GoDaddy scores 94 for management and 78 for moat. The management score rests on a return on invested capital of 19.2% and a gross margin of 63.6% — figures that describe a business turning capital into profit efficiently. The balance sheet carries debt at 17.96x equity, which magnifies both the returns above and the risk beneath them. The solid moat and exceptional management are not the same judgement, and the gap between them is where the argument about this business sits.
The valuation runs on assumptions chosen to understate rather than flatter. Growth is modelled at 8.3% a year, the rate measured from the filings. The exit multiple assumed is 16.7x. That produces an intrinsic value of $61.94, a 10-CAP price of $130.59 and a payback time price of $152.37, with the value zone set at the highest of the three, $152.37. Today's price of $96.98 sits inside that zone.
A business scoring this well, trading inside its value zone, is the combination the framework exists to find — which is also the reason to check why the market disagrees. A margin of safety score of 32 describes the cushion, not the certainty.
| Price | $96.98 |
| Market cap | $12.8B |
| P/E ratio | 14.4x |
| Return on invested capital | 19.2% |
| Gross margin | 63.6% |
| Debt to equity | 17.96x |
| Free cash flow yield | 9.2% |
| Growth rate used | 8.3% |
| Growth rate measured | 8.0% |
| Exit multiple assumed | 16.7x |
| Company | Moat | Buy price |
| Gen Digital (GEN) | 70 | $39.62 |
| Akamai Technologies (AKAM) | 51 | $58.78 |
| Toast Inc-Class A (TOST) | 87 | $15.88 |
| Qualys, Inc. (QLYS) | 99 | $128.95 |
Every number above is built on assumptions that can be changed. In Moatly you can move the growth rate, the exit multiple and the margin of safety and watch every figure recalculate, so you are testing your own view of GoDaddy rather than accepting ours.