common stock. Dividends usually must be paid out to preferred stock owners before common stock owners can receive any money. In the event of liquidation, preferred shareholders also have priority.
by David Trainer, Founder & CEO
New Constructs
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Danger Zone 8/12/13: Tesla Motors (TSLA)

Tesla Motors (TSLA) is in the Danger Zone this week. Up over 350% in 2013, the electric automaker has dominated headlines and made a lot of investors very happy (and a lot of shorts very angry). At ~$150/share, it’s no secret that the stock is expensive. What most investors don’t realize is that there are some significant details buried in the footnotes of TSLA’s SEC filings that materially affect the outlook for shareholders in the company.
by David Trainer, Founder & CEO