Industries
A roofing company is not a software company.
Applying one multiple across every sector is the single most common way private businesses get mispriced. Value Alpha runs a model built for the business's own industry.
Why it matters
The same earnings are worth different money in different sectors.
Two businesses can report identical EBITDA and be worth very different amounts. What separates them is how durable those earnings are, how much capital it takes to sustain them, and what buyers have recently paid for comparable businesses in that specific sector.
So the sector is not a label applied at the end. It decides which methods carry weight, which comparables are admissible, and how the discount rate is built. Classification is suggested from the financials and confirmed by you before anything runs.
Coverage
43 industries, each with its own model.
Every one of them is below. Each name opens its guide, and the labels beneath a name open the guides for the trades inside it. If a business does not sit cleanly in one sector, and plenty do not, the classification is confirmed with you before the valuation runs.
Ad-Supported Media
An ad-supported media business is valued on a discounted cash flow, comparable companies and precedent transactions, with precedent transactions carrying the most weight for a smaller company.
Agriculture
A farm is valued as land at market plus biological assets plus the farming business, which is valued after a market rent is charged for the land so the same acres are not counted twice.
Apartment Property
An apartment building is valued as property.
Automotive Services
Automotive businesses are valued on the model their type calls for.
B2B Marketplace
Value a B2B marketplace or procurement platform using GMV multiples, take rate, and revenue growth benchmarks.
Banks & Depository
A bank is valued on price to tangible book.
Biotech & Pharma
Value a biotech or pharmaceutical company using rNPV, pipeline analysis, and pharma comparable transactions.
Clinic Rollup / DSO
A clinic group or dental service organization is valued on normalized EBITDA times a multiple chosen from its payer mix, priced above the band for a single clinic.
Construction
Building, maintaining, and managing property.
Consumer Brands
A smaller consumer products company is valued on a blend in which seller's discretionary earnings carry the most weight, alongside a discounted cash flow, comparable companies and precedent transactions.
Consumer Marketplace
Value a consumer marketplace or platform business using GMV multiples, take rate, and engagement benchmarks.
Consumer Services
A consumer services business is valued on its earnings.
CRO Services
Value a clinical research organization or CRO using backlog multiples, EBITDA, and revenue per FTE benchmarks.
Data Centers
A data center is valued as income-producing property.
E-Commerce DTC
An e-commerce business is valued on its earnings.
Education & Training
A smaller education or training business is valued mainly on seller's discretionary earnings.
Environmental Services
A smaller environmental services company is valued on a blend in which seller's discretionary earnings carry the most weight, alongside a discounted cash flow, comparable companies and precedent transactions.
Equipment Rental
Value an equipment rental company using EBITDA multiples, fleet utilization, and OEC (original equipment cost) benchmarks.
Fintech
A lending fintech is valued on its equity.
Freight Brokerage
Value a freight brokerage or 3PL using gross revenue, net revenue multiples, and EBITDA analysis.
Healthcare Devices
Value a medical device company using revenue multiples, regulatory clearance premium, and pipeline analysis.
Healthcare Services
A healthcare services company is valued on normalized EBITDA times a multiple chosen from its payer mix.
Home Services
The trades that come to the customer's door.
Industrial Manufacturing
Businesses that make things, from job shops to branded product lines.
Insurance Brokerage
An insurance agency is valued on its commissions.
IT Managed Services
A smaller managed service provider whose revenue mixes contracts and projects is valued mainly on seller's discretionary earnings.
Logistics & Transport
Moving goods and people, and storing them in between.
Medical Labs
A clinical lab is valued on its test volume and the net reimbursement it collects per test.
Mining & Resources
A mine, well or other depleting asset is valued on its reserves.
On-Prem Software
Value a perpetual license or on-premise software business using maintenance ARR, EBITDA multiples, and migration optionality.
Payments Processing
A payments business is valued on net revenue after interchange.
Physical Retail
A smaller retail store is valued on a blend in which seller's discretionary earnings carry the most weight, alongside a discounted cash flow, comparable companies and precedent transactions.
Professional Services
Firms that sell expertise and time.
Project Finance
A contracted power project in its own company is valued from the debt its cash flow supports and what is left for the sponsor.
Property Management
A property management company is valued on its fees and earnings, the way a service business is, and never as the buildings it manages.
Regulated Utilities
Value a regulated water, gas or electric utility on its rate base and the return its regulator allows, with a haircut when it persistently earns less.
Restaurants & Hospitality
A smaller restaurant group or hospitality business is valued on a blend in which seller's discretionary earnings carry the most weight, alongside a discounted cash flow, comparable companies and precedent transactions.
Self-Storage
A self-storage facility is valued on net operating income divided by a cap rate, the middle of the band for stabilized self-storage unless you enter your own.
Staffing
A staffing agency is valued on its earnings.
Subscription SaaS
Value a subscription SaaS business using ARR multiples, Rule of 40, and DCF.
Usage-Based AI
Value a usage-based AI or API-first business using revenue multiples, NRR, and DCF.
Wealth Management & RIA
A registered investment adviser is valued on its recurring fees.
Wholesale Distribution
A wholesale distributor is valued on its earnings and cash flow with the approach for manufacturers and distributors.
Tell us the sector. We will tell you how we would price it.
If your business sits between categories, that is usually the interesting part of the conversation.