I have been in the finance education space for more than a decade now.
Through this period, have created some content that may be relevant for people who are planning to build a career in finance, or those who want to learn investing.
As there is some overlap between learning
Reliance Industries is considering a 1:1 Bonus.
How is a Bonus different from a Stock Split?
Long post, so grab a ☕️
While the outcome in terms of share price of a 1:1 bonus and 1 into 2 split are the same, the devil is in the details.
Let's compare a 1:1 bonus and a 1 into
TCS is the ranked 2nd by market cap in India
But ranks 6th in Nifty weights
Reliance - largest by market cap, but ranked 2nd in Nifty!
SBI is 7th largest by market cap, but does not appear in top 10 in Nifty weightage.
Why?
The answer lies in the fact that Nifty index is
Did you know?
- Reliance is the largest company by market cap in India
- But HDFC Bank has the largest weight in Nifty!
- TCS is 2nd by market cap, but ranks 7th in Nifty
- Airtel is 4th largest by market cap, but 8th in Nifty weights
- ITC is 10th largest by market cap, but
Can a company trade at a Market Cap below its Net Cash Balances? Check the balance sheet of Mazagon Dock.
When is cash not considered as free cash?
Got a question about this the other day, on why is the company trading at a market cap below its cash and bank balances
1/7
IRR, XIRR, CAGR, Nominal, Real and Rolling Returns!
Some common terms used to express returns in finance
One post that decodes them all
IRR
- The rate of return on cash flows at regular intervals
- Also known as Money Weighted Rate of Return (MWRR), since the timing of cash
NHPC
FY23 Interest = Rs 475 crore
Debt = Approx Rs 27000 crore
Interest Cost = 475 / 27000 which is < 2%
Can interest cost for a company be < the Risk Free Rate?
NHPC financials give a good idea about the concept of capitalization of interest.
Let's deep dive...
1/7
Should a company strive for Negative Working Capital or Positive Working Capital?
This is a very common question in interviews in Finance, and in Financial Analysis. And one that confuses many people. Let's try and understand this.
1/10
Bikaji Foods IPO is opening soon.
It is being priced at a P/E of close to 100.
Is there value for investors at this price point?
Disc: Not a reco. Please do your own research.
1/9
The ROE (Return on Equity) for PI Industries, one of India’s larger Chemical companies, fell from 17% in 2020 to 14% in 2021.
Bad right? Not necessarily.
The profit had grown by 60% in 2021, while sales grew by 35%. So what happened to ROE?
Let’s decode this.
1/7
Maruti owns nearly 40-45% of India’s Passenger Vehicles market.
It can choose to pay its suppliers as late as it wants.
But it does not do that. Why?
Instead, it asks suppliers to setup shop near their factories. Nearly 80% of Maruti’s suppliers are within a 100 km radius of
@ABsay_ek
I haven't seen too many better performances. What heart this guy has.. Nearly broken toe.. and 12 overs on trot...
I really hope Windies find a wind from this win, and rise again as a competitive test team..
"The PEG ratio is better than the P/E ratio"
A common advice by many in markets!
But the ratio has a key FLAW! Let's decode...
First up, What is the PEG Ratio?
It stands for Price Earnings to Growth Ratio.
It is calculated by dividing the P/E ratio of the firm by its
Long Thread. Came across this talk by
@kunalb11
. What a fascinating mind! Fascinating talk, so take out an hour, and watch it. Highly Recommended. Now, onto my major learnings from this, and inferences for investments (1/n)
DMart: 2013 vs 2023
Stores: 62 | 324
Sales: Rs 3341 crore | Rs 42840 crore
OPM: 6% | 8%
Net Profit: Rs 94 crore | Rs 2378 crore
Retail Area: 1.76 mn sq ft | 13.4 mn sq ft
They took 8 years for their first 10 stores, but once they understood the market, the growth followed.
Why do we use EV/EBITDA while valuing some sectors instead of P/E?
Let's take the example of Airtel and IRB Infra to decode this.
EV as we know stands for Enterprise Value
It is broadly given as
EV = Market Cap + Debt - Cash
1/6
Why are cash flows important while evaluating a company?
When we read business media, 95% of the time, if not more, the numbers discussed about companies are sales, profits, margins, and growth in these numbers.
1/6
Bonus vs Stock Split
What is the difference?
