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Valuation
39 guides in Finabase Learn
- Book value A company's total assets minus total liabilities as recorded on the balance sheet; the accounting value of shareholders' equity.
- Cash flow The net amount of cash moving into and out of a business over a period, reported as operating, investing and financing flows.
- Comparable company analysis: how to build and read a comps table Pick peers, align fiscal periods with TTM, build a comps table of P/E, EV/EBIT and more, and read it — worked on Apple, Microsoft and Alphabet at March 31, 2026.
- Discount Rate The rate used to convert future cash flows to present value; also the rate the Fed charges banks at its discount window.
- Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) A valuation method that estimates what a business is worth today by discounting its expected future cash flows.
- Discounted cash flow (DCF): a step-by-step valuation on Apple Build a DCF from free cash flow to value per share, with Apple’s fiscal 2025 numbers, terminal value, WACC, a sensitivity grid, a reverse DCF and the classic mistakes.
- Dividend discount model (DDM): the Gordon growth formula explained Value a stock from its dividends with the Gordon growth model and multi-stage DDM, see why it breaks for low-payout Apple, and where the model fits.
- EBITDA Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization; a rough, non-GAAP proxy for operating cash profit.
- EBITDA: what it means, how to calculate it and its limits How to build EBITDA from net income with Apple’s fiscal 2025 numbers, how it differs from EBIT, cash flow and FCF, adjusted-EBITDA abuses, and the SEC’s non-GAAP rules.
- Enterprise value (EV) Market capitalization plus debt minus cash; a fuller measure of what it would cost to buy a whole business.
- Enterprise value (EV): formula, what counts as debt and cash Build enterprise value from market cap, debt and cash on Apple’s fiscal 2025 balance sheet, decide which cash to subtract, and see why EV is the takeover price.
- EV/EBITDA Enterprise value divided by EBITDA, a valuation multiple that compares companies regardless of how they are financed.
- Fair value An estimate of what an asset is really worth based on its fundamentals, which may differ from its current market price.
- Forward P/E Share price divided by analysts' expected earnings per share for the next 12 months or fiscal year.
- Free cash flow (FCF) Operating cash flow minus capital expenditures: the cash a business generates that is left for owners and lenders.
- Free cash flow (FCF): definition, formula and Apple example What free cash flow is, how to calculate it, how to read FCF margin and FCF per share, and the stock-compensation debate, with Apple’s fiscal 2025 numbers.
- Fundamental analysis Evaluating a security by studying the business, its financial statements, industry and economy to estimate its intrinsic value.
- Growth stock A share in a company expected to grow revenue and earnings faster than average, usually priced at high valuation multiples.
- How to research a stock: a step-by-step guide for beginners A six-step process for researching a company before you invest: the business, SEC filings on EDGAR, the financial statements, valuation, risks and a written thesis.
- Intrinsic value The estimated true worth of a business from its fundamentals; for an option, the amount by which it is in the money.
- Market capitalization A company's share price times its shares outstanding: what the market values the whole company's equity at.
- Market capitalization: formula, free float and enterprise value How market cap is calculated and where the share count comes from, why indexes use free-float market cap, how size buckets work and how enterprise value differs.
- Net asset value (NAV) A fund's assets minus its liabilities, divided by its shares outstanding: the per-share value of what the fund holds.
- PEG ratio The P/E ratio divided by the expected annual earnings growth rate, used to compare valuations across companies growing at different speeds.
- Present value What a future sum of money is worth today, found by discounting it at a rate that reflects time and risk.
- Price target An analyst’s estimate of where a stock will trade, typically 12 months out, derived from a valuation model and earnings forecasts.
- Price-to-book ratio (P/B) Market price divided by book value per share, comparing what investors pay with the accounting net worth of a company.
- Price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) Share price divided by earnings per share: how many dollars investors pay for each dollar of a company’s annual profit.
- Price-to-sales ratio (P/S) Market capitalization divided by annual revenue: what investors pay per dollar of sales, often used for companies without profits.
- Return on invested capital (ROIC) After-tax operating profit divided by the debt and equity invested in operations: a measure of returns that is neutral to financing.
- Risk premium The extra return investors demand for holding a risky asset instead of a risk-free one, such as the equity risk premium over Treasuries.
- Risk-free rate The return on an investment with essentially no default risk, usually proxied by short-term US Treasury yields, used as a baseline.
- Shares outstanding The total number of a company’s shares held by all shareholders, including insiders, used to compute market cap and per-share figures.
- The dot-com bubble: the 1995–2002 boom and the 78% Nasdaq fall How the internet stock boom of 1995–2000 built up, why the Nasdaq fell 78% by October 2002, what QQQ’s real monthly history shows, and the lessons for valuation.
- Valuation The process of estimating what a company or security is worth, using cash-flow models, comparisons with similar companies or the value of its assets.
- Valuation methods: intrinsic, relative and asset-based compared The main ways analysts value a company — DCF, dividend models, multiples, asset-based and sum-of-the-parts — when each one fits, and how to triangulate them.
- Value stock A stock that trades cheaply relative to its earnings, book value or cash flow, often in a mature or out-of-favor business.
- What is fundamental analysis? A beginner’s guide with Apple How fundamental analysis works: the business, the statements, the ratios and the valuation, worked through Apple’s fiscal 2025 10-K with real numbers.
- What moves stock prices? Earnings, rates, flows, news and sentiment The forces that set a stock price, from earnings and expectations to interest rates, fund flows, news and mood, with real 2025–2026 examples from Finabase data.
Educational content, not investment advice. Finabase Learn explains how markets and tools work. It does not recommend any security or strategy, and examples are for illustration only. Investing involves risk, including the loss of principal. Rules and figures are for the United States unless stated and can change — check the cited source before you act.