Open Sources is an Author Experience series that focuses on free investment-related tools from across the Web. (Estimating the present value of a future stream of cash flows is essential to investing.

Figuring out what a company's shares are worth is easier said than done. The stock market attempts to value businesses based on their futures, but at best, it's still based on little more than ...

Discounted cash flow valuations are one of several corporate finance valuation models that investment professionals use to determine the value of stocks. Proponents of this valuation method argue that ...

DCF model estimates stock value by discounting expected future cash flows to present value. Using multiple valuation methods with DCF can enhance accuracy in stock evaluations. DCF's effectiveness is ...

A discounted cash flow, or DCF, analysis measures the value of a business or project, such as a new factory for your small business. This value equals the sum of all of the project's future annual ...

DCF valuation helps you figure out what an investment is worth today based on projected cash flows by adjusting for risk and time. A critical weakness in many DCF models lies in the terminal value — ...

Investors often lean into valuation ratios to determine what a company’s stock is worth. Why? Such ratios are easy to calculate and easy to find. Price/earnings ratio: A stock’s price divided by the ...

The discounted cash flow model is a time-tested approach to estimate a fair value for any stock investment. Here's a basic primer on how to use it. Figuring out what a company's shares are worth is ...