Intrinsic value

Intrinsic value

The value of an option if it were to expire immediately with the underlying stock at its current price; the amount by which an option is in-the-money. For call options, this is the difference between the stock price, if that difference is a positive number, or zero otherwise. For put options it is the difference between the striking price and the stock price, if that difference is positive, and zero otherwise. See also: In-the-Money, Time Value Premium, Parity.

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intrinsic value

The value of a security, justified by factors such as assets, dividends, earnings, and management quality. Intrinsic value is at the core of fundamental analysis since it is used in an attempt to calculate the value for an individual stock and then compare it with the market price. Because analysts view facts differently, there is often a wide disparity in estimates of a particular stock's intrinsic value.

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Intrinsic value. A company's intrinsic value, or underlying value, is used to calculate its projected worth.

You determine intrinsic value by subtracting long-term debt from anticipated future assets, including profits, the potential for increased efficiency, and the sale of new stock.

Another approach is to calculate intrinsic value by dividing the company's estimated future earnings by the number of its existing shares. This method weighs the current price of a stock against its future worth.

Critics of using intrinsic worth as a way to evaluate potential investments point out that all the numbers except debt are hypothetical.

The term is also used in options trading to indicate the amount by which an option is in-the-money. For example, an equity call option with a strike price of 35 has an intrinsic value of $4 if the market price of the underlying stock is $39. But if the market price drops to $34, the option has no intrinsic value.