In this post, we discuss the distinction between returns on legacy vs. new investments and how they may be useful in assessing the impact of disruption. Last week, we wrote a post on what according to us is the biggest mistake that people commit while doing a DCF valuation. In that post, we took a … Continue reading A follow up to the “biggest mistake in a DCF”
Why do investors not get compensated for diversifiable risk?
One of the tenets of modern finance is that risk is seen from the perspective of the marginal investor[1]. In publicly traded firms, it is highly likely that the marginal investor is well diversified[2] and hence concerned about only about market risk[3]. It follows therefore, that all investors must also consider only market risk no … Continue reading Why do investors not get compensated for diversifiable risk?
Can equity risk premiums predict market direction?
Equity risk premiums are useful. But can they alone tell whether the market is over- or under-valued? We take a closer look in the below article... A fellow student in the online valuation class of NYU recently requested my thoughts on a report from a top bank regarding equity risk premiums (“ERP”). The crux of … Continue reading Can equity risk premiums predict market direction?
Why net depreciation from capex for computing reinvestment rate
We recently came across a question on Quora about why Prof. Damodaran subtracts “depreciation from capex when computing the reinvestment rate of a business.” It further goes on to state the following: "In his book, [Prof. Damodaran] seems to argue that depreciation is a cash inflow that pays for a part of capex, but I don't … Continue reading Why net depreciation from capex for computing reinvestment rate
Long term vs. short term investors – a correct distinction?
On 14 October, Samir Arora, founder of Helios Capital, posed the following question on his twitter account: It was a nice way of highlighting the apparent contradiction that a lot of market commentators fall into when categorising investors as short term and long term. In our view, there are simply investors on the one hand … Continue reading Long term vs. short term investors – a correct distinction?
The Biggest Problem with Price-to-Sales Ratio
The problem of inconsistency and how it can lead to erroneous conclusions... Ratios (or multiples) are a popular tool that many analysts employ to identify cheap stocks. Similar ratios (such as a Price-to-Earnings, Price-to-Sales, etc.) are compared across firms and a company with a lower multiple is considered cheap relative to one that has a … Continue reading The Biggest Problem with Price-to-Sales Ratio
Estimating an Equity Risk Premium for India
Note: The concept of implied equity risk premium has been developed by Prof. Aswath Damodaran. In this article, we apply his methods to determine an implied equity risk premium for India. One of the most popular ways of valuing a company is to do a discounted cash flow valuation. According to this method, the value … Continue reading Estimating an Equity Risk Premium for India
Demystifying Internal Rate of Return
And why firms use it as a measure of investment performance... Note: The concepts discussed in this article are meant for those who have studied finance at some point If you've studied finance at any point in your life, you would have come across the concept of Internal Rate of Return ("IRR") - the rate at which … Continue reading Demystifying Internal Rate of Return