Guide to making accurate business valuations based on investing metrics that matter

In The Little Book of Valuation: How to Value a Company, Pick a Stock, and Profit, professor and economist Aswath Damodaran guides readers through the fundamentals and step-by-step process of picking winning companies to invest in. In the book, you'll learn how to make your own accurate valuation assessments, avoiding common pitfalls and mistakes along the way.

From widespread misunderstandings to undeniable truths in valuation, the author covers exactly where to turn your attention to when assessing a company's value based on a myriad of factors, with stories and real examples included throughout to prepare you for any modern investing challenge you may find yourself facing. You'll also learn:

• Simple but extremely effective valuation tools and formulas for success
• The complex relationship between assets, debt, equity, and business value
• Special market considerations regarding valuation that require a dynamic approach

Rather than relying on third-party sources--often drawing from the same public information that you have access to, but getting it wrong--The Little Book of Valuation, Updated Edition gives readers all the insight and practical tools they need to cut through the noise and arrive at their own accurate valuations, pick profitable stocks, and establish successful long-term portfolios.

THE KEY TO UNDERSTANDING COMPANY GROWTH AND DECLINE --FROM THE UNDISPUTED EXPERT ON VALUATION

Throughout his storied career, Aswath Damodaran has searched for the universal key to demystify corporate finance and valuation. Now, at last, he offers the groundbreaking answer to readers everywhere.

It turns out there is a corporate lifecycle very much like our own -- with unique stages of growth and decline. And just as we must learn to act our age, so too must companies.

By better understanding how corporations age and the characteristics of each stage of their lifecycle, we can unlock the secrets behind any businesses behavior and optimize our management and investment decisions accordingly.

In Aswath Damodaran's The Corporate Life Cycle, readers will learn--

• What markers tell where a company falls on its corporate lifecycle, and crucial insights for managers as they navigate the different stages
• Why the shape and timing of life cycles varies across different industries
• When transition points pose special challenges to companies--and strategies to conquer them
• How differences in investment philosophies, in particular the divide between growth and value investing, should lead investors towards companies at different lifecycle stages

As the corporate lifecycle touches virtually every aspect of business, this book is for anyone with skin in the corporate finance game--from managers to investors, from novices to seasoned pros. Aswath Damodaran's The Corporate Life Cycle is the definitive guide to understanding businesses growth, behavior, and value.

How can a company that has never turned a profit have a multibillion dollar valuation? Why do some start-ups attract large investments while others do not? Aswath Damodaran, finance professor and experienced investor, argues that the power of story drives corporate value, adding substance to numbers and persuading even cautious investors to take risks. In business, there are the storytellers who spin compelling narratives and the number-crunchers who construct meaningful models and accounts. Both are essential to success, but only by combining the two, Damodaran argues, can a business deliver and sustain value.

Through a range of case studies, Narrative and Numbers describes how storytellers can better incorporate and narrate numbers and how number-crunchers can calculate more imaginative models that withstand scrutiny. Damodaran considers Uber's debut and how narrative is key to understanding different valuations. He investigates why Twitter and Facebook were valued in the billions of dollars at their public offerings, and why one (Twitter) has stagnated while the other (Facebook) has grown. Damodaran also looks at more established business models such as Apple and Amazon to demonstrate how a company's history can both enrich and constrain its narrative. And through Vale, a global Brazil-based mining company, he shows the influence of external narrative, and how country, commodity, and currency can shape a company's story. Narrative and Numbers reveals the benefits, challenges, and pitfalls of weaving narratives around numbers and how one can best test a story's plausibility.

Updated edition of the definitive guide to investment valuation tools and techniques

Investment Valuation: Tools and Techniques for Determining the Value of Any Asset delves into valuation techniques for a variety of different asset classes, including real options, start-up firms, unconventional assets, distressed companies and private equity, real estate, and many more, and explains how to choose the right model for any given asset valuation scenario. The models are presented with real-world examples so as to capture some of the problems inherent in applying these models, with discussion of differences and common elements between the models to provide readers with a holistic understanding of the subject matter.

Written by a professor of finance who is widely regarded as one of the best educators and thinkers on the topic of investment valuation, this newly revised and updated Fourth Edition explores topics including:

• Understanding financial statements, the basics of risk, and tests and evidence for market efficiency
• Estimating risk parameters and costs of financing, terminal value, and equity value per share
• Using scenario analysis, decision trees, and simulations for probabilistic approaches in valuation

Investment Valuation: Tools and Techniques for Determining the Value of Any Asset is an essential resource for all investors and students of financial markets seeking an all-in-one guide to expand their valuation knowledge and make better investment decisions.

