Free Cash Flow: Seeing Through the Accounting Fog Machine to Find Great Stocks - Hardcover

by George C. Christy (Author)

The purpose of this book is to explain Free Cash Flow and how to use it to increase investor return. The author explains the differences between Free Cash Flow and GAAP earnings and lays out the disadvantages of GAAP EPS as well as the advantages of Free Cash Flow. After taking the reader step-by-step through the author's Free Cash Flow statement, the book illustrates with formulas how each of the four deployments of Free Cash Flow can enhance or diminish shareholder return. The book applies the conceptual building blocks of Free Cash Flow and investor return to an actual company: McDonald's. The reader is taken line-by-line through the author's investor return spreadsheet model: (1) three years of McDonald's historical financial statements are modeled; (2) a one-year projection of McDonald's Free Cash Flow and investor return is modeled. Five other restaurant companies are compared to McDonald's and each other using both Free Cash Flow and GAAP metrics.

Front Jacket

For years, GAAP earnings per share was the financial metric of choice for virtually all professional equity investors. However, increasing problems with this approach, combined with a growing appreciation of investment economics, have caused many investors to turn to Free Cash Flow as their primary financial metric.

Even with the growing popularity of Free Cash Flow, the lack of detailed information in this field has made it difficult for many investors to integrate Free Cash Flow into their daily investment discipline. That's why George Christy--a financial executive and corporate banker with over thirty years of experience--has created Free Cash Flow: Seeing Through the Accounting Fog Machine to Find Great Stocks.

Filled with in-depth insights and practical advice, this reliable resource shows you how analyzing a company's financial performance can put you in a better position to pick winning stocks and improve the overall returns of your portfolio. Throughout the book, Christy explains the differences between Free Cash Flow and GAAP earnings, and describes the advantages of Free Cash Flow. He also takes you step by step through the Free Cash Flow Statement(R)--which focuses on the primary drivers of investor return: revenues, cash operating margin, and use of capital--and illustrates how each of the four deployments of Free Cash Flow can enhance or diminish shareholder return.

In order to put the ideas outlined in perspective, Christy applies the conceptual building blocks of Free Cash Flow and investor return to an actual company--McDonald's--and goes line by line through the downloadable Free Cash Flow Worksheet(R) that integrates the primary components of share value into an investor return model. Five other restaurant companies are compared to McDonald's, and each other, using both Free Cash Flow and GAAP metrics.

Rounding out this detailed discussion of Free Cash Flow, Christy shows you how to assess a CEO's commitment to investor return by analyzing three key sources, and explains how to use the Free Cash Flow Worksheet in your stock search, from finding candidates with screeners to making buy, hold, or sell decisions.

Cash is the essence of shareholder value, and with Free Cash Flow as your guide, you'll quickly learn how to use this important metric to find, and profit from, great stocks.

The Free Cash Flow Statement(R) and the Free Cash Flow Worksheet(R) were specifically developed by the author for this book. Be sure to see the detailed Table of Contents on page IX. Free Cash Flow goes where no other investment book has gone before.

Back Jacket

For years, GAAP earnings per share was the financial metric of choice for virtually all professional equity investors. However, increasing problems with this approach, combined with a growing appreciation of investment economics, have caused many investors to turn to Free Cash Flow as their primary financial metric.

Even with the growing popularity of Free Cash Flow, the lack of detailed information in this field has made it difficult for many investors to integrate Free Cash Flow into their daily investment discipline. That's why George Christy--a financial executive and corporate banker with over thirty years of experience--has created Free Cash Flow: Seeing Through the Accounting Fog Machine to Find Great Stocks.

Filled with in-depth insights and practical advice, this reliable resource shows you how analyzing a company's financial performance can put you in a better position to pick winning stocks and improve the overall returns of your portfolio. Throughout the book, Christy explains the differences between Free Cash Flow and GAAP earnings, and describes the advantages of Free Cash Flow. He also takes you step by step through the Free Cash Flow Statement^(R)--which focuses on the primary drivers of investor return: revenues, cash operating margin, and use of capital--and illustrates how each of the four deployments of Free Cash Flow can enhance or diminish shareholder return.

In order to put the ideas outlined in perspective, Christy applies the conceptual building blocks of Free Cash Flow and investor return to an actual company--McDonald's--and goes line by line through the downloadable Free Cash Flow Worksheet^(R) that integrates the primary components of share value into an investor return model. Five other restaurant companies are compared to McDonald's, and each other, using both Free Cash Flow and GAAP metrics.

Rounding out this detailed discussion of Free Cash Flow, Christy shows you how to assess a CEO's commitment to investor return by analyzing three key sources, and explains how to use the Free Cash Flow Worksheet in your stock search, from finding candidates with screeners to making buy, hold, or sell decisions.

Cash is the essence of shareholder value, and with Free Cash Flow as your guide, you'll quickly learn how to use this important metric to find, and profit from, great stocks.

The Free Cash Flow Statement^(R) and the Free Cash Flow Worksheet^(R) used in this book and found on its companion Web site (www.wiley.com/go/christy) were specifically developed by the author for this book. Be sure to see the detailed Table of Contents on page IX. Free Cash Flow goes where no other investment book has gone before.

Author Biography

GEORGE C. CHRISTY, CFA, has more than thirty years' experience in the financial markets. He has served as corporate banker for Fortune 500 and middle market companies, as well as treasurer of a publicly owned telecommunications equipment manufacturer. Christy has a BA from Princeton University and an MBA from the University of Chicago, and holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation. He is a member of the Los Angeles Chapter of Financial Executives International, the CFA Institute, the CFA Society of Los Angeles, the Japan America Society, and the International House of Japan.