Investment Banking interview preparation

Questions

100

Traced to a firm

100

Firms

46

Updated

September 2026

Asked at

All firmsTSTruist Securities10Rothschild & Co8Centerview Partners7CSCredit Suisse7HWHarris Williams6Houlihan Lokey6Lazard6Mizuho6Barclays5Citi5Deutsche Bank5Evercore5Moelis & Company5MSMorgan Stanley5Piper Sandler5RCRBC Capital Markets5Goldman Sachs4Nomura4TD Securities4Bank of America3GSGuggenheim Securities3J.P. Morgan3Jefferies3Moody's3Perella Weinberg Partners3WPWarburg Pincus3WBWilliam Blair3HSBC2Lincoln International2Scotiabank2TPTPG2UBS2Wells Fargo Securities2Advent International1Apollo Global Management1Bain Capital1Balyasny Asset Management1BLBlackRock1BPBNP Paribas1General Atlantic1Invesco1Morningstar1PIMCO1STSociété Générale1SSState Street1WMWellington Management1

Topic

All topicsAccounting14Valuation21M&A10Markets and deals10Capital markets3LBO8Leveraged finance3Restructuring2Credit3Debt capital markets2Capital structure2Case and estimation11Brainteasers6Fit5

Level

AnyCoreIntermediateHard

Type

AnyTechnicalCaseBrainteaserFitMarket view

1. 002Tell me how $10 of depreciation flows through the three statements.AccountingCoretechnicalCSCredit SuisseData Modeling · Chicago · 2023BarclaysInvestment Banking · New York · 2025MizuhoInvestment Banking · New York · 2026Houlihan LokeyDebt Capital Markets · Los Angeles · 2025

   Say this

   Assume a 25% tax rate. Pre-tax income falls by $10, taxes fall by $2.50, so net income falls by $7.50. Cash actually goes up by $2.50, because depreciation is non-cash and the only real effect is the tax saving.

   Then walk it

   1. Income statement: $10 of depreciation hits EBIT, so pre-tax income is down $10 and net income is down $7.50 at a 25% rate.
   2. Cash flow statement: start from net income at minus $7.50, add back the $10 non-cash depreciation, so cash from operations is up $2.50.
   3. Balance sheet: cash is up $2.50, net PP&E is down $10, so assets are down $7.50 net. Retained earnings are down $7.50. It balances.
   4. The whole point is the depreciation tax shield. Ten dollars of a non-cash charge bought you two-fifty of real cash.

   Where candidates lose it

   Saying cash goes down. It does not. Depreciation is non-cash, so the only cash effect is the tax you no longer pay. State your tax rate before you start so the interviewer can follow your arithmetic, and say the words 'tax shield'.

   Expect next

   • Now do the same for $10 of CapEx instead.
   • What if the company had no taxable income that year?
   • How does this change if the depreciation is not tax-deductible in that jurisdiction?

   Reported by candidates at Credit Suisse (Data Modeling, Chicago, 2023); Barclays (Investment Banking, New York, 2025); Mizuho (Investment Banking, New York, 2026); Houlihan Lokey (Debt Capital Markets, Los Angeles, 2025). Source: Wall Street Oasis.

2. 015Walk me through a DCF.ValuationCoretechnicalGoldman SachsInvestment Banking · New York · 2026Deutsche BankInvestment Banking · Honolulu · 2025BarclaysInvestment Banking · New York · 2025TSTruist SecuritiesCorporate Banking · Atlanta · 2025Houlihan LokeyDebt Capital Markets · Los Angeles · 2025CSCredit SuisseInvestment Banking · São Paulo · 2021

   Say this

   Project unlevered free cash flow for five to ten years, discount it at WACC, add a terminal value for everything beyond the forecast, sum to enterprise value, then bridge to equity value and divide by diluted shares.

   Then walk it

   1. Build unlevered free cash flow: EBIT, taxed, plus D&A, less CapEx, less the change in working capital.
   2. Discount at WACC, because unlevered cash flow belongs to both debt and equity holders. Use mid-year convention if cash arrives through the year.
   3. Terminal value two ways: Gordon growth on the final year cash flow, or an exit multiple on terminal EBITDA. I would run both and check they agree.
   4. Sum the discounted cash flows and the discounted terminal value to get enterprise value.
   5. Bridge down: less net debt, less preferred, less minority interest, plus non-operating assets, to get equity value. Divide by diluted shares for value per share.
   6. Then say the honest part: terminal value is usually 60 to 80 percent of the total, so the answer is mostly a function of the growth rate and discount rate, and I would sensitise both.

   Where candidates lose it

   Delivering it as a memorised list with no acknowledgement that terminal value dominates. Every candidate can recite the steps. The one who volunteers that most of the value sits in an assumption, and offers to sensitise it, sounds like someone who has actually built one.

   Expect next

   • What are the main drivers or sensitivities in your DCF?
   • What discount rate would you use and why?
   • When is a DCF the wrong tool?

   Reported by candidates at Goldman Sachs (Investment Banking, New York, 2026); Deutsche Bank (Investment Banking, Honolulu, 2025); Barclays (Investment Banking, New York, 2025); Truist Securities (Corporate Banking, Atlanta, 2025); Houlihan Lokey (Debt Capital Markets, Los Angeles, 2025); Credit Suisse (Investment Banking, São Paulo, 2021). Source: Wall Street Oasis.

3. 041Who is typically willing to pay more for an acquisition, a financial sponsor or a strategic buyer?M&AIntermediatetechnicalHoulihan LokeyMergers and Acquisitions · Los Angeles · 2026

   Say this

   A strategic, normally, because it can capture synergies and does not need a fixed return on equity. A sponsor is constrained by its return hurdle and the debt markets, so it is valuing standalone cash flows only.

   Then walk it

   1. The strategic gets cost synergies, revenue synergies and sometimes a strategic premium for defending a market position. All of that expands the price it can justify.
   2. It also has a lower cost of capital and no fund life, so it can accept a longer payback.
   3. The sponsor has to hit roughly a 20 to 25 percent IRR in five years with debt it can actually raise. That caps the entry multiple mechanically.
   4. Where sponsors win anyway: a platform sponsor with an existing portfolio company in the sector effectively has synergies too, through a bolt-on. In that case the gap closes or reverses.
   5. And in a cheap credit market with high multiples, sponsors have repeatedly outbid strategics, because the leverage available made the maths work. So the rule holds on average and breaks often.

   Where candidates lose it

   Stating the rule with no mechanism and no exception. The interviewer wants the return-hurdle constraint named explicitly, and the bolt-on case is the answer that shows you follow live deals.

   Expect next

   • When does the sponsor win?
   • What return does a sponsor actually need?
   • How does the credit market change your answer?

   Reported by candidates at Houlihan Lokey (Mergers and Acquisitions, Los Angeles, 2026). Source: Wall Street Oasis.

Firm tags come from public, anonymous candidate reports on Wall Street Oasis: strong signal, not sworn testimony. Firms are named as the places a question was reported, not as partners of Fin Maverick. Answers are written for this page to show how to think out loud; they are not scripts to recite.