The definitive source of information on all topics related to investment valuation tools and techniques

Valuation is at the heart of any investment decision, whether that decision is buy, sell or hold. But the pricing of many assets has become a more complex task in modern markets, especially after the recent financial crisis. In order to be successful at this endeavor, you must have a firm understanding of the proper valuation techniques. One valuation book stands out as withstanding the test of time among students of financial markets and investors, Aswath Damodaran'sInvestment Valuation.

Now completely revised and updated to reflect changing market conditions, this third edition comprehensively introduces students and investment professionals to the range of valuation models available and how to chose the right model for any given asset valuation scenario. This edition includes valuation techniques for a whole host of real options, start-up firms, unconventional assets, distressed companies and private equity, and real estate. All examples have been updated and new material has been added.

• An expansion of ancillaries include updated online databases, spreadsheets, and other educational support tools
• Fully revised to incorporate valuation lessons learned from the last five years, from the market crisis and emerging markets to new types of equity investments
• Revised examples of company valuations such as companies from Eastern Europe and Africa, which stress the global nature of modern valuation
• Author Aswath Damodaran is regarded as one of the best educators and thinkers on the topic of investment valuation

This indispensable guide is a must read for students wishing to gain a better understanding of investment valuation and its methods. With it, you can take the insights and advice of a recognized authority on the valuation process and immediately put them to work for you.

The Definitive Guide to Valuing Hard-to-Value Companies: Fully Revised for Today's Financial Markets

Valuing money-making companies that have long histories and established business models is straightforward. It is when you encounter difficult-to-value companies that you feel the urge to go over to the dark side of valuation--where you abandon first principles and create new metrics. Aswath Damodaran looks at a range of these companies, from start-ups in new businesses to distressed companies, from banks facing regulatory turmoil to commodity firms, and from emerging market upstarts to multinationals that spread across geographies and businesses. With each grouping, he helps you examine the call of the dark side and its practices and frameworks to value these firms.

To answer these questions, Aswath looks at companies across the life cycle and in different markets, from Uber and Shake Shack at one end of the spectrum to Vale, Royal Dutch, and United Technologies at the other end.

In the process, you learn how to

• Deal with abnormally low and negative risk-free rates in valuation
• Adapt to dynamic and changing risk premiums
• Value young companies that are disrupting existing businesses
• Analyze commodity and cyclical companies across cycles
• Value a company as the sum of its parts or as an aggregation of its users/subscribers and customers
• Determine the difference between pricing and valuation, and why some investments can only be priced

Updated edition of the definitive guide to investment valuation tools and techniques

Investment Valuation: Tools and Techniques for Determining the Value of Any Asset delves into valuation techniques for a variety of different asset classes, including real options, start-up firms, unconventional assets, distressed companies and private equity, real estate, and many more, and explains how to choose the right model for any given asset valuation scenario. The models are presented with real-world examples so as to capture some of the problems inherent in applying these models, with discussion of differences and common elements between the models to provide readers with a holistic understanding of the subject matter.

Written by a professor of finance who is widely regarded as one of the best educators and thinkers on the topic of investment valuation, this newly revised and updated Fourth Edition explores topics including:

• Understanding financial statements, the basics of risk, and tests and evidence for market efficiency
• Estimating risk parameters and costs of financing, terminal value, and equity value per share
• Using scenario analysis, decision trees, and simulations for probabilistic approaches in valuation

Investment Valuation: Tools and Techniques for Determining the Value of Any Asset is an essential resource for all investors and students of financial markets seeking an all-in-one guide to expand their valuation knowledge and make better investment decisions.

The definitive source of information on all topics related to investment valuation tools and techniques

Valuation is at the heart of any investment decision, whether that decision is buy, sell or hold. But the pricing of many assets has become a more complex task in modern markets, especially after the recent financial crisis. In order to be successful at this endeavor, you must have a firm understanding of the proper valuation techniques. One valuation book stands out as withstanding the test of time among investors and students of financial markets, Aswath Damodaran'sInvestment Valuation.

Now completely revised and updated to reflect changing market conditions, this third edition comprehensively introduces investment professionals and students to the range of valuation models available and how to chose the right model for any given asset valuation scenario. This edition includes valuation techniques for a whole host of real options, start-up firms, unconventional assets, distressed companies and private equity, and real estate. All examples have been updated and new material has been added.

• Fully revised to incorporate valuation lessons learned from the last five years, from the market crisis and emerging markets to new types of equity investments
• Includes valuation practices across the life cycle of companies and emphasizes value enhancement measures, such as EVA and CFROI
• Contains a new chapter on probabilistic valuation techniques such as decision trees and Monte Carlo Simulation
• Author Aswath Damodaran is regarded as one of the best educators and thinkers on the topic of investment valuation

This indispensable guide is a must read for anyone wishing to gain a better understanding of investment valuation and its methods. With it, you can take the insights and advice of a recognized authority on the valuation process and immediately put them to work for you.

