cloudedjudgement.substack.com · 2021-09-03 · 1735d

Clouded Judgement

This article provides a comprehensive analysis of public SaaS company valuation multiples, operating metrics, and share price movements as of September 2021. It benchmarks 13 cloud software companies against consensus estimates, growth rates, and profitability metrics, demonstrating wide dispersion in EV/NTM revenue multiples (ranging from 5.6x to 86.5x) correlated to growth expectations and cohort positioning.

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Metrics in this report

CAC Payback Period

25months

median

Public SaaS companies

EV/NTM Revenue Multiple (High Growth >30%)

32.5x

median

Public SaaS companies with >30% NTM growth

EV/NTM Revenue Multiple (Low Growth <15%)

5.6x

median

Public SaaS companies with <15% NTM growth

EV/NTM Revenue Multiple (Mid Growth 15-30%)

15.1x

median

Public SaaS companies with 15-30% NTM growth

EV/NTM Revenue Multiple (Overall)

16.5x

median

Broad SaaS cohort

Free Cash Flow Margin

8percent

median

Public SaaS companies at scale

General & Administrative Spend

19percent of revenue

median

Public SaaS companies

Gross Margin

74percent

median

Public SaaS companies at scale

LTM Revenue Growth

31percent

median

Public SaaS cohort

NTM Revenue Growth

23percent

median

Public SaaS cohort

Net Revenue Retention

119percent

median

Public SaaS companies

Operating Margin

-18percent

median

Public SaaS companies at scale

Research & Development Spend

25percent of revenue

median

Public SaaS companies

Sales & Marketing Spend

44percent of revenue

median

Public SaaS companies