• If you are wondering whether ZIM Integrated Shipping Services at around US$23.24 is priced attractively or already baking in a lot of optimism, you are asking the right question for this stock.
• The share price returns of 3.4% over the last 7 days, 9.6% over 30 days, 6.1% year to date and 68.2% over 1 year show that sentiment around ZIM has shifted meaningfully, which can change how investors think about its risk and return profile.
• Recent news flow around global trade routes, freight demand and shipping capacity constraints has kept container shipping companies in focus, including ZIM. Together with headlines about contract rates, fuel costs and regulatory developments in key ports, this backdrop helps explain why the stock has been actively traded.
• On our checks, ZIM scores 4 out of 6 for potential undervaluation. Next, we will look at what different valuation methods say about that score and then circle back at the end to a more holistic way to think about value beyond the numbers alone.

Approach 1: ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) Analysis

A Discounted Cash Flow, or DCF, model estimates what a business could be worth today by projecting its future cash flows and discounting them back to a present value.

For ZIM Integrated Shipping Services, the model uses last twelve months free cash flow of about $2.89b and a 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity approach. Analysts provide explicit estimates out to 2027, with free cash flow of $731 million in 2026 and $626 million in 2027. Beyond that, Simply Wall St extends the forecasts, with projected free cash flow in 2035 of about $549 million, all in $.

When all of these projected cash flows are discounted back and added up, the model arrives at an estimated intrinsic value of about $36.65 per share. Compared with the recent share price around $23.24, this suggests the shares trade at a 36.6% discount to this DCF estimate, which indicates undervaluation on this model alone.

Result: UNDERVALUED

Our Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) analysis suggests ZIM Integrated Shipping Services is undervalued by 36.6%. Track this in your watchlist or portfolio, or discover 880 more undervalued stocks based on cash flows.

Approach 2: ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Price vs Earnings

For a company that is producing earnings, the P/E ratio is a straightforward way to see how much you are paying for each dollar of profit. It is easy to compare across companies and sectors, which makes it a useful cross check on the DCF work you saw earlier.

What counts as a "normal" P/E really comes down to what investors expect for growth and how much risk they see in the business. Higher expected growth or lower perceived risk can support a higher P/E, while lower growth or higher risk usually point to a lower multiple.

ZIM Integrated Shipping Services currently trades on a P/E of about 2.79x. That sits well below the Shipping industry average P/E of about 10.07x and also below the broader peer group average of around 16.05x. Simply Wall St’s Fair Ratio for ZIM is 0.86x, which is its proprietary view of what an appropriate P/E should be after adjusting for factors like earnings growth, industry, profit margin, market cap and company specific risks. Because this Fair Ratio builds these inputs into a single number, it can be a more tailored guide than a simple comparison with peers or the sector alone. Since the current P/E of 2.79x is above the Fair Ratio of 0.86x by more than 0.10, this points to the shares screening as overvalued on this metric.

Result: OVERVALUED

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Upgrade Your Decision Making: Choose your ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Narrative

Earlier we mentioned that there is an even better way to understand valuation, so let us introduce you to Narratives.

A Narrative is simply your story about a company, linked directly to your numbers, including what you think is a fair value, and how you see future revenue, earnings and margins playing out.

On Simply Wall St, Narratives live in the Community page and give you an easy way to connect a company’s story to a financial forecast. You can then link that forecast to a fair value and compare it with the current share price to help decide whether to buy, hold or sell. Narratives automatically update when new information such as news or earnings is added.

For ZIM Integrated Shipping Services, one investor might build a Narrative where tight shipping capacity and stable contract rates justify a higher fair value. Another might assume softer freight demand and more conservative margins that point to a lower fair value. Both views can sit side by side for you to compare.

Do you think there's more to the story for ZIM Integrated Shipping Services? Head over to our Community to see what others are saying!

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.