Paperback: 864 pages
Publisher: Wiley; 5 edition (July 26, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0470424702
ISBN-13: 978-0470424704
Product Dimensions: 7 x 1.6 x 10 inches
Shipping Weight: 3.3 pounds
Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (82 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #300,662 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #37 in Books > Business & Money > Finance > Corporate Finance > Valuation #412 in Books > Textbooks > Business & Finance > Finance #1938 in Books > Textbooks > Business & Finance > Economics
I have to begin with a gripe. The first four reviews are implausibly quick, given the length of this book, and are all five-star. Three are from people who reviewed only one product, one is completely devioid of content. The fifth reviewer has reviewed one other product, a razor. I understand the temptation to stuff the ballot-box early by having friends review, but I think you should find real reviewers and insist on some content.There are several great valuation books out there. Damodaran on Valuation concentrates on security valuation and is the most academic. Business Valuation is the best for small, private companies. Business Valuation on Wall Street tells you how Wall Street approaches the question. Theory of Valuation is the best on theory. Corporate Finance has the best treatment of valuation among corporate finance texts.Earlier editions of this book were the clear leaders in big and complex public company valuation.
This is a good book on valuation by applying the discounted cash flow methodology. The book is worth four stars, because it is in no way a perfect book. The book is now in its fifth edition so the material on DCF analysis is solid in my opinion. It covers basics as well as interesting extensions, but also has glaring gaps. For instance you do not get any information about valuing the cost of working capital requirements. The links to accounting are also weak, you would imagine the book would have a section on accounting ratios like ROA, RONA, ROCE. How can you forecast the future without having a good grasp of the past???The book is much weaker when it discusses how to actually forecast cash flows and how the stock market functions. We get to estimate the second decimal of WACC, but hardly learn anything about market share estimation.Instead some fairly junior consultants have read some of the academic literature and done a valiant attempt to summarize it in a traditional consulting style (i.e. with managerial implications). This is actually a bit silly. The content is interesting but the authoritative voice of the authors is a clear sign that they do not know as much as they believe they do. During the last ten years the trend in academic finance has been towards building micro-foundations based on a more realistic description of human actors. The fully rational man is long gone in cutting-edge finance research. I do not think the authors of this book has fully understand the implications of this sea change. They bravely quote research papers (that they don't really understand), but in the end conclude that the markets are so close to rational so one can proceed as if.
On a basic level there are two competing mental models of stock values in the financial sector. The first is that the value of something is what someone is prepared to pay for that something. In the equity market this leads to statements such as "the valuation of a stock is low" if the current market pricing of the stock is historically low compared to, for example, the estimate of the near term future earnings. The other model is based on that a company has a fundamental intrinsic value that is separate from the market pricing of its equity. This book is about both how to estimate this intrinsic value and also on how to create it.Out of all the books reviewed on this website Valuation is probably the one that sits on most shelves behind workstations of employees in the financial sector. The reason is that most of us have had it as a text book at university, but compared to all the other text books this one is also a handbook in corporate valuation that is used by practitioners. For those who use the concept of intrinsic value, cash flow valuation has become the standard methodology and Valuation is the standard source material. The book is mandatory reading for persons within corporate finance, venture capital and private equity who are slightly less close to the public stock market. It is less widely used by portfolio managers or sell side analysts who often look to shorter time horizons.There are obviously competing text books on valuation such as Damodaran on Valuation. Where professor Aswath Damodaran's writing is academic and covers more ground with regards to different aspects of securities valuation, Valuation is a practical book that connects valuation to corporate strategy and value based management.
Valuation: Measuring and Managing the Value of Companies, University Edition, 5th Edition Valuation: Measuring and Managing the Value of Companies, Fourth Edition, University Edition Valuation: Measuring and Managing the Value of Companies, University Edition (Wiley Finance) Valuation: Measuring and Managing the Value of Companies, 5th Edition Valuation: Measuring and Managing the Value of Companies, 3rd Edition Valuation: Measuring and Managing the Value of Companies (Wiley Finance) Valuation + DCF Model Download: Measuring and Managing the Value of Companies (Wiley Finance) Corporate Valuation: Measuring the Value of Companies in Turbulent Times (Wiley Finance) The Valuation of Financial Companies: Tools and Techniques to Measure the Value of Banks, Insurance Companies and Other Financial Institutions (The Wiley Finance Series) Investment Valuation: Tools and Techniques for Determining the Value of Any Asset, Second Edition, University Edition Investment Valuation: Tools and Techniques for Determining the Value of any Asset, University Edition Valuation for M&A: Building Value in Private Companies Measuring and Improving Social Impacts: A Guide for Nonprofits, Companies, and Impact Investors Practical Lean Accounting: A Proven System for Measuring and Managing the Lean Enterprise, Second Edition Strategic Brand Management: Building, Measuring, and Managing Brand Equity, 4th Edition Social Media ROI: Managing and Measuring Social Media Efforts in Your Organization (Que Biz-Tech) Investment Banking: Valuation, Leveraged Buyouts, and Mergers and Acquisitions + Valuation Models Business Valuation for Business Owners: Master a Valuation Report, Find the Perfect Business Appraiser and Save Your Company from the Looming Disasters That You Don't Yet Know About Valuation Workbook: Step-by-Step Exercises and Tests to Help You Master Valuation Valuation Workbook: Step-by-Step Exercises and Tests to Help You Master Valuation + WS (Wiley Finance)