NOVARTIS AG

NVSdata completeness 88%10 fiscal years on file

Data notes: no data for concept 'revenue'; no data for concept 'interestExpense'

The thesis, from the filings

NOVARTIS AG earns about 19% on invested capital, far above its ~9% cost of capital, and has bought back 15% of its shares over 5 years — the marks of a durable business run for its owners. The estimate methods put fair value between $75.94 and $179.72 a share.Whether it’s worth owning at today’s price is the last question — and yours to answer, below.

i. The business — what you’d actually own
FigureFY 2021FY 2022FY 2023FY 2024FY 2025
Revenue
Net income$24B1$6.96B2$14.9B3$11.9B3$14B3
Operating cash flow$15.1B4$14.2B5$14.5B6$17.6B6$19.1B6
Capital expenditure$1.07B7$916M8$1.06B9$1.37B9$1.55B9
Free cash flow (derived)$14B4$13.3B5$13.4B6$16.3B6$17.6B6
Total debt$25.5B10$22.5B11$20.6B12$24.7B13$28.7B13
Cash & equivalents$12.4B14$7.52B15$13.4B15$11.5B15$11.4B15
Diluted shares2.23B2.12B2.04B1.98B1.91B

Superscripts are receipts. Each links to the SEC filing the number came from (full list at the bottom).

ii. Your slice — ownership made literal
If you owned
shares
Net assets behind them
$241.75
your share of equity
Profit it earned you last year
$73.29
Free cash flow it threw off
$92.21
Debt you’d be carrying
$150.56

10 shares is a claim on $241.75 of net worth that earned you $73.29 and generated $92.21 of cash last year, against $150.56 of debt.

iii. Is this a good business?
Moat signal · return on invested capital
19% avg · 5y
FY21 28%FY22 8%FY23 16%FY24 21%FY25 22%

It earned about 19% on invested capital, year after year, against a ~9% cost of capital — the footprint of real pricing power. Competition usually drags returns like this back down; here it hasn't.

seeing a moat in the numbers →
Management signal · capital allocation
−15% shares · 5y

Share count is down 15% over 5 years — management has been buying back stock, quietly handing owners a bigger slice. Total debt has risen 13% over the same window.

reading capital allocation →

Signals, not verdicts — read from the filings above. Numbers don’t prove a moat; they show its footprint. You decide.

iv. What it’s worth — engine v0.1.0

The 3 estimate methods that apply put fair value between $75.94 and $179.72 a share. They rest on different assumptions, so where they diverge is the story; the Graham Number is a stricter floor, not a target.

DCF · Growth Exit 10Y
$179.72
assumptions (10)
  • riskFreeRate4.7%
  • equityRiskPremium5.0%
  • beta100.0%
  • equityWeight85.0%
  • costOfDebtSpread1.5%
  • taxRate21.0%
  • terminalGrowth2.5%
  • projectionYears10
  • fcfGrowth6.9%
  • fcfBase$16.3B
DCF · Growth Exit 5Y
$154.47
assumptions (10)
  • riskFreeRate4.7%
  • equityRiskPremium5.0%
  • beta100.0%
  • equityWeight85.0%
  • costOfDebtSpread1.5%
  • taxRate21.0%
  • terminalGrowth2.5%
  • projectionYears5
  • fcfGrowth6.9%
  • fcfBase$16.3B
Earnings Power Value
$75.94
assumptions (8)
  • riskFreeRate4.7%
  • equityRiskPremium5.0%
  • beta100.0%
  • equityWeight85.0%
  • costOfDebtSpread1.5%
  • taxRate21.0%
  • normalizedEarnings$14B
  • growthAssumed0.0%
Graham Number
$62.36
assumptions (1)
  • grahamMultiplier2250.0%

Different models answer different questions — which to trust when →

v. The price question — last, on purpose
Is today’s price fair?
See live price ↗
Type a price. The ledger answers.
Or set your own belief
FCF growth, next 5 years6.9%
Discount rate (WACC)8.93%
Terminal growth2.5%
At your growth, a share is worth $154.47
The three cases
Bear0.0%$112.64
Base6.9%$154.47
Bull11.9%$192.08

Bear/base/bull growth = 0% / filed history / history + 5pp. Type a price to see the return each case implies.

Default growth 6.9%= this company’s own filed history (median-to-median FCF CAGR, clamped 0–20%). Your adjustments are recorded anonymously. They become the “what do owners actually believe” dataset.

Sources — the receipts
  1. 20-F · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001370368-24-000004 (ProfitLossAttributableToOwnersOfParent)
  2. 20-F · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001370368-25-000004 (ProfitLossAttributableToOwnersOfParent)
  3. 20-F · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001114448-26-000004 (ProfitLossAttributableToOwnersOfParent)
  4. 20-F · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001370368-24-000004 (CashFlowsFromUsedInOperatingActivities)
  5. 20-F · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001370368-25-000004 (CashFlowsFromUsedInOperatingActivities)
  6. 20-F · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001114448-26-000004 (CashFlowsFromUsedInOperatingActivities)
  7. 20-F · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001370368-24-000004 (PurchaseOfPropertyPlantAndEquipmentClassifiedAsInvestingActivities)
  8. 20-F · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001370368-25-000004 (PurchaseOfPropertyPlantAndEquipmentClassifiedAsInvestingActivities)
  9. 20-F · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001114448-26-000004 (PurchaseOfPropertyPlantAndEquipmentClassifiedAsInvestingActivities)
  10. 20-F/A · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001370368-23-000048 (Borrowings)
  11. 20-F · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001370368-24-000004 (Borrowings)
  12. 20-F · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001370368-25-000004 (Borrowings)
  13. 20-F · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001114448-26-000004 (Borrowings)
  14. 20-F · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001370368-25-000004 (CashAndCashEquivalents)
  15. 20-F · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001114448-26-000004 (CashAndCashEquivalents)