In a stock split, the company splits an existing share. 1 share could be divided into 2, 5 or 10.
In a Bonus issue, a company gives additional shares to a shareholder. For every 1 share I hold, I could get more shares.
1/7
Finance is fascinating, if we can link theory to practice.
Here are 16 videos where I try to do so.
Please do share with your network if you think this is useful
1) Financial Statement Analysis of DMart:
2) Financial Statement Analysis of HUL
RBI Monetary Policy Tools Decoded!!
A simple explainer.
Please share this with your network!
RBI uses the following tools to manage its monetary policy
Reserve Ratios
- CRR
- SLR
Policy Rates
- Repo
- SDF
- MSF
Open Market Operations
- RBI Buys Bonds
- RBI Sells Bonds
What
Maithan Alloys - a listed company - has been in news
It has bought some other listed stocks using company cash.
Here is why I think this is a RED FLAG!
Disclaimer: No Reco
1/6
Sorry but if a fund manager is putting 0.25% of the fund AUM in Mamaearth, how does it become a definitive judgement criteria?
Did we ask the same for all other stocks in the portfolio
eg. Nippon Small Cap fund has nearly 200 stocks. Can we name 10 of them?
Selective outrage?
Explain Standard Deviation - as you would to a 10 year old.
Standard Deviation is a measure of Risk in Finance.
But what does it really mean?
Let’s first understand the importance of Standard Deviation.
Take an example from Cricket.
1/7
P/E, P/B, EV/EBITDA, P/Sales
When to use which metric?
Let’s decode with examples
All these are commonly used Relative Valuation metrics, where we are comparing similar companies to find out which one is relatively undervalued. Let us understand the usage
Price to Earnings
7/7
So actual interest outgo is 1700, but accounted under interest cost is 474 for the year. Remaining is added to the capital work in progress (assets)
However,
This OVERSTATES the Interest Coverage,
and UNDERSTATES the cost of debt.
In such cases, the interest cost to be
The Question I get asked most often - How to build a career in Finance?
Giving a basic roadmap of things to know and do.
Of course more can be done, but this is a good starting point it you are confused.
Know the key roles before you plan a career
- What are the roles like?
3 years back, the combined market cap of all PSU Banks (Ex SBI) was Rs 2.9 lakh crore.
It was Rs 4.7 lakh crore 1 year back.
It is Rs 10 lakh crore now!
CAGR of 51% over 3 years!
Return of 113% in the last 1 year!
3 years ago the combined market cap of these banks (11 of
@abhymurarka
An old market quote I heard & have always kept in mind with respect to financials
"In financials, if the stock price is saying one thing, and the management/narrative is saying another, trust the stock price more"
Doesn't work all the time, but does save from big mistakes
What is Goodwill?
This is an interesting concept - also one which many investors falter with.
Let's try and decode this, and look at an interesting example of a company Subex to understand it better!
Long post - so maybe grab a coffee :)
And do share if you like it!
So back
We recently read about Mr Prashant Jain leaving HDFC AMC after a nearly 19 year stint with the AMC. While everyone knows about his brilliance, one less appreciated fact is that he built a stellar career in an industry that doesn't necessarily reward sticking one’s neck out
1/6
Want to Level up your Industry Knowledge?
Go to SEBI's website
Click on Filings -> Public Issues
Click on Final Offer Documents
Pick 1 company every week
Go through Industry Overview + Our Business
Write 20 key points
Revisit notes after 2 weeks
Repeat for 50 weeks!
How to approach Financial Analysis of a Company?
Here is a STEP by STEP guide
Bookmark and Repost it!
Read
- Last 3 Annual Reports
- Last 3-4 Investor Presentations
- Last 4 Quarters Earnings Call Transcript
- News on the Company
- Notes to Accounts in Annual Reports
Input
-
@ravihanda
While I understand the frustration of travellers, I can't understand what is the point of all this aggression against the ground staff.
Wo kya karega. Usko information di gayi hai ki plane late hai.. He is just passing on the bad news..
Really feel for the ground staff in
How to identify Revenue Drivers for any business?
One key question I get in all Equity Valuation/Financial Modeling sessions I conduct
I use a simple method to identify key drivers. Of course this requires an understanding of the business value chain, and business model
1/7
Why falling Return on Equity (ROE) may not always be bad!