Damondaran on Valuation will not only convince you of the vitalityof the many valuation models available to you, it will help ensurethat you develop the acumen needed to select the right model forany valuation scenario.

Written by a gifted teacher and respected valuation authority, Damodaran on Valuation offers systematic examination of the threebasic approaches to valuation - discounted cash-flow valuation, relative valuation, and contingent claim valuation - and thevarious models within these broad categories.

Using numerous real-world examples involving both US andInternational firms, the book illuminates the purpose of eachparticular model, its advantages and limitatations, thestep-by-step process involved in putting the model to work, and thekinds of firms to which it is best applied. Among the toolspresented are designed to:

• Estimate the cost of equity - including the capital asset pricingmodel and arbitrage pricing model
• Estimate growth rates - with coverage of how to arrive at aweighted average of growth rates by blending three separateapproaches
• Value equity - focusing on the Gordon Growth Model and thetwo-and three-stage dividend discount model
• Measure free cash flow to equity - cash flows that are carefullydelineated from the dividends of most firms
• Value firms - including free cash flow to firm models, which areespecially suited to highly leveraged firms
• Estimate the value of assets by looking at the pricing ofcomparable assets - with insight into the use and misuse ofprice/earning and price/book value ratios, and underutilizedprice-to-sales ratios
• Measure the value of assets that share option characteristics -including a comparative look at the classic Black-Scholes andsimpler binomial models

Supported by an optional IBM-compatible disk, which consists ofspreadsheet programs designed to help users apply the modelshighlighted in the book, Damodaran on Valuation providespractitioners involved in securities analysis, portfoliomanagement, M&A, and corporate finance with the knowledge theyneed to value any asset.

Aswath Damodaran, distinguished author, Professor of Finance, and David Margolis, Teaching Fellow at the NYU Stern School of Business, have delivered the newest edition of Applied Corporate Finance. This readable text provides the practical advice students and practitioners need rather than a sole concentration on debate theory, assumptions, or models.

Like no other text of its kind, Applied Corporate Finance, 4th Edition applies corporate finance to real companies. It now contains six real-world core companies to study and follow. Business decisions are classified for students into three groups: investment, financing, and dividend decisions.

Aswath Damodaran is simply the best valuation teacher around. If you are interested in the theory or practice of valuation, you should have Damodaran on Valuation on your bookshelf. You can bet that I do.
-- Michael J. Mauboussin, Chief Investment Strategist, Legg Mason Capital Management and author of More Than You Know: Finding Financial Wisdom in Unconventional Places

In order to be a successful CEO, corporate strategist, or analyst, understanding the valuation process is a necessity. The second edition of Damodaran on Valuation stands out as the most reliable book for answering many of today's critical valuation questions. Completely revised and updated, this edition is the ideal book on valuation for CEOs and corporate strategists. You'll gain an understanding of the vitality of today's valuation models and develop the acumen needed for the most complex and subtle valuation scenarios you will face.

Valuation Approaches and Metrics focuses on the theory and practice of valuation of companies and stocks, providing an invaluable overview of the topic from both a practical and scholarly perspective. Valuation Approaches and Metrics reviews the finance literature on valuation and presents three approaches to valuation: - discounted cash flow valuation relating the value of an asset to the present value of expected future cash flows on that asset. - liquidation and accounting valuation built around valuing the existing assets of a firm using accounting estimates of value or book value - relative valuation estimating the value of an asset by looking at the pricing of 'comparable' assets relative to a common variable like earnings, cash flows, book value or sales. Valuation Approaches and Metrics should be required reading for both finance practitioners and researchers.

The guide for investors who want a better understanding of investment strategies that have stood the test of time

This thoroughly revised and updated edition of Investment Philosophies covers different investment philosophies and reveal the beliefs that underlie each one, the evidence on whether the strategies that arise from the philosophy actually produce results, and what an investor needs to bring to the table to make the philosophy work.

The book covers a wealth of strategies including indexing, passive and activist value investing, growth investing, chart/technical analysis, market timing, arbitrage, and many more investment philosophies.

• Presents the tools needed to understand portfolio management and the variety of strategies available to achieve investment success
• Explores the process of creating and managing a portfolio
• Shows readers how to profit like successful value growth index investors
• Aswath Damodaran is a well-known academic and practitioner in finance who is an expert on different approaches to valuation and investment

This vital resource examines various investing philosophies and provides you with helpful online resources and tools to fully investigate each investment philosophy and assess whether it is a philosophy that is appropriate for you.

Aswath Damodaran is nationally recognized for his teaching approach, using theory and the models that flow from it to understand, analyze and solve problems. He treats corporate finance as a living discipline by making it much more applied than other textbooks. Throughout the text, real companies and real data are used in examples and exercises.