3 ms·
On slide 9, the author mentions that SaaS valuation multiples "have proven to be somewhat inversely correlated with rates." That makes sense to me: The net pre
by cs702 5y ago
On slide 9, the author mentions that SaaS valuation multiples "have proven to be somewhat inversely correlated with rates."
That makes sense to me: The net present value or NPV of every dollar of earnings in the future is worth less when interest rates rise.
The natural question to ask is: How much can interest rates rise, e.g., in the US?
To answer that question, we should start by asking an easier question: How much have interest rates risen in the past during periods of high inflation -- say, from the mid 1970's to the early 1980's in the US?
According to the Federal Reserve's FRED database, 10-year and 30-year US treasury rates peaked at a mind-boggling ~16%, or ~8x greater than today's 10-year and 30-year treasury rates. Take a look for yourself:
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=MTuo https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=MTuo
If long-term treasury rates rise to a seemingly ridiculous 8x current levels, tech valuation multiples could come down by as much as 80% or 90%, because most of the profits of tech companies are generally expected to be earned in the very distant future. If long-term treasury rates to "more historically typical level" of say, 4%, or 2x today's levels, tech valuation multiples could come down by as much as half.
Caveat emptor.
- datadavis 5y agoI appreciate the back of napkin math.