Investment Banking interview preparation
Every question below is either traced to a named firm from a public candidate report, or tagged at desk level when we could not trace it. Answers are written the way you would actually say them out loud — answer first, then the mechanism, then the limitation.
100 questions, mapped to the firms that asked them
- Questions
- 100
- Traced to a firm
- 100
- Firms
- 46
- Updated
- September 2026
013What is the effect on the three statements of selling an asset?JefferiesEquity Research · New York · 2026
Say this
It depends on whether you sell above or below book value. Say book value is $100 and you sell for $120. You book a $20 gain on the income statement, cash rises by $120, and the asset comes off the balance sheet at $100.
Then walk it
- Income statement: a $20 gain, taxed. At 25% that is $15 of net income.
- Cash flow statement: start from net income at $15, reverse out the full $20 non-cash gain, then show the $120 proceeds in investing. Net cash change is $115, which is the $120 received less the $5 of tax.
- Balance sheet: cash up $115, the asset down $100, retained earnings up $15. It balances.
- The gain gets reversed out of operating cash flow because it is not operating, and the whole proceeds are shown in investing. Otherwise you would count the gain twice.
- If you sold below book you would book a loss, get a tax benefit, and the mechanics run the same way in reverse.
Where candidates lose it
Leaving the gain in cash from operations and also putting the proceeds in investing. That double-counts. The reversal of the gain in the operating section is the entire technical content of this question.
Expect next
- What if you sold it at exactly book value?
- How would this show up in an equity research model?
- Would you adjust EBITDA for the gain?
Reported by candidates at Jefferies (Equity Research, New York, 2026). Source: Wall Street Oasis.
026What happens to the EV/EBITDA multiple when EBITDA increases?JefferiesInvestment Banking · New York · 2025
Say this
Mechanically the multiple falls, because the denominator grew and enterprise value is fixed at a point in time. But that is only true for an instant, because in a real market EV would move too.
Then walk it
- Holding EV constant, a bigger denominator means a smaller multiple. That is just arithmetic.
- In reality, if EBITDA rises because the business genuinely improved, the market re-rates the equity and EV rises, often more than proportionally if growth expectations improve.
- So the multiple could stay flat or even expand, depending on why EBITDA moved.
- If EBITDA rose for a low-quality reason, say a one-off gain or an accounting change, EV should not move and the multiple genuinely compresses.
- The useful framing: the multiple is an output, not an input. Ask what caused the EBITDA change and the answer follows.
Where candidates lose it
Giving only the mechanical answer and looking pleased. The interviewer is waiting to see whether you notice that EV is not actually constant. Give both layers, and the 'why did EBITDA move' framing.
Expect next
- So is the multiple an input or an output?
- What if EBITDA rose because of a one-time gain?
- How would you adjust EBITDA for quality?
Reported by candidates at Jefferies (Investment Banking, New York, 2025). 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.