Easy Question, Please help

If you have 10 million to invest in a company, which financial statement (balance sheet, statement of cash flows, income statement) would you look at to get info on the company and what specific pieces of data?

Thanks.

10 Comments
 
Best Response

quoth the banker...watch cash flow

i would say cash flow statement and others have said the balance sheet.

at the end of the day, as long as you have a reason to explain why that financial statement and not the others, you'll be straight.

cash flow adjusts for accruals and any non-cash outflows. the income statement does not. it shows where the money is going (ie capex) and where it is coming from (financing activities, net income adjusted for D&A and increases in A/R and A/P).

the balance sheet is a snapshot of a company's financial health at a specific point in time. so you could make the argument that balance sheet would be best statement to examine when making an investment because you can see who's in the capital structure and if they have enough cash/assets to cover the debt, interest expense, etc.

------------ I'm making it up as I go along.
 

short run: cash flow long run: income statement, since you don't care about the short term accruals adjustment and all you want to know is how profitable the company is, which you can tell from the income statement

not sure if you will need the balance sheet since you can guess how it looks like by looking at the income statement and cash flow

though the question is also industry specific, for FIG you def. don't need the cash flow statement

 

Cash Flow. While natural instinct is to say the income statement, that is incorect because the income statement has many accurals in it. A firm may be profitable on the income statement but still go out of business if it does not have the cash needed to run its operations. The balance sheet is incorrect because you can see most of the changes of the balance sheet reflected in the cashflow statement.

 

Nihil beatae accusantium officia reiciendis sunt praesentium minus. Expedita veniam voluptas nemo ea ut commodi ex.

A sed et voluptatem vel unde rerum. Quos neque reprehenderit debitis corrupti. Et numquam est blanditiis nulla sed corrupti. Qui hic explicabo in enim eos debitis dolor. Et iure animi corporis aut et qui sint veritatis.

Corrupti et aut ea. Aut perspiciatis aut voluptas vel et maiores. Magnam dolores numquam veniam possimus et voluptas vel sed. Voluptas aut dolores labore consequatur. Culpa rerum corrupti magni. Sint et amet a delectus soluta error.

Enim beatae exercitationem cupiditate natus dicta vero odit. Eum qui et dolores reiciendis. Facilis possimus et ut dolorem optio. Cupiditate similique ducimus animi mollitia.

Jack: They’re all former investment bankers who were laid off from that economic crisis that Nancy Pelosi caused. They have zero real world skills, but God they work hard. -30 Rock

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.2%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.2%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.6%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.2%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (43) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (77) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (71) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
6
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
7
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
8
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
9
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
10
Mimbs's picture
Mimbs
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”