ZLAB (Zai Lab) Intrinsic Value: DCF (Earnings Based): $-22.47 (As of Jul. 17, 2026)

Author: Vera Yuan Vera Yuan
Vera Yuan
Vera Yuan
Director of Data and Quant Analytics at GuruFocus
Focused on building reliable datasets, financial models, and research tools for value-minded investors. Committed to turning complex data into practical guidance for value-investing and long-term wealth.
Reviewed by: Charlie Tian Charlie Tian
Charlie Tian
Charlie Tian
Founder & CEO of GuruFocus
Dr. Charlie Tian is the founder and CEO of GuruFocus.com, a leading global investment research platform established in 2004. With a Ph.D. in physics, Dr. Tian transitioned from science to finance, applying a data-driven, disciplined approach to value investing.

ZLAB Zai Lab Ltd ZLAB
64 GF Score
Price $20.77
GF Value $30.20
Valuation Possible Value Trap
! 7 Warning Signs
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What is Zai Lab Intrinsic Value: DCF (Earnings Based)?

Zai Lab ZLAB +1.49% 64 Intrinsic Value: DCF (Earnings Based) is $-22.47 as of Jul. 17, 2026. GuruFocus rates ZLAB with a GF Score™ of 64/100 and a GF Value™ of $30.20 (Possible Value Trap). The stock has 7 warning signs investors should review. Among 24 Biotechnology companies, Zai Lab ranks worse than 4166662.5% on this metric.

As of today (2026-07-17), Zai Lab's intrinsic value calculated from the Discounted Earnings model is $-22.47.

Note: Discounted Earnings model is only suitable for predictable companies (Business Predictability Rank higher than 1-Star). If the company's predictability rank is 1-Star or Not Rated, result may not be accurate due to the low predictability of business and the data will not be stored into our database.

Zai Lab's Predictability Rank is 1-Star. Thus, this page is only used for demonstration purposes and the DCF related results in the screener and portfolio will appear as zero.

Margin of Safety (Earnings Based) using Discounted Earnings model for Zai Lab is N/A.

The historical rank and industry rank for Zai Lab's Intrinsic Value: DCF (Earnings Based) or its related term are showing as below:

ZLAB's Price-to-DCF (Earnings Based) is not ranked *
in the Biotechnology industry.
Industry Median: 1.115
* Ranked among companies with meaningful Price-to-DCF (Earnings Based) only.

Zai Lab  (NAS:ZLAB) Intrinsic Value: DCF (Earnings Based) Explanation

Unlike valuation methods such as Net Current Asset Value, Tangible Book Value per Share, Graham Number, Median Ratio etc, discounted Cash Flow model evaluates the companies based on their future earnings power instead of their assets.


Be Aware

What you need to know about Discounted Earnings model:

1. The Discounted Earnings model evaluates a company based on its future earnings power
2. Growth is taken into account; therefore a faster growth company is worth more if everything else is the same.
3. Since we are projecting future growth, it is assumed that the company will grow at the same rate as it did during the past 10 years. Therefore this model works better for the companies that are relatively consistent performers.
4. The Discounted Earnings model works poorly for inconsistent performers like cyclicals.
5. Your expected return from the investment is a reasonable discount rate assumption.
6. A larger margin of safety should be required for companies with less predictable businesses.

You can screen for stocks that trade below their Intrinsic Value: DCF (FCF Based) and Intrinsic Value: DCF (Earnings Based) with the GuruFocus All-in-One Screener. Companies with a high Predictability Rank that trade at a discount to their Intrinsic Value: DCF (FCF Based) and Intrinsic Value: DCF (Earnings Based) can be found in the screen of Undervalued Predictable Companies.


Zai Lab Intrinsic Value: DCF (Earnings Based) Related Terms


Zai Lab Intrinsic Value: DCF (Earnings Based) Historical Data

* Premium members only.

The historical data trend for Zai Lab's Intrinsic Value: DCF (Earnings Based) 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.

Zai Lab Intrinsic Value: DCF (Earnings Based) Chart

Zai Lab Annual Data
Trend Dec16 Dec17 Dec18 Dec19 Dec20 Dec21 Dec22 Dec23 Dec24 Dec25
Intrinsic Value: DCF (Earnings Based)
Get a 7-Day Free Trial Premium Member Only Premium Member Only 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

Zai Lab Quarterly Data
Jun21 Sep21 Dec21 Mar22 Jun22 Sep22 Dec22 Mar23 Jun23 Sep23 Dec23 Mar24 Jun24 Sep24 Dec24 Mar25 Jun25 Sep25 Dec25 Mar26
Intrinsic Value: DCF (Earnings Based) 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 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

ZLAB vs STOK, ADMA, VRDN: Intrinsic Value: DCF (Earnings Based) Comparison

For the Biotechnology subindustry, Zai Lab's Price-to-DCF (Earnings Based), along with its competitors' market caps and Price-to-DCF (Earnings Based) data, can be viewed below:

* Competitive companies are chosen from companies within the same industry, with headquarter located in same country, with closest market capitalization; x-axis shows the market cap, and y-axis shows the term value; the bigger the dot, the larger the market cap. Note that "N/A" values will not show up in the chart.