Dupont Analysis can help us evaluate
It breaks down the Return on Equity into 3 components.
Take the ROE formula and multiply the numerator and denominator by Sales and Assets.
Then rearrange the terms as shown
1/5
The ROE (Return on Equity) for HUL, fell from 82% in 2020 to 18% in 2022!!
Bad Right? Not necessarily!
Let us use Dupont Analysis to understand
Sales and Profits both grew at 15% CAGR from FY20 to FY22. So what explains the ROE dip?
1/7
What are FCFE and FCFF?
How are the 2 related?
Can I derive one from the other?
Some common interview questions in Finance. Let’s decode.
Please retweet if you find this useful
@finshiksha
1/8
My 7 go-to sources for Industry Research...
Whether a listed company, or a startup, you have to get a sense of the industry before you form a view on the company.
Here are 7 sources where you can get data on the industry
Please retweet if you find this useful!
1/7
Large Cap, Mid Cap and Small Cap definitions should be looked into by SEBI. When these definitions came into being, Nifty was around 11K.
As of today, the 100th company by market cap in India is at Rs 85000 crore.
The 250th company is at around 28000 crore market cap.
So
Millions, Billions, Trillions, Crores, Lakhs!
Many of us struggle with these conversions!
5 shortcuts to help us master these
Please Ddo retweet the thread if you like it
1/7
With all due respect,
this 8-9% is tax free and almost guaranteed return!
Please avoid making sweeping statements.
People invest in these instruments for diversification, guaranteed income and peaceful sleep.
Very few would be investing 100% of their portfolio here.
People think that PF, PPF, EPF is an 'investment'.
Well it is not.
It is ticket to losing your hard earned money -- overtime.
If you refuse to see the problem with earning 8-9% returns on 10/15 year lock-ins, you need to educate yourself about finance.
Interest Coverage Ratio (ICR) Explained!
What is a comfortable level of ICR for a firm?
We know that ICR = EBIT / Interest
Generally, a firm’s EBIT has to be higher than its interest, else it is in default territory.
But what if the ICR is 1.5. Is that fine?
Assume a company
What is the difference between Beta and Correlation?
Let me try and explain it in simple terms
These are 2 commonly confused terms, sometimes wrongly used interchangeably in conversations
But there is a key difference.
Correlation tells us IF 2 variables move together. Are
TCS is ranked second in India based on Market Cap. But contrary to popular opinion, it is not the second highest weighted stock in Nifty.
In terms of weightage in Nifty, it is actually sixth.
Why is that so?
1/7
P/E Ratio (from screener)
DMart – 111
HUL – 62
Titan – 73
Infosys – 30
Tata Steel – 5
What drives this?
While it is incorrect to compare this across sectors –something should explain this diverse range of values.
1/8
Finance should be taught with practical examples!
Why make it a boring subject with just theory?
Some Practical examples to ensure finance is never boring again.
Try and check these.
1/6
Air India’s order of 500 aircrafts is worth atleast USD 70 billion.
Almost Rs 6 lakh crore.
If they borrow this, annual interest itself will be nearly 50K crore on this amount.
How will they pay for this?
Well, they may not need to!
Read on!
1/7
Balance Sheets are generally considered to be confusing statements.
So let's decode them using a practical example of Ultratech Cement.
We only cover the Assets side of a Balance Sheet in this post.
Long post again, so grab a ☕️
We go line by line trying to understand what
Tata Motors has made a combined loss of more than Rs 60K crore in the last 4 years. Yet the stock has not done too badly. What gives?
The key concepts to understand here are Capitalization and Non-cash losses
Let us understand with this example.
1/16
Yen Carry Trade - EXPLAINED
All you need to know about it...
Please note that I have kept the explanation simplistic taking a hypothetical example. In real world trades may be complicated, and may also be hedged to a fair extent.
What is Yen Carry Trade?
Well - Japanese
Read 1 Annual Report (AR) a day for 50 days
Pick 10 companies. Read the last 5 ARs of those.
In each AR - Read
- Letter to shareholders
- Financial Highlights
- Management Discussion & Analysis
- Financial Statements
Watch your finance knowledge grow in 50 days!
How does one learn Financial Analysis?
There are no hacks here. While blogs, books, videos, courses help you take the first steps & guide towards the process of analysis, the only way to learn Financial Analysis is by doing it. Consistent application is the key!
