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What do equity analysts do? When I was asked to explain what I do by my parents, who are not familiar with the financial industry, I told them: ‘We try to predict the future of a company.’ Simply put, that's what equity analysts do and, in my view, should be doing.

Talking about the past and the present is relatively straightforward. Talking about the future is more uncomfortable as no one likes uncertainty or being seen to be wrong in front of other people, which is why there is significant value in a quality attempt at predicting the future of a company. To do this, analysts need to understand many things that require a lot of research and investigation. This book provides equity analysts with a number of helpful hints and tools to help them navigate the complex research process, particularly when they are early in their careers.

This is a book for company analysis, not a financial theory book, nor a business school textbook. It aims to be a practical guide on how to survive and thrive during the first few years as an equity research analyst. So, when I refer to ‘we’ or ‘you’ I am referring to new equity analysts. The book contains details of how to discover, analyse, forecast, and evaluate public companies. It has four unique features:

 First, it specifically focuses on company analysis and valuation and does not directly talk about stock investment, although the ultimate aim of our analysis is that the analysis is used for investment decisions. This focus is because we often make the mistake of talking about stock price movement before we fully understand the underlying company value and thus get confused between the two.

 Second, this book does not go into the theoretical definitions of accounting and financial analysis. This is because there are many textbooks available on this subject and most readers have already studied them extensively. Instead, I offer some suggestions and advice on how to implement such metrics in the real world of company analysis.

 Third, a number of specific industries are discussed because characteristics, growth prospects, and valuation methodologies vary substantially by industry. Readers can then apply the content directly to the industries they need to analyse.

 Fourth, by leveraging my background and experience, I tried to make the content as globally applicable as possible. As such, many parts of this book would also be relevant for emerging market analysts.