Zai Lab Price-to-DCF (Earnings Based) vs Biotechnology Industry

For the Biotechnology industry and Healthcare sector, Zai Lab's Price-to-DCF (Earnings Based) distribution charts can be found below:

* The bar in red indicates where Zai Lab's Price-to-DCF (Earnings Based) falls into.


ZLAB
64GF Score
Zai Lab Ltd ZLAB
Intrinsic Value: DCF (Earnings Based) is just one metric. See GF Score™, valuation, warning signs, and more.
View Full Analysis

Zai Lab Intrinsic Value: DCF (Earnings Based) Calculation

This is the intrinsic value calculated from the Discounted Earnings model with default parameters. The calculation method is the same as Discounted Cash Flow model except earnings are used in the calculation instead of free cash flow. This is the default method of calculation with GuruFocus DCF calculator.

Usually a two-stage model is used in calculating the intrinsic value with discounted cash flow model. The first stage is called growth stage; the second is called the terminal stage. In the growth stage the company grows at a faster rate. Because it cannot grow at that rate forever, a lower rate is used for the terminal stage.

GuruFocus DCF calculator is a two-stage model. The default values are defined as:

1. Discount Rate: d = 11%
A reasonable discount rate assumption should be at least the long term average return of the stock market, which can be estimated from risk free rate plus risk premium of stock market. GuruFocus uses 10-Year Treasury Constant Maturity Rate as the risk-free rate and rounded up to the nearest integer. It is updated daily. The current risk-free rate is 4.56%. Please go to Economic Indicators page for more information. Please note that we use the 10-Year Treasury Constant Maturity Rate of the country/region where the company is headquartered. If the data for that country/region is not available, then we will use the 10-Year Treasury Constant Maturity Rate of the United States as default. Then we added a risk premium of 6% to get the estimated discount rate. Some investors use their expected rate of return, which is also reasonable. A typical discount rate can be anywhere between 6% - 20%.

2. Growth Rate in the growth stage: g1 = 5%
The Growth Rate in the growth stage is initially set as the default 10-Year EPS without NRI Growth Rate. In cases where the 10-year growth rate is unavailable, it defaults to using the 5-Year EPS without NRI Growth Rate. If both the 10-year and 5-year growth rates are unavailable, the system defaults to the 3-Year EPS without NRI Growth Rate.
However, it's important to note that there is a growth rate range. If the calculated growth rate exceeds 20%, it will be capped at 20%. Conversely, if the calculated growth rate falls below 5%, it will be adjusted to 5% to maintain a reasonable range.
=> Zai Lab's average EPS without NRI Growth Rate in the past 10 years was -16.00%, which is less than 5%. GuruFocus defaults => Growth Rate: 5%

3. Years of Growth Stage: y1 = 10

4. Terminal Growth Rate: g2 = 4%

5. Years of Terminal Growth: y2 = 10

6. EPS without NRI: eps without nri = $-1.947.
GuruFocus DCF calculator is actually a Discounted Earnings calculator, EPS without NRI is used as the default. The reason we are doing this is we found that historically stock prices are more correlated with earnings than free cash flow.

All of the default settings can be changed and the results are calculated automatically.

Zai Lab's Intrinsic Value: DCF (Earnings Based) for today is calculated as:

Intrinsic Value: DCF (Earnings Based)=EPS without NRI*{[(1+g1)/(1+d)+(1+g1)^2/(1+d)^2+...+(1+g1)^10/(1+d)^10]
+(1+g1)^10/(1+d)^10*[(1+g2)/(1+d)+(1+g2)^2/(1+d)^2+...+(1+g2)^10/(1+d)^10]}

set x = (1+g1)/(1+d) = (1+0.05)/(1+0.11) = 0.94594594594595
and y = (1+g2)/(1+d) = (1+0.04)/(1+0.11) = 0.93693693693694

Intrinsic Value: DCF (Earnings Based)=EPS without NRI*{[x+x^2+...+x^10]+x^10*[y+y^2+...+y^10]}
=EPS without NRI*[x*(1-x^10)/(1-x)+x^10*y*(1-y^10)/(1-y)]
=-1.947*11.5406
=-22.47

Margin of Safety % (DCF Earnings Based)=(Intrinsic Value: DCF (Earnings Based)-Current Price)/Intrinsic Value: DCF (Earnings Based)
=(-22.47-20.77)/-22.47
=N/A

* 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.