1/5
Let's go back to the balance sheet of Mazagon Dock. You will see a large cash balance, much higher than the market cap. But look at the other side, and you will see a larger figure of contract liabilities.
5/7
Dividend Yield, Dividend Rate and Dividend Payout
What is the difference?
Let's Decode
Taking Canara Bank as an example
Stock Price - Rs 560
FY24 Dividend Declared - Rs 16.1
Face Value - Rs 10
FY24 Earnings Per Share - Rs 84
--Dividend Yield--
This is what you make on your
Where does the government get its money from?
Today we discuss about the fiscal policy. The policy that deals with government expenditure & receipts.
Do you know Income taxes collections have grown at a CAGR of 14% over the past 8 years?
Let’s dive deeper!
1/9
Balance Sheet - All Asset Headers EXPLAINED
Repost if you find this useful
----Non Current Assets first----
📌Plant, Property and Equipment - Any buildings, factories, machinery are included here. This is what the company needs to produce whatever they are producing.
📌
Fiscal Deficit, Revenue Expenditure, Capital Expenditure..
The Budget is coming up in a week.
Let’s understand some key terms, so you can decode it when it comes.
Bookmark this, and share with your network!
Now remember, when individuals make our budget it is more like
Calculate one ratio for 100 firms, instead of 100 ratios for 1 firm!
Super insightful exercise, especially when you are starting..
Take EBITDA Margins of these 30 companies for example...
EBITDA Margins (FY23)
- Dixon Tech: 4%
- SAIL: 7%
- DMart: 8%
- Maruti: 10%
(1/4)
okays..
Hyundai has filed for an IPO. I am reading the Industry Overview Section from their prospectus.
Will keep adding to this thread interesting charts and info that I find.
Bookmark, and Share if you think it adds value..
Thanks!
(1/n)
Is the cash from customer advances? These have to be settled before any cash is distributed to shareholders. It is just money received in advance for services / products that are to be delivered. This is not free cash.
4/7
Want to learn about a business?
- Pick a company
- Pick last 3 years earnings call transcripts
- This would be about 150-200 pages
- Go through them over a week
- Repeat for other companies in the sector
In a month you will have a decent understanding of the business
What is Goodwill?
This is a common question that gets asked a lot in Finance interviews, and a concept which many falter with. The common definition we get is the brand value of the company - but this is wrong!
Let's try and decode this.
1/9
Unpopular Opinion - The people with deep insights are usually the ones who can ask the right set of questions, and not those who have read the most, or try to reach to answers quickly.
1/8
How does a Private Equity / Venture Capital fund work?
The ONLY post you need to read!
I try to simplify finance concepts through my writing. Do consider following if you like the content 🙏
Long post alert :)
First up – Why PE/VC funds are needed?
Ultra rich investors,
HUL's ROE fell from 82% in 2020 to 18% in 2021..
Bad right?
Let's decode
We know that ROE = Net Profit / Equity
Sales and Profits both grew at 15% CAGR from FY20 to FY22.
So profits did not fall.
Then what explains the ROE dip?
This must have been due to Equity value
Voltas has never had profits of more than Rs 600 crore in a year.
Sales has broadly gone up 2.5x in the last decade.
Profits have not really grown.
Still trades at a market cap of Rs 45K crore.
Even assuming highest profit levels over the past decade, trades at 80 times.
Maruti owns nearly 45% of India’s Passenger Vehicles market.
It can choose to pay its suppliers as late as it wants.
But it does not do that.
Why?
Let's understand, and please retweet if you find this thread useful
1/7
How does one interpret a Yield Curve?
Let's decode this.
If I buy a bond at its market price, and hold it till maturity, the return I make is called the Yield to Maturity (YTM)
1/8
Pick a company. Do this over 4 weeks
Week 1: Read Last 3 Annual Reports
Week 2: Read Investor Presentations + Earnings Call Transcripts for past 3 years
Week 3: Input last 4 years data in Excel. Calculate ratios
Week 4: Build a valuation model
Watch your understanding soar!
Balance Sheet key headers Explained!
Let’s learn about the Balance Sheet!
A Balance Sheet is a financial statement that gives the details of the financial position of a company, at a Point of Time.
It is like a snapshot of the business on a date.
1/12
A stock split is just a mathematical adjustment. A bonus is only possible when companies have adequate reserves and is seen as a type of dividend.
