Table of contents
- 01
Price vs Value — What "Worth It" Actually Means
Two stocks at the same price can be wildly different deals. The job is to spot which one.
- 02
P/E — Paying for Earnings
The most-quoted multiple. Useful when earnings are real and stable. Misleading the rest of the time.
- 03
P/S — When Earnings Don't Exist Yet
Revenue is the easiest line to grow. P/S works when P/E breaks — but it can flatter low-margin businesses.
- 04
P/B — Valuing the Balance Sheet
Built for asset-heavy businesses. Useless for asset-light ones. The trick is knowing which is which.
- 05
EV/EBITDA — Comparing Across Capital Structures
Strips out leverage and accounting choices. The standard tool when companies have different debt loads.
- 06
When Each Ratio Is the Right Tool
Four multiples, four use cases. Pick the wrong one and the answer is meaningless.
- 07
DCF Intuition (Without the Math)
A future dollar is worth less than a present dollar. Every multiple is a shortcut for that one idea.
- 08
Growth vs Value
Two styles, four quadrants. Knowing where a stock actually sits is half the work.
- 09
PEG Ratio
P/E divided by growth. A useful sanity check — until you remember the growth number is a guess.
- 10
Dividend Yield as a Valuation Signal
Yield rises when price falls. Sometimes that's a bargain. Sometimes it's a warning.
- 11
Sector-Normal Multiples
P/E 32 is the median for software. The same number is screaming expensive in banking. Context first.
- 12
Mean Reversion vs Secular Change
Cheap multiples revert — until the business changes. Telling the difference is the whole game.
- 13
Margin of Safety
Your fair-value estimate is itself a guess. The buffer is what protects you when the guess is wrong.
- 14
Common Valuation Traps
The thesis sounds tidy. The pieces it leaves out are usually what kills you.
- 15
Putting It Together — A Valuation Read
Stage capstone. One thesis paragraph; tag every part. This is what a complete read looks like.
Capstone
Start with the distinction every multiple is built on.
Four minutes. By the end of Lesson 1 you'll never confuse price with value again.
Start Lesson 1 →Key terms
- Book value
- DCF (discounted cash flow)
- Discount rate
- Dividend yield
- Earnings per share (EPS)
- Economic moat
- Enterprise value (EV)
- EV/EBITDA
- Forward P/E
- GARP — growth at a reasonable price
- Growth stock
- Intrinsic value
- Margin of safety
- Market price
- Mean reversion
- P/B ratio (price-to-book)
- P/S ratio (price-to-sales)
- PEG ratio
- Present value (PV)
- Price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio
- Secular change
- Trailing P/E
- Value stock
- Value trap