Walk me through a DCF
A DCF is a discounted cash flow analysis which is an intrinsic valuation method. This method of valuation is focused on finding the "free cash flow" which is the cash flow that is available to investors. Then you discount these cash flows to find how much they are worth today. This is in line with the idea that a dollar today is worth more than a dollar tomorrow.
How to answer the "Walk Me Through a DCF" Question?
High Level DCF Walk Through
In an interview it is important to keep your technical overview at a high level. Start with a high level overview and be ready to provide more detail upon request.
- Project out cash flows for 5 - 10 years depending on the stability of the company
- Discount these cash flows to account for the time value of money
- Determine the terminal value of the company - assuming that the company does not stop operating after the projection window
- Discount the terminal value to account for the time value of money
- Sum the discounted values to find an enterprise value
- Subtract Net Debt and divide by diluted shares outstanding to find an intrinsic share price
Common Interview Follow Up Questions
What do you use as a discount rate?
Assuming that you are calcuating an unlevered DCF, you would use the weighted average cost of capital (WACC). This is calcuated as the:
Cost of debt * % of debt in the capital structure * (1- tax rate) + cost of equity * % of equity in the capital structure + cost of preferred equity * % of preferred equity in the capital structure.
Why do you multiply by (1-tax rate)?
You do this because interest expense (the cost of debt) is tax deductible so you need to account for this "debt tax shield."
What is the cost of equity?
The cost of equity is calcuated through the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM).
CAPM = Risk free rate + Beta * (expected market return - risk free rate)
What should I use as my risk free rate?
You should use the US treasury yield in line with your projection window (i.e. if you are using a 10 year DCF - use the 10 year US treasury yield).
What is the Gordon Growth Model?
The gordon growth model is: The final year of free cash flow * (1+ the terminal growth rate) / (WACC - terminal growth rate)
What is the exit multiple method for determining the terminal value?
Find an industry average multiple and multiply it by final year revenue (if using EV/Revenue) or final year EBITDA (if using EV/EBITDA).
Detailed Discounted Cash Flow Concepts to Review
Levered vs. Unlevered Free Cash Flow
Unlevered Free Cash Flows find the cash flow that is available to all investors (both debt and equity). Unlevered free cash flows should be discounted using WACC.
Levered Free Cash Flow represents the cash flow that is available to just equity investors (after debt investors have been paid). This adjusts for mandatory debt repayments and interest expense. Levered Free Cash Flows should be discounted using CAPM or the cost of equity.
Diluted Shares Outstanding
Diluted Shares Outstanding take into account basic shares outstanding and all options that are in the money. It is the worst case scenario for the number of shares outstanding.
What is the problem with the Discounted Cash Flow Analysis?
The DCF is based on projections of the analyst performing the analysis and therefore if you put garbage in for your projections, your intrinsic share price will be meaningless.
Reading About a DCF for an investment banking interview?
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id probably add in how u calculate wacc
and what kind of assumptions you make at the start
Looks good just make sure you can defend your statements if they begin to pick i.e. (want to use Levered/Unlevered Beta in WACC, drawbacks to DCF, UFCF considerations etc.)
What if they asked you what issues could arise a from using the multiple method and how'd you justify using that.
Yeah also you need to explain everything. Why free cash flow? What time frame? Why that time frame? Why EBITDA? Why not another multiple? When would you use another multiple? What exactly is WACC? Conceptually, what is CAPM? What is the equity risk premium that you will be using? Why is that correct? What is next? You have done a DCF, what do you do with it? Why is it important to what we do here?
Not trying to be a dick, have legitimately been asked all these and more when I interviewed at Moelis and Company.
I can answer some of those, but Im not sure how deep they would want me to get.
I disagree with this - don't go into more detail than what you have to. otherwise you are bound to get yourself into unnecessary trouble. that being said, you should be able to answer all the questions from the post above, as they are likely to come up in the context of valuations.
