The appeal of residual income models stems from a shortcoming of traditional accounting.
Specifically, although a company’s income statement includes a charge for the cost of debt
capital in the form of interest expense, it does not include a charge for the cost of equity capital.
A company can have positive net income but may still not be adding value for shareholders if
it does not earn more than the cost of equity capital. Residual income concepts have been used
in a variety of contexts, including the measurement of internal corporate performance. This
chapter, however, will focus on the residual income model for estimating the intrinsic value
of common stock.