Financial Modeling & Valuation + Website A Practical Guide to Investment Banking and Private Equity

As underwriters for companies issuing securities, investment bankers put a lot on the line every day. That's why, before committing to a particular business, they go to great lengths to develop as clear and detailed a picture as possible of that company's current financial standing¿and generate an accurate projection of its future performance. Likewise, as facilitators of mergers and acquisitions, investment bankers are tasked with finding answers to crucial questions such as, "How much is the company really worth? Is its stock overvalued or undervalued, and, if so, what is the most correct stock price?" But when it comes right down to it, investment bankers aren't all that different from you or any investor looking to make money in the stock market. Unlike you, though, the big banks employ armies of analysts trained in the most sophisticated financial modeling techniques. Designed to balance the scales and give individual investors like you the same competitive edge as today's most prestigious investment banks, Financial Modeling and Valuation arms you with many of the same analytical tools and techniques used by the likes of Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, and Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Written for complete novices and experienced professionals alike, Financial Modeling and Valuation is a highly accessible, step-by-step guide to understanding and performing fundamental analysis and stock valuation. Author Paul Pignataro, founder and CEO of the world-renowned New York School of Finance, takes a unique approach to educating you in the fundamental tools for assessing the soundness of a stock investment. Building on a book-length case study of Walmart, he shows you how to perform a deep-dive analysis of that company's financial standing, walking you through all the steps of developing a sophisticated financial model using a downloadable Excel template. While the first part of the book is devoted to building a complete financial model of past and future performance, the second part focuses on stock valuation. Once again taking Walmart as the example, Pignataro clearly and methodically shows you how to use the three analytical methods used by Wall Street analysts to determine whether a stock is overvalued, undervalued, or valued appropriately: comparable company analysis, discounted cash flow analysis, and precedent transaction analysis. As an added bonus, the Financial Modeling and Valuation companion website features a downloadable version of the Walmart model template, along with additional case studies, exercises, test questions, and a practice model and solution to let you test and fine-tune your analytical skills. Schooling you in time-tested financial modeling and stock valuation techniques used by analysts at the world's top investment banks, Financial Modeling and Valuation will help you make smarter, more rational investment decisions.