United Online's total free cash flow for the
months ended in Mar. 2016 was
$-0.7 Mil.
Its total free cash flow for the trailing twelve months (TTM) ended in Mar. 2016 was $-5.6 Mil.
United Online's Free Cash Flow per Share for the
months ended in Mar. 2016 was $-0.05.
Its free cash flow per share for the trailing twelve months (TTM) ended in Mar. 2016 was $-0.38.
The historical data trend for United Online'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.
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.
United Online's Free Cash Flow for the fiscal year that ended in Dec. 2015 is calculated as
Free Cash Flow for the trailing twelve months (TTM) ended in Mar. 2016 adds up the quarterly data reported by the company within the most recent 12 months, which was $-5.6 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.
United Online (NAS:UNTD) 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.
* 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.
United Online Free Cash Flow Related Terms
Thank you for viewing the detailed overview of United Online's Free Cash Flow provided by GuruFocus.com. Please click on the following links to see related term pages.
United Online (United Online) Business Description
United Online Inc is a Delaware corporation that commenced operations in 2001 following the merger of dial-up Internet access providers NetZero, Inc. (NetZero) and Juno Online Services, Inc. The Company provides consumer services and products over the Internet under a number of brands, including StayFriends, Trombi, MyPoints, NetZero, and Juno. The Company operates in two segments, namely Content & Media and Communications. The Content & Media segment provides social networking services and products under the StayFriends, and Trombi brands. It operates its social networking services as a platform to enable users to locate and interact with acquaintances from their past, with high school affiliations as the primary focus. Its domestic and international social networking services comprise a large and diverse population of users. It also provides advertising opportunities to marketers with both brand and direct response objectives through a full suite of display, search, email, and text-link opportunities across its various properties. Its social networking products primarily consist of yearbook reprints. Its principal Communications pay service is dial-up Internet access, offered under the NetZero and Juno brands. It also offers mobile broadband, DSL, email, Internet security, web hosting services, and other services. Each of its services, including social networking services, loyalty marketing service, and Internet access services operates on a separate and distinct technology platform. The Company has international operations in India and Germany. Its operations in India primarily handle software development and operations, quality assurance and email customer support. Its operations in Germany provide social networking services in Germany, Sweden, France, Austria, and Switzerland. It competes with major social networking platforms such as Facebook, as well as Internet search engines such as Google, other online loyalty marketing programs, such as Ebates, as well as offline loyalty marketing programs that have a significant online presence, such as those operated by credit card, airline and hotel companies, members from online providers of discounted offerings and coupons, such as Groupon and LivingSocial, as well as AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile. The Company is subject to a number of international, federal, state, and local laws and regulations, including, without limitation, those relating to taxation, bulk email or "spam," advertising, user privacy and data protection, consumer protection, antitrust, export, and unclaimed property.
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