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Meituan (HKSE:03690) Free Cash Flow : HK$44,450 Mil (TTM As of Dec. 2023)


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What is Meituan Free Cash Flow?

Meituan's total free cash flow for the months ended in Dec. 2023 was HK$11,368 Mil. Its total free cash flow for the trailing twelve months (TTM) ended in Dec. 2023 was HK$44,450 Mil.

Meituan's Free Cash Flow per Share for the months ended in Dec. 2023 was HK$1.82. Its free cash flow per share for the trailing twelve months (TTM) ended in Dec. 2023 was HK$7.12.

During the past 12 months, the average Free Cash Flow per Share Growth Rate of Meituan was 467.10% per year. Please click Growth Rate Calculation Example (GuruFocus) to see how GuruFocus calculates Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT)'s revenue growth rate. You can apply the same method to get the Free Cash Flow Growth Rate using Free Cash Flow per Share data.

During the past 9 years, Meituan's highest 3-Year average Free Cash Flow per Share Growth Rate was 28.70% per year. The lowest was -85.30% per year. And the median was -26.55% per year.


Meituan Free Cash Flow Historical Data

The historical data trend for Meituan's Free Cash Flow can be seen below:

* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD.
* For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.

* Premium members only.

Meituan Free Cash Flow Chart

Meituan Annual Data
Trend Dec15 Dec16 Dec17 Dec18 Dec19 Dec20 Dec21 Dec22 Dec23
Free Cash Flow
Get a 7-Day Free Trial Premium Member Only 2,862.53 -8,712.25 -15,944.91 6,343.10 36,797.24

Meituan Quarterly Data
Apr18 Dec18 Jun19 Dec19 Mar20 Jun20 Sep20 Dec20 Mar21 Jun21 Sep21 Dec21 Mar22 Jun22 Sep22 Dec22 Mar23 Jun23 Sep23 Dec23
Free Cash Flow Get a 7-Day Free Trial Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only - 9,169.01 11,885.39 12,026.94 11,368.35

Meituan Free Cash Flow Calculation

Free Cash Flow is considered one of the most important parameters to measure a company's earnings power by value investors because it is not subject to estimates of Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization (DDA). However, when we look at the Free Cash Flow, we should look from a long term perspective, because any year's Free Cash Flow can be drastically affected by the spending on Property, Plant, & Equipment (PPE) of the business in that year. Over the long term, Free Cash Flow should give pretty good picture on the real earnings power of the company.

Meituan's Free Cash Flow for the fiscal year that ended in Dec. 2023 is calculated as

Free Cash Flow (A: Dec. 2023 )=Cash Flow from Operations+Capital Expenditure
=44321.944+-7524.708
=36,797

Meituan's Free Cash Flow for the quarter that ended in Dec. 2023 is calculated as

Free Cash Flow (Q: Dec. 2023 )=Cash Flow from Operations+Capital Expenditure
=11368.354+0
=11,368

Free Cash Flow for the trailing twelve months (TTM) ended in Dec. 2023 adds up the quarterly data reported by the company within the most recent 12 months, which was HK$44,450 Mil.

* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD.
* For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.


Meituan  (HKSE:03690) Free Cash Flow Explanation

Free Cash Flow is very close to Warren Buffett's definition of Owner's Earnings, except that in Warren Buffett's Owner's Earnings, the spending for Property, Plant, and Equipment is only for maintenance (replacement), while in the Free Cash Flow calculation, the cost of new Property, Plant, and Equipment due to business expansion is also deducted. There, Free Cash Flow is more conservative than Owner's Earnings.

In Don Yacktman's calculation of forward rate of return, he uses Free Cash Flow for the calculation. Yacktman explained the forward rate of return concept in detail in his interview with GuruFocus. Yacktman defines forward rate of return as the normalized free cash flow yield plus real growth plus inflation.

This is what Yacktman said in his March 2012 interview - when the S&P 500 was at 1400:

If the business is stable, this calculation is fairly straightforward. For instance, on the S&P 500 we would normalize earnings. We would then calculate what percentage of those earnings are not reinvested in the underlying businesses and are therefore free. Historically, for the S&P 500, this has been just under 50% of earnings. Currently, we expect the S&P to earn about 70 on a normalized basis, a number which is far below reported earnings due to our adjusting for record high profit margins. $70 X ½ / 1400 gives you a normalized free cash flow yield of approximately 2.5%.

The historical real growth rate of the S&P 500 (companies) is about 1.5%. Assuming an inflation rate of 2.5%, the forward rate of return on an investment in the S&P 500 is about 6.5% today (2.5% free cash flow yield plus 1.5% real growth plus 2.5% inflation).

For the growth part of the Forward Rate of Return calculation, GuruFocus uses the 5-year average growth rate of EBITDA per share as the growth rate, and the growth rate is always capped at 20%. For the Free Cash Flow we use per share data averaged over seven years. The reason we use seven years is because research shows that seven years is the length of the typical business cycle.

Therefore, as of Dec23, Meituan's Forward Rate of Return (Yacktman) % is

Forward Rate of Return (Yacktman) % (Dec23)=Normalized Free Cash Flow/Price+5-Year EBITDA Growth Rate
=0/81.9+0
=0.00 %

* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD.
* For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.


Be Aware

Free Cash Flow within a report period can be affected by management's decisions of capital spending. Therefore, it is important to look at long term when it comes to Free Cash Flow.


Meituan Free Cash Flow Related Terms

Thank you for viewing the detailed overview of Meituan's Free Cash Flow provided by GuruFocus.com. Please click on the following links to see related term pages.


Meituan (HKSE:03690) Business Description

Traded in Other Exchanges
Address
No. 4 Wang Jing East Road, Block B and C, Hengjiweiye Building, Chaoyang District, Beijing, CHN, 100102
Meituan is the largest food delivery service in China, with a 70.7% share of the market in 2020 per the Chinese government. For the quarter-ended Sept. 30, 2021, the firm generated 54.2% of revenue from food delivery services, 17.7% from hotel booking, coupon sales, advertising, and 28.1% from new initiatives. In the long term, its new initiatives business may transform the company into an all-encompassing grocer and logistics business involving community group buying, nonfood delivery, and online grocery, overtaking food delivery as its main business.
Executives
Tmf (cayman) Ltd.
Wang Xing
Jpmorgan Chase & Co. 2201 Interest of corporation controlled by you
Blackrock, Inc. 2201 Interest of corporation controlled by you
Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. 2502 Approved lending agent
Mu Rongjun
Tencent Holdings Limited
Cantrust (far East) Limited
Crown Holdings Asia Limited 2101 Beneficial owner
Songtao Limited 2201 Interest of corporation controlled by you
Charmway Enterprises Company Limited 2101 Beneficial owner
Day One Holdings Limited 2201 Interest of corporation controlled by you
Huai River Investment Limited
Tencent Mobility Limited

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