Lecture

Valuing Firms and Projects

Graph Chat

Chat with Graph Search

Ask any question about EPFL courses, lectures, exercises, research, news, etc. or try the example questions below.

DISCLAIMER: The Graph Chatbot is not programmed to provide explicit or categorical answers to your questions. Rather, it transforms your questions into API requests that are distributed across the various IT services officially administered by EPFL. Its purpose is solely to collect and recommend relevant references to content that you can explore to help you answer your questions.

In course

FIN-401: Introduction to finance

The course provides provides an introduction to valuation techniques, investment decisions, asset valuation and portfolio choice, financing decisions, derivatives pricing, and sustainable finance. ...

Description

This lecture covers the main method for valuing firms and projects, which is discounting cash flows (DCF method). It explains the four steps to determine firm/project value, including estimating free cash flows, discount rate, and terminal value. The importance of using cash flows rather than earnings in finance is emphasized, with a detailed explanation of the adjustments needed to convert earnings to cash flows. The lecture also delves into the principles governing accounting earnings measurement and the impact of financing on cash flows. Various examples and calculations are provided to illustrate the concepts discussed.

Instructor

Erwan Morellec

ERWAN MORELLEC is Swiss Finance Institute Professor and Professor of Finance at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland. He is also the Head of the SFI Léman Centre, the Head of the SFI nation-wide PhD Program, and a CEPR Research Fellow. Formerly on the faculties of the Simon School of Business of the University of Rochester (USA) and HEC Lausanne (Switzerland), he holds a Ph.D. in Finance from HEC Paris. Professor Morellec is most active in the areas of corporate finance and banking and has taught several courses on these subjects to undergraduate, MBA, and doctoral students. His recent research examines the effects of prudential regulation on banks' insolvency risk or the effects of financial market imperfections on corporate investment, financing, and risk management decisions. His research has been presented at major academic conferences and seminar series around the world and is published in top rated academic journals such as the Journal of Finance, the Journal of Financial Economics, the Review of Financial Studies, and the Journal of Economic Theory. He has received several research and teaching awards.

Official source

Ontological neighbourhood

Business

Finance: Corporate finance

Accounting: Financial accounting

Related concepts (32)

Discounted cash flow

The discounted cash flow (DCF) analysis, in finance, is a method used to value a security, project, company, or asset, that incorporates the time value of money. Discounted cash flow analysis is widely used in investment finance, real estate development, corporate financial management, and patent valuation. Used in industry as early as the 1700s or 1800s, it was widely discussed in financial economics in the 1960s, and U.S. courts began employing the concept in the 1980s and 1990s.

Valuation using discounted cash flows

Valuation using discounted cash flows (DCF valuation) is a method of estimating the current value of a company based on projected future cash flows adjusted for the time value of money. The cash flows are made up of those within the “explicit” forecast period, together with a continuing or terminal value that represents the cash flow stream after the forecast period. In several contexts, DCF valuation is referred to as the "income approach".

Free cash flow

In financial accounting, free cash flow (FCF) or free cash flow to firm (FCFF) is the amount by which a business's operating cash flow exceeds its working capital needs and expenditures on fixed assets (known as capital expenditures). It is that portion of cash flow that can be extracted from a company and distributed to creditors and securities holders without causing issues in its operations. As such, it is an indicator of a company's financial flexibility and is of interest to holders of the company's equity, debt, preferred stock and convertible securities, as well as potential lenders and investors.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization

A company's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (commonly abbreviated EBITDA, pronounced iːbɪt'dɑː, ə'bɪtdɑː, or 'ɛbɪtdɑː) is a measure of a company's profitability of the operating business only, thus before any effects of indebtedness, state-mandated payments, and costs required to maintain its asset base. It is derived by subtracting from revenues all costs of the operating business (e.g. wages, costs of raw materials, services ...

Corporate finance

Corporate finance is the area of finance that deals with the sources of funding, and the capital structure of corporations, the actions that managers take to increase the value of the firm to the shareholders, and the tools and analysis used to allocate financial resources. The primary goal of corporate finance is to maximize or increase shareholder value. Correspondingly, corporate finance comprises two main sub-disciplines.

Related lectures (64)

Principles of Finance: Valuing Firms and Projects

Covers the valuation of firms and projects through cash flow discounting and explains the difference between earnings and cash flows.

Principles of Finance: Cash Flows and Earnings

Explores the core principles of finance, focusing on cash flows, earnings, and accounting measurements.

Principles of Finance: APV and Debt Levels

Covers Adjusted Present Value and debt levels' impact on interest tax shields and project valuation.

Principles of Finance: Stock Valuation and Investment Strategies

Explores stock valuation, risk-return relationship, and portfolio returns based on weights.

Principles of Finance: Risk and Return