BALANCECHEAT / VALUATION
Trading Comparables & Comparable Company Analysis
Enter your own peer observations, compare trading multiples and apply a selected multiple to the target company. Start with a compact EV/EBITDA analysis.
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Open the full valuation model
Continue in the full financial model with independent periods, scenarios, adjustments and detailed valuation assumptions.
What trading comparables measure
Comparable company analysis asks how public markets price businesses with similar economics. A peer multiple relates enterprise or equity value to an operating or earnings measure. It provides a relative valuation reference, not proof that the target deserves the same price. Business mix, growth, profitability, risk and accounting all affect comparability.
The tool starts with an empty peer set. Add companies and values from your own research. The calculator does not fetch prices, estimate missing enterprise values or supply fabricated companies.
Construct a consistent peer set
Choose peers based on operating exposure and economic drivers, then review geography, size, margins and growth. Sector labels alone are insufficient. A software subscription company and a project consultancy may share customers but have very different recurring revenue, working capital and capital intensity.
Record the source date and period in your research. LTM combines the latest twelve months; FY1 and FY2 refer to forecast fiscal periods. Use aligned fiscal calendars or explain any remaining mismatch. The full model supports separate peer inputs for each selected period rather than treating every multiple as LTM.
Calculate enterprise and equity multiples
EV/Revenue, EV/EBITDA and EV/EBIT compare enterprise value with measures available to all capital providers. P/E compares equity market value with net income attributable to equity. Keep numerator and denominator consistent: applying enterprise value to net income mixes claims.
Enterprise value can be entered directly or derived from equity market value plus net debt in the full table. Additional claims may require a broader EV reconciliation in your source data. Negative or zero earnings denominators do not produce meaningful conventional earnings multiples and are excluded from statistics.
Select a statistic and apply it
The median limits the influence of extreme observations. The mean reflects all selected values but is more sensitive to outliers. Quartiles describe the central distribution; minimum and maximum show the full span. Excluding a peer should reflect an economic reason that can be explained, not simply a desire to improve the output.
Target EV = selected EV/EBITDA × target EBITDA. For example, an explicitly assumed 8× multiple and 20 of EBITDA imply 160 of enterprise value in the same monetary unit. This arithmetic is simple; establishing a defensible multiple and earnings basis is the analytical work.
Reported versus adjusted earnings
Normalize only items that warrant different analytical treatment and keep a reconciliation to reported results. One-off legal costs, carve-out allocations and run-rate savings require different evidence. A claimed synergy should not be mixed silently into historical reported EBITDA.
The full model references canonical adjustment groups and allows each valuation method to select its own groups. It then runs the implied enterprise value through a separate equity bridge. Cash and debt adjustments belong in that bridge, not in EBITDA.
Interpret the range and cross-check
Trading prices usually represent minority interests in liquid public companies. Private-company liquidity, control and execution risk may differ. Avoid adding generic premiums or discounts without a clear basis. Forward earnings also depend on the quality of the underlying forecast.
Use a DCF to examine the operating assumptions implied by market pricing and precedent transactions to consider acquisition evidence. A Football Field can compare these outputs on a common enterprise, equity or per-share basis. Do not mix units or valuation dates and call the resulting spread diversification.