Foundation of Equity Valuation and Analysis

4 Credits.

This course provides a practical framework for analyzing businesses, interpreting financial information, and understanding how opportunities are presented for decision making. Students gain an understanding of how investment opportunities are assessed, both qualitatively and quantitatively. They learn to ask the right questions, interpret financial metrics, build a base valuation model, and present their findings to investors. The first part focuses on understanding the financial value of an investment opportunity. Students work through a guided case study while learning analytical tools investors use to evaluate businesses. Tools include financial statement analysis, investment metrics, and income valuation methods in order to help understand how investors gather information, analyze financial performance, and estimate the value of a company. The second part focuses on applying these tools in an investment decision-making context. Students will shift from learning the analytical framework to preparing their own investment analysis. Topics include credit analysis, risk assessment, and developing an investment thesis. The course will conclude with students presenting and defending their investment analysis with feedback from practitioners in the field. This course is open to enrollment by MIEF students only.