Global Valuation, Accounting & Tax: NOLs: Spinning Your Wheels?

Research evidence excerpt

Global Valuation, Accounting & Tax: NOLs: Spinning Your Wheels?

Idea

June 10, 2026 11:33 PM GMT

Morgan Stanley & Co. LLCMGlobal Valuation, Accounting & Tax | North America Todd Castagno, CFA, CPA

GVAT Strategist

NOLs: Spinning Your Wheels? Todd.Castagno@morganstanley.comClinton Chang, CFA, CPA +1 212 761-6893

Clinton.Chang@morganstanley.com +1 212 761-1185

Hundreds of billions of dollars of net operating losses (NOLs) sit Kate Konetzke, CFA, CPA

on companies' tax books. Often overlooked, NOLs can be a GVATKate.Konetzke@morganstanley.comStrategist +1 212 761-3457

significant source of economic value. In this report, we discuss Mariah Thompson

why and screen for NOL opportunities. Mariah.Thompson@morganstanley.com +1 212 761-1147

Combing through the Russell 3000, we found that ~2,300 companies have at least

some NOLs on their tax books, with ~400 companies having at least 10% of NOL

value as a % of market cap.

High NOLs: Cash tax savings from NOLs can be a large source of hidden value. Large

cap companies with the highest levels of NOLs include RIVN, HPQ, AA, APA, ALB, F,

EIX, HPE, MDT, and AIG. <$10 billion market cap companies with significant levels

of NOLs include LCID, BHF, VAL, AAL, LYFT, RUN, WHR, SNAP, WOLF, CAR, and

JXN. Exhibit 3 and Exhibit 4 contain the full lists of these potentially valuable NOL

companies.

Case Study: In the case of Peloton Interactive, Inc. [PTON], its NOLs are worth

~40% of its current $2.4 billion market cap. A company's substantial tax assets

mitigate downside risk and can often be carried forward to reduce taxable income in

a future year.

More NOLs Building up? The AI infrastructure build out could create a new wave of

tax attributes for certain companies. While many AI-related businesses are investing