Personally, this is how I would go about it (similar to you, but with a few alterations):
First give a 1 or 2 sentence introduction of what a DCF is (ie, an intrinsic valuation of a company based on its FCF). This is the order I'd walk through the steps:
-Project a company's FCF -Calculate the company's discount rate (WACC if using unlevered FCF/cost of equity if levered) (I like mentioning the discount rate at this point because you could theoretically need it to calculate the Terminal value) -Calculate a company's TV (briefly mention the two ways you could do this - gordon growth or multiples method) -Discount the FCF and TV and sum up everything to derive firm's intrinsic value -If need to get to Implied Equity Value, then walk through necessary adjustments; create sensitivities since you want to look a range of values.
once you are done, then ask the interviewer if he/she would like you to go into more detail. chances are they will want you to, but this approach minimizes the chances of you "losing" your interviewer by talking to much and appearing to be out of focus.
i dont think anyone wants a story.
I hit the main points. if they ask follow up questions i answer them.
Walk me through a DCF. (Originally Posted: 10/14/2010)
how detailed did you get?
hit main points and let interviewer ask you follow-up questions... no reason to talk yourself in a hole right off the bat
acrnymous check inbox
3 main things you need:
we project operating performance of the company into the future (5 years normally) and calculate free cash flow from this.
calculate the wacc as weighted average of cost of debt and equity... use this to discount the free cash flows calculated in our projection period.
use either exit multiple method or perpetuity growth method to estimate terminal value. for EMM, we assume the company will sell for a similar TEV/EBITDA multiple at the end of the projection period. for PGM, we assume the company will grow at a certain rate forever, so we use the formula to get terminal value and then discount that back to time 0.
that should be all you need... they'll ask follow up questions.
Know the strengths and weaknesses of the analysis, how it compares to other valuation methods, etc. Other than that don't go into too much detail, you don't wanna bore them. I typically get a couple of follow up questions at the end and usually they interrupt at certain points if they want you to get more detailed
ibankingfaq.com actually gives a really great summary on this question too... I would mention that DCF tends to be the most variable of the three main valuation methodologies due to the transaction assumptions you undertake
and as others mentioned there's no need to talk yourself into a corner... if you hit the main points the interviewer will most likely be sufficed... worst case if you are unsure you can ask if that's what they were looking for or if they wanted more detail...
Answer "walk thru dcf" question (Originally Posted: 10/14/2010)
Do not start this answer off by blabbering about the WACC or expounding about market trends to project revenues or any crap like that. That will just make you sound like you don't know the answer to the question. Give them the step by step process of how you make this calculation. You're interviewing to be an analyst that will spend countless hours processing. You're answering a question about whether you know how to process the numbers you've been given. So, tell them about the process.
As for how "in depth" you get - as you can see this is not rocket science. It doesn't really get a whole lot "deeper" than what you see above.
The only question I ask is if its a Levered DCF or Unlevered DCF. Important distinction.
Yup. But that's about it.
There is no such thing as an "unlevered" or "levered" DCF.
There is, however "unlevered" and "levered" FCF's being used to calculate the discounted cash flows.
For all intents and purposes, assume you are using unlevered free cash flows and baking in the cost of debt into the WACC when you discount those cash flows.
That's it.
so you don't say anything more specific about how you project the B/S and derive the CF statement and maknig the model balance, etc?
Dont answer questions you weren't asked, dude.
^^jamar for a DCF you're just using basic projection assumptions, most (if not all) of the time you're not going to build a CF or BS statement, you'll just use assumptions for capex (% of D&A typically) & working cap.
really......so only three-statement for merger/lbo models? how do you project interest income/expense? EBIT margin assumptions, etc?
should we define the equations?
you're a sophmore- i'd like to see you put together a three-statement
go easy on me
you're a sophmore- i'd like to see you put together a three-statement
Thanls for the response jhoratio, please check inbox
You don't need to project interest income/expense for a dcf, you're tax affecting your EBIT so it's not involved. You're not going to project based on EBIT margins (usually), but rather EBITDA margins since this is your starting point in the DCF. These are based on a number of different assumptions, but in reality you use either management guidance or research estimates. 3 statements models are used for full merger models and LBOs, which are not as common anymore as a quick DCF analysis.
