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
016What are the main drivers or sensitivities in a DCF?TD SecuritiesInvestment Banking · New York · 2026Moelis & CompanyInvestment Banking · New York · 2026
Say this
The discount rate and the terminal value assumption, by a wide margin. After those, the revenue growth and margin path in the forecast years, then CapEx and working capital intensity.
Then walk it
- WACC dominates because it compounds. A 100 basis point move in WACC can swing value 15 to 20 percent for a long-duration business.
- Terminal value is the other big one, since it is usually 60 to 80 percent of enterprise value. A 50 basis point change in perpetuity growth moves the answer materially.
- Inside the forecast, margin matters more than revenue for most mature businesses, because a margin point drops straight to cash.
- CapEx and working capital intensity matter most for capital-hungry or fast-growing companies, where growth consumes cash.
- The standard output is a two-way sensitivity table, WACC against exit multiple or against perpetuity growth. That grid is what actually goes in the deck, not a single point value.
Where candidates lose it
Listing revenue growth first. It feels intuitive but it is wrong for most businesses; discount rate and terminal value swamp it. Also, saying 'a DCF gives you the intrinsic value' as if it were one number, rather than a range you present as a football field.
Expect next
- Given a $10 change in revenue, COGS, or CapEx, which has the biggest impact?
- How do you pick the perpetuity growth rate?
- What would you do if the DCF value is miles above the trading price?
Reported by candidates at TD Securities (Investment Banking, New York, 2026); Moelis & Company (Investment Banking, New York, 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.