Adjusted Total Debt, a Valuation Adjustment

The adjusted total debt of a firm is the sum of the fair value of all its short and long-term obligations, on-balance sheet and off-balance sheet. For example, in 2023, the combination of Meta Platform’s on-balance sheet debt and its operating, variable and not-yet commenced leases, gave it an adjusted total debt of $47 billion, $10 billion greater than the operating lease liabilities, and long-term debt the company reported on its balance sheet. This was due to the impact of its variable and not-yet commenced leases. Without digging into the company’s notes, this would go undetected. I subtract this value from my calculation of economic book value (EBV) to reflect the priority debtholders have over shareholders.

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