Keyboard is right, usually you just have EBITDA and you just subtract out the provision for taxes that you see in the income statements you have. Makes it easier, which is what investment banking is really all about.
So,
EBITDA Less: taxes Less: Capex Less: Increase in NWC
equals
FCF
Where is a part about adjusting WACC and/or other assumptions in order to get the final value your MD wants to see?
Lol +1
This is funny. We were finalizing a pitch yesterday and our valuation field was tight, except DCF was an outlier, quite a bit above the rest. Since we wanted DCF in line with our other valuation methods ("slightly higher"), my MD goes to me, "why are we running this at 15% WACC?" Well, because we ran our comps WACC template and that's what it is, approx. 15%. "Screw that. Keep bumping it up until the top part of the valuation reaches $x." Ended up being 22.5%... and he was cool with it.
So for those of you prospective monkeys who think posters like The Phantom are kidding with shit like this, or at least embellishing... he's not.
is this what bankers use in pitches, etc? and then if a deal comes around, they three statement it?
vert good post, helpful, as i flubbed that one
I would note that for insurance companies (not brokers) a 3 statement is often needed due to required capital etc.
I always tried to keep this answer very broad so the follow up questions would be easy. I didn't give much detail and it always seemed to work:
1) project cash flows for an explicit period 2) calculate terminal value 3) determine discount rate 4) discount back to pv 5) sum pv's and that's NPV
Follow up's to this answer are usually easy questions like how do you get terminal value and how do you get a discount rate.
This approach never failed when I was interviewing.
.
I always find these "walk me through" model questions to be hard in live interviews... despite the fact that I can easily build a DCF... it's just ASKING you to forget something / skip over something... there's pressure, etc... I'd prefer a "harder" but pointed/focused technical question
Yes, you need to first calculate a discount rate before you can calculate a terminal value.
Thought I'd go through it as a personal exercise.
Out of curiosity, analysts on this board, how long does it take you to do a DCF? How long did it take you when you first started?
save
^agreed
^agreed
Walk me through a DCF... Better be ready for this one. (Originally Posted: 02/08/2012)
Wall Street Mentor Joe provides guidance on the frequently covered interview topic: walk me through a DCF...
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a dirty cash fiasco?
Walk through DCF starting at EBITDA (Originally Posted: 12/13/2014)
I know how walk through DCF but got asked to start with EBITDA...how do I proceed?
Assuming that your interviewer is assessing your knowledge of Unlevered FCF, you would simply subtract D&A from your EBITDA to get EBIT (this is to ensure that it is unaffected by the Tax Shield). Then you would go ahead with the standard equation: Unlevered FCF = EBIT(1-Tc) + D&A - CapEx - Change in Working Capital
Thank you SingularityVC!
As an exercise to get your head around this, look at an lbo model from macabacus.com. You should be able to see how you walk from EBITDA down to FCF. Post-debt service and tax, you then can see FCF to equity. That's the basis for your DCF inputs.
Thank you SSits!
Can someone walk me through a DCF valuation (interview question) (Originally Posted: 08/19/2015)
Can someone walk me through their answer as to how a DCF is used to value a company as if this question was asked in an interview? Just curious to know how people structure their answers and how in depth you really need to go.
Also just a side note, if I am building a DCF, do I have to include other expenses such as R&D, wages and such as other line items or can i just lump them into SG&A?
bump
Solid answer, especially the Greece part - funny, but true.
Also Ke=CAPM..just me being nitpicky
DCF Interview (Originally Posted: 04/25/2016)
When interviewing for a corporate finance role and you're asked to build a DCF model, is it necessary to build the three statements with all their assumptions before building your DCF valuations?
Depends on the time available. Typically, they'd ask you to build a 3 statement operating model if they wanted the whole thing. I'd interpret DCF as just the actual analysis
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