Beyond the guide: a list of real interview technical questions

Over the past few years, this forum has helped me a lot, so I thought I'd give back. The following questions are all from interviews and superdays I've had at various BB/EBs. I only posted technical questions that are not in the traditional guides. I come from a target b-school and did not go through diversity (gender/URM) recruiting, so my experience may differ from many of you. Regardless, I hope these help.

 

1. Rank EV/EBITDA, P/E, and EV/EBIT for the "general" company.

2. How would you value NOLs?

3. You sell a subscription that is $12 per year, delivered monthly.

3a. Walk me through the 3 statements right after you sell the subscription (the $12 is delivered at the beginning of the year all at once).

3b. Walk me through the 3 statements after one month.

4. What kind of company would have the same EBITDA and Net Income.

5. A company acquires $200 worth of PP&E.

5a. Walk me through the 3 statements for each of the following variations: 1) 100% cash purchase; 2) Operating Lease; 3) Capital Lease

5b. Rank each of the aforementioned variations in terms of EBITDA, Net Income and EBIT.

6. Why might two companies with the same financial profile have different EV/EBITDA multiples?

7. What's the relationship between the D/E ratio and WACC?

7a. What's the relationship between the D/E ratio and the value of a company?

8. How does an increase in the tax rate affect the value of a company?

9. A company has an EV of $100, no cash and $400 of debt. How is this possible?

10. How much would you pay for an asset that pays you $100 a year, guaranteed?

11a. There is a company that manufactures pots from steel. The company purchases $500 of manufacturing equipment and $500 of steel financed by $1000 of debt. The company has a 10% cost of debt with no debt amortization and depreciates its manufacturing equipment using straight line depreciation over 5 years with no residual value. Walk me through the 3 statements right after the purchase.

11b. Say the company sells $900 of pots and uses $300 of its steel. It has $200 in SG&A expense and has a 40% tax rate. Walk me through the 3 statements at the end of Year 1. 11c. Say the company switches to FIFO accounting from LIFO and that the price of steel is declining. What happens to the company’s free cash flows and what happens to the value of the company?

12. A company has a $100 market capitalization. There are 100 options with strike price of $5. Current share price is $10. What’s the fully diluted market capitalization?

13. If you buy a company trading at 20x P/E and the deal is financed 100% with debt at 5% interest, is the deal accretive or dilutive?

14. Does mid-year convention result in a higher or lower valuation?

15. What are some pros/cons of a strategic and financial acquirer from the perspective of the target company?

 

 

230 Comments
 

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Fear is the greatest motivator. Motivation is what it takes to find profit.
 

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