Deep discount stock?

I believe we will always better off buying a operating business than buying a undervalue non operating asset. Non operating asset is like a dead pool of water. Operating asset is like free flowing of water. We won't get anywhere betting the dead pool of water. However, we explore new things constantly by following the flow of the water. I want my resources to follow the flow of water, not the dead pool of water, because I don't know when the dead water will get refreshed. In other words, I don't know when the non operating asset value will get unlocked. The owner may not really want to unlocked the value forever, may be because of family tussle, ownership pride, or conservativeness etc. By waiting for the unknown, I feel it is like buying jackpot, too much uncertainty. Investing should be base on certainty of return. I rather buy good operating asset with good price than buy non operating asset with deep discount price.