What does a Intrinsic Value: DCF (Earnings Based) of $-22.47 mean?
Zai Lab (ZLAB) has a Intrinsic Value: DCF (Earnings Based) of $-22.47 as of Jul. 17, 2026. Intrinsic Value: DCF (Earnings Based) is the stock value based on a two-stage discounted earnings model. View historical data on Zai Lab and its competitors. According to the industry distribution chart, Zai Lab ranks #999999 out of 24 companies in the Biotechnology industry.
Is Zai Lab's Intrinsic Value: DCF (Earnings Based) too high?
Zai Lab's current Intrinsic Value: DCF (Earnings Based) is $-22.47. Based on the distribution chart, Zai Lab ranks #999999 out of 24 companies in the Biotechnology industry, which is in the bottom quartile relative to peers. Overall, Zai Lab has a GF Score™ of 64/100 and is considered Possible Value Trap, reflecting its overall financial health beyond just this single metric.
How does Zai Lab's Intrinsic Value: DCF (Earnings Based) compare to STOK and ADMA?
According to the Biotechnology industry distribution chart, Zai Lab ranks #999999 out of 24 companies for Intrinsic Value: DCF (Earnings Based). This places Zai Lab in the lower half of its industry. The industry median Intrinsic Value: DCF (Earnings Based) is 1.12. See the competitive comparison table and distribution chart on this page for a detailed peer-by-peer breakdown.
What is a good Intrinsic Value: DCF (Earnings Based) for a Biotechnology company?
The median Intrinsic Value: DCF (Earnings Based) among Biotechnology companies is 1.12, based on 24 companies in the industry. Companies in the top quartile (top 25%) have a Intrinsic Value: DCF (Earnings Based) significantly above this median, while those in the bottom quartile fall well below. However, Intrinsic Value: DCF (Earnings Based) should not be evaluated in isolation — investors should consider it alongside profitability, growth, and financial strength metrics. Use the industry distribution chart on this page to see where any company falls relative to its peers.
What does a high Intrinsic Value: DCF (Earnings Based) mean?
A high Intrinsic Value: DCF (Earnings Based) can signal that a stock is expensive relative to its fundamentals. Intrinsic Value: DCF (Earnings Based) is the stock value based on a two-stage discounted earnings model. View historical data on Zai Lab and its competitors. For the Biotechnology industry, the median Intrinsic Value: DCF (Earnings Based) is 1.12 — values significantly above this may indicate overvaluation, while values below may suggest a bargain or underlying issues. Zai Lab's current Intrinsic Value: DCF (Earnings Based) is $-22.47. However, context matters — high-growth companies often justify higher valuations. Always evaluate alongside other metrics like GF Score™ and GF Value™.
Is Zai Lab stock overvalued right now?
Based on GuruFocus' analysis, Zai Lab (ZLAB) is currently considered Possible Value Trap. The stock's GF Value™ is $30.20, compared to a current price of $20.77 — trading 31.2% below its estimated fair value. The current Intrinsic Value: DCF (Earnings Based) is $-22.47. Zai Lab's overall GF Score™ is 64/100 with 7 warning signs to review. Investors should evaluate multiple metrics — including profitability, growth, and financial strength — before making a decision.
How is Intrinsic Value: DCF (Earnings Based) calculated?
Intrinsic Value: DCF (Earnings Based) is calculated from a company's financial statements. For Zai Lab (ZLAB), the current Intrinsic Value: DCF (Earnings Based) is $-22.47 as of Jul. 17, 2026. GuruFocus calculates this using data sourced from SEC filings and annual reports. See the calculation section and 30-year financial data on this page for the full breakdown.

Is Zai Lab (ZLAB) Overvalued in 2026?

Based on GuruFocus' analysis, Zai Lab stock appears to be undervalued. The current stock price of $20.77 is trading 31.2% below its estimated GF Value™ of $30.20. GuruFocus considers Zai Lab to be Possible Value Trap.

Key valuation signals for ZLAB:

  • Intrinsic Value: DCF (Earnings Based): $-22.47
  • GF Value™: $30.20 vs. price of $20.77 (31.2% below fair value)
  • GF Score™: 64/100 with 7 warning signs

No single metric tells the full story. See the ZLAB stock analysis page for a complete view including 30-year financials, guru trades, and insider activity.


Zai Lab Business Description

Other Exchanges 09688:Hong Kong1ZLB:Germany
Address 899 Halei Road, Building B, Pudong, Shanghai, CHN, 201203
Zai Lab Ltd is a biopharmaceutical company focusing on discovering or licensing, developing, and commercializing proprietary therapeutics that address areas of unmet medical need including in the fields of oncology, autoimmune and infectious diseases. Zai Lab has a diverse pipeline of potentially first-in-class product candidates developed through in-house R&D and global partnerships. The company has successfully commercialized several products in China, including Zejula, Optune, Qinlock, and Nuzyra, with plans for further expansion The pipeline of proprietary drug candidates of the company includes ZL-1222, ZL-1311, ZL-6201 and many others.
64GF Score

Get the complete analysis for ZLAB

Intrinsic Value: DCF (Earnings Based) is just one metric. See GF Value™, 30-year financials, guru trades, warning signs, and more.

$20.77
Price
$30.20
GF Value