This is how the numbers would look like post the split.
@finshiksha
7/7
Airtel - EBITDA Margin : 50%, Net Profit Margin : 9%
IRB Infra - EBITDA Margin : 49%, Net Profit Margin : 11%
What makes EV/EBITDA better than P/E to evaluate such firms?
Read on.
Now, EV = Enterprise Value
Broadly calculated as
EV = Market Cap + Debt - Cash
1/5
Where does the government spend money?
Do you know what is the largest expense for government of India?
It is not
Defence
or Subsidies
It is actually
Interest Payments
Nearly 25% of the total expenditure is Interest Payment
What is the second largest expenditure?
Till
When you think about it, this should usually not happen. If a company has a market cap of Rs 1000 crore, & net cash balance of Rs 1500 crore, you can buy the company today, close it, to get an arbitrage of Rs 500 crore.
But there are cases when this can happen.
2/7
Industry Research is the backbone of Financial Analysis
Here is a 7-step checklist for doing industry analysis!
Before starting
- If you are a beginner, pick up a relatively simpler industry. Something you understand and deal with on a day to day basis (2-wheelers, FMCG,
Can a Low Margin business create value for stakeholders?
If yes, how?
By being really efficient in using their assets.
If a low margin business can generate more sales using a lower asset base, it is likely to generate good ROE and ROCE.
1/8
Do you know which year this is from?
This is from SAIL annual report in 2008.
They were planning to increase capacity to 26 mt by 2010
Guess what is the capacity today?
About 22 mt.
Nothing against the company. Just an example that management plans can change as real life
Should a company strive for Negative Working Capital or Positive Working Capital?
This is a very common question in interviews in Finance, and in Financial Analysis. And one that confuses many people. Let's try and understand this.
1/10
What if the cash is not dispensable? A big cash number on the balance sheet should be checked against liabilities as well. Where has this cash come from?
3/7
Which is the next HDFC Bank?
This question keeps getting asked all the time.
I remember an answer by someone at a forum long back.
HDFC Bank grows at 18-20% per year.
It doubles its profits every 4 years.
So HDFC Bank will create the next HDFC Bank in the next 4 years!
1/3
Why do commodity stocks give huge moves when business cycle turns?
Let's use an example to understand.
While Relative Valuations are difficult to use for Metal companies, I will still go ahead an explain using EV/EBITDA as a metric
Assume a metal company that is generally
Another case where the market may not value cash is if you can’t buy the firm. In 2010, MTNL had a lot of cash. At one point, market cap was below the cash levels in 2009. But as it was a PSU, the arbitrage was not possible. They frittered away all the cash in coming years.
6/7
IPO DRHPs are a great source of information....
But they are also very large documents
What should one focus on in these 500 page documents?
Save this post, and share with your network if you find this useful!
First up, what is an IPO DRHP?
Before going for an IPO, a company
Capital Expenditure by government was Rs 4.2 lakh crore in FY21.
It is proposed to be 10 lakh crore in FY24.
CAGR of 33%!
Sort of operating leverage at play here. Extra tax collected seems to be allocated in capital expenditure.
This is good!
Dupont Analysis - Simplified Illustration...
Dupont Analysis breaks down Return on Equity (ROE) into multiple components. It helps us gauge where the movement in ROE is coming from.
We know that
ROE = Net Profit / Equity
We can rewrite the equation as (by multiplying both
Pick an IPO Prospectus every month
Read
- Industry Overview
- Company Business
- Company Financials
- Risk Factors
- MD&A + History of company
🔎12 months
🔎12 sectors and businesses
See your learning grow in a year...
Industry research is the most critical aspect of Valuation!
Yet, it is rarely taught in a structured way
10 questions to help create a process around it!
When doing industry research, ask these questions to improve your assumptions in a Valuation Model
1/10
Not sure if 100 P/E is justified for a fairly competitive space, where growth hasn’t been great, and existing players have struggled to grow profits. Plus geographical concentration is an issue for Bikaji, with nearly 70% of revenue coming from Rajasthan, Bihar and Assam.
8/9
India Manufacturing PMI was at a 16 year high in March 2024.
But what is PMI?
And how is it calculated?
Read on!
Assume we pick 100 companies. The purchasing managers and supply executives from these companies are asked about economic activity in various segments - broadly