Clouded Judgement: Cloud SaaS Valuation Multiples & Operating Metrics Analysis

This article analyzes cloud SaaS company valuations, earnings reports, and operating metrics as of September 2021, revealing a median EV/NTM revenue multiple of 15.6x across the sector with high-growth companies trading at 33.5x multiples despite significant operating losses. The analysis examines the correlation between revenue growth and valuation multiples, provides peer benchmarking across gross margin, operating margin, FCF, and CAC payback metrics, and applies the Rule of 40 framework to assess SaaS business quality across 10 major publicly-traded cloud software companies.