medium · Investment Banking

An analyst is comparing two companies in the same industry. Company A expenses all of its R&D, while Company B capitalizes a portion of its software development costs.

How will this affect their relative EV/EBITDA multiples?

  1. Company A will appear more expensive because expensing R&D reduces Net Income.
  2. There will be no impact on EBITDA because R&D is a non-operating expense.
  3. Company B will have higher cash flow because capitalization is a non-cash adjustment.
  4. Company B will appear to have higher EBITDA and a lower EV/EBITDA multiple, all else being equal.

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