Getting Started

Running Your First Valuation

This guide walks you through the complete process of valuing a stock with MiniValuator from start to finish. The entire workflow takes under two minutes once you are familiar with the interface.

Step 1: Navigate to the Valuator Page

Open your browser and go to /valuator. This is the main tool page where all valuations are performed. It is free to start, with no subscription required.

Step 2: Enter a Stock Ticker

In the search field at the top of the page, type the ticker symbol for the stock you want to value. For example:

• AAPL for Apple Inc.
• MSFT for Microsoft Corporation
• KO for The Coca-Cola Company

MiniValuator supports publicly traded US stocks. Once you submit the ticker, the tool fetches the company's latest available financial data and pre-populates the model inputs automatically.

Step 3: Review the Auto-Populated Financial Data

After entering a ticker, MiniValuator populates the key inputs needed to run the DCF model. These include:

• Free Cash Flow per Share: Derived from the company's most recent annual free cash flow. The model works on a per-share basis throughout, so there is no separate shares-outstanding step.
• Growth Rate: A default annual growth rate pre-filled from historical performance and analyst expectations, applied across the forecast.
• Discount Rate: A flat 10% by default, fully editable. This is roughly a risk-free rate plus an equity risk premium, applied the same way to every company for comparability — not a per-stock WACC.
• Terminal Value Assumption: By default the model uses an exit multiple equal to the stock's current price-to-free-cash-flow, capped at 30x. You can switch to a perpetuity growth rate instead if you prefer.

The forecast period is fixed at 5 years. Take a moment to review these figures before proceeding. The defaults are starting points, not recommendations. Your own research and judgment should inform any adjustments.

Step 4: Adjust Inputs to Match Your Assumptions

This is where your analysis comes in. MiniValuator is designed to be flexible. Every input can be edited to reflect your own view of the company's future.

Common adjustments include:

• Lowering the growth rate if you believe analyst consensus estimates are too optimistic.
• Raising the discount rate if you want a larger margin of safety built into the model.
• Lowering the terminal value assumption — a smaller exit multiple, or a more conservative perpetuity growth rate — if you think the default is too generous.

As you update each input, the intrinsic value estimate recalculates in real time. You can experiment freely — there is no risk of breaking anything.

Step 5: View Your Intrinsic Value and Margin of Safety

Once your inputs are set, the results panel displays:

• Intrinsic Value Per Share: The estimated fair value of one share based on your DCF assumptions.
• Current Market Price: The stock's latest trading price for comparison.
• Margin of Safety: The percentage difference between intrinsic value and market price. A positive figure suggests the stock may be undervalued relative to your model; a negative figure suggests it may be overvalued.

A margin of safety of 20–30% or more is often cited by value investors as a meaningful buffer against modeling errors and unforeseen business risks.

Step 6: Explore the Sensitivity Heatmap

Below the main results, the sensitivity heatmap displays a 3×3 grid of intrinsic value outcomes across combinations of growth rate and terminal value assumption, holding the discount rate fixed. This helps you answer a critical question: how sensitive is this valuation to changes in my key assumptions?

Use the heatmap to:

• Identify the conditions under which the stock remains undervalued.
• Understand your downside if growth comes in lower than expected.
• Build conviction by seeing how robust the valuation is across scenarios.

For a full explanation of how to read and interpret the heatmap, see the Sensitivity Heatmap documentation.

Tips for First-Time Users

Start with a company you know. Valuing a business you are already familiar with makes it easier to evaluate whether the default inputs seem reasonable.

Do not over-optimize the inputs. It is tempting to dial in assumptions that produce a favorable result. Instead, use conservative estimates and let the margin of safety do its job.

Run multiple scenarios. Try a bull case (higher growth, lower discount rate) and a bear case (lower growth, higher discount rate) to understand the range of possible outcomes.

Cross-reference your inputs. Check the company's historical free cash flow growth, analyst estimates, and industry benchmarks before settling on your assumptions.

For a detailed breakdown of what each input means, how it affects the model, and what ranges are typical, see the DCF Input Parameters documentation.