[sonnyblarney]

Future cash flows to be interpreted as 'free cash flows' i.e. profit.

What I'm articulating is not complex or obscure or even really very theoretical - it's literally the most basic idea for valuation, though admittedly the term 'cash flow' might be misleading in the context of accounting.

'The company is worth how much money it will eventually put in the bank i.e. how much profit it accumulates'.

That's it.

Dividends are a separate thing and technically have no effect.

If a company pays you a $1 dividend, then you have $1. If a company keeps that $1 for you in it's bank account ... well, you have ownership of that $1. So it's a matter of accounting, not of valuation. Pragmatically, there are differences but theoretically dividends don't matter.