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.

The Mirandolan

A labour of love from a quantitative investment analyst and economist, offering rigorous global equity research and essays on the economics of risk. This publication is reserved for matters of genuine import, published on an irregular schedule only when research warrants. Its readership comprises analysts, portfolio managers, and capital allocators from leading institutional investment firms across the world.

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