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. 001Walk me through the three financial statements and how they connect.AccountingCorephone / HireVueGoldman SachsInvestment Banking · New York · 2026GSGuggenheim SecuritiesHealthcare · Glen Allen · 2026Piper SandlerInvestment Banking · New York · 2026TSTruist SecuritiesReal Estate · Atlanta · 2026Moody'sCorporate · New York · 2022

   Say this

   The income statement shows profitability over a period, the balance sheet is a snapshot of what the company owns and owes at a point in time, and the cash flow statement reconciles the two by tracking the actual cash that moved. They link through net income and cash.

   Then walk it

   1. Net income is the bottom of the income statement. It becomes the top line of the cash flow statement.
   2. On the cash flow statement you add back non-cash charges like depreciation, adjust for working capital changes, then run through investing and financing.
   3. The ending cash number flows to the top of the balance sheet as the cash balance.
   4. Net income also flows into retained earnings in shareholders' equity, less any dividends. That is the second link.
   5. So the balance sheet balances because both sides of net income land in it: the cash it generated on the asset side, the earnings it retained on the equity side.

   Where candidates lose it

   Reciting the three statements as three separate definitions and stopping. The question is entirely about the linkage. Say the two connection points out loud, net income into retained earnings and ending cash onto the balance sheet, or you have not answered it.

   Expect next

   • Which statement would you look at first if you could only pick one, and why?
   • A company is profitable but running out of cash. Where do you look?
   • Why does the balance sheet actually balance?

   Reported by candidates at Goldman Sachs (Investment Banking, New York, 2026); Guggenheim Securities (Healthcare, Glen Allen, 2026); Piper Sandler (Investment Banking, New York, 2026); Truist Securities (Real Estate, Atlanta, 2026); Moody's (Corporate, New York, 2022). Source: Wall Street Oasis.

2. 004How do you get from EBITDA to net income?AccountingCoretechnicalGSGuggenheim SecuritiesInvestment Banking · Chicago · 2026TSTruist SecuritiesCorporate Banking · Atlanta · 2025

   Say this

   Subtract depreciation and amortisation to get EBIT, subtract interest to get pre-tax income, then subtract taxes to get net income. If there is anything below the line like minority interest or discontinued operations, strip that out too.

   Then walk it

   1. EBITDA less D&A gives EBIT, which is operating profit.
   2. EBIT less net interest expense gives pre-tax income, sometimes called EBT.
   3. EBT less taxes gives net income.
   4. Watch for minority interest. If the company consolidates a subsidiary it does not fully own, you subtract the minority's share to get to net income attributable to the parent.
   5. That last step matters for EPS, because EPS is built on net income to the parent, not consolidated net income.

   Where candidates lose it

   Forgetting minority interest and preferred dividends. On a clean question nobody cares, but the moment the interviewer hands you a consolidated group, missing the minority line means your EPS is wrong and your comps are wrong.

   Expect next

   • Why do bankers use EBITDA at all if net income is what shareholders get?
   • When would EBITDA be a misleading metric?
   • How do you calculate free cash flow from cash flow from operations?

   Reported by candidates at Guggenheim Securities (Investment Banking, Chicago, 2026); Truist Securities (Corporate Banking, Atlanta, 2025). Source: Wall Street Oasis.

3. 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.

4. 027How does EV/EBITDA vary across industries, and where is it larger or smaller?ValuationIntermediatetechnicalTSTruist SecuritiesInvestment Banking · New York · 2026

   Say this

   High multiples go to businesses with durable growth, high returns on capital and low reinvestment needs, so software and branded consumer sit at the top. Low multiples go to cyclical, capital-hungry, low-growth businesses like steel, airlines and utilities.

   Then walk it

   1. Software trades high because incremental revenue costs almost nothing to serve, revenue is recurring, and CapEx is minimal. Twenty times and above is normal.
   2. Branded consumer and medical devices sit in the mid to high teens on pricing power and stable demand.
   3. Industrials and distribution sit around eight to twelve, reflecting moderate growth and real capital needs.
   4. Cyclicals and capital-intensive businesses sit low, often four to seven, because earnings are volatile and most of the EBITDA gets reinvested just to stand still.
   5. The unifying logic is that EV/EBITDA is a shorthand for growth, risk and reinvestment. High multiple means the market expects EBITDA to grow and to convert into cash. Steel fails both tests.

   Where candidates lose it

   Reciting sector multiples as trivia without the underlying driver. If you cannot explain why software earns twenty times and steel earns five, you have memorised a table. The answer is cash conversion and growth durability.

   Expect next

   • Which company would have a higher multiple, asset-heavy or asset-light?
   • What is an appropriate multiple for software?
   • A company in your sector trades at half the peer multiple. Why?

   Reported by candidates at Truist Securities (Investment Banking, New York, 2026). Source: Wall Street Oasis.

5. 032How do you get from enterprise value to equity value without using an equation?ValuationCoretechnicalPIMCOFinancial Institutions Group · New York · 2023TSTruist SecuritiesCorporate Banking · Atlanta · 2025WBWilliam BlairMergers and Acquisitions · London · 2026

   Say this

   Enterprise value is the price of the operating business itself. To get to what shareholders own, you pay off everyone with a prior claim, then add back anything the business owns that is not part of operations.

   Then walk it

   1. Start with the value of the operating business, which is what enterprise value measures.
   2. Settle the lenders first, because they stand ahead of shareholders. Subtract debt.
   3. Add back cash, because cash is not part of the operating business and a buyer effectively gets it for free.
   4. Subtract the other prior claims: preferred stock, minority interest in consolidated subsidiaries, and funded pension shortfalls, since a buyer inherits those obligations.
   5. Add non-operating assets like stakes in unconsolidated affiliates or surplus real estate, because the operating cash flow never captured them.
   6. What is left is what the equity is worth. Divide by diluted shares and you have value per share.

   Where candidates lose it

   Reciting 'EV minus net debt' when the interviewer explicitly asked for no equation. They want the story of who gets paid in what order. Talk in terms of claims and seniority, not symbols.

   Expect next

   • How do you treat underfunded pensions in that bridge?
   • What is the equity ticker and how do you calculate it?
   • Why do you add back cash?

   Reported by candidates at PIMCO (Financial Institutions Group, New York, 2023); Truist Securities (Corporate Banking, Atlanta, 2025); William Blair (Mergers and Acquisitions, London, 2026). Source: Wall Street Oasis.

6. 051Walk me through an LBO.LBOIntermediatetechnicalTSTruist SecuritiesGeneralist · Charlotte · 2024TPTPGInvestment Banking · New York · 2024Advent InternationalTechnology, Media and Telecom · Palo Alto · 2020LazardInvestment Banking · New York · 2026

   Say this

   Buy a company using mostly debt, use its own cash flow to pay that debt down over five years, then sell it. The equity return comes from deleveraging, from growing EBITDA, and from any multiple expansion.

   Then walk it

   1. Set the entry: purchase price as a multiple of EBITDA, then a sources and uses table. Debt takes you as far as the credit market allows, say five times EBITDA, and the sponsor writes a cheque for the rest plus fees.
   2. Project the operating model for five years, then build the debt schedule: interest, mandatory amortisation, and a cash sweep that applies surplus cash to the debt.
   3. Free cash flow after interest pays down debt each year, so the equity slice grows even if enterprise value does not move at all. That is deleveraging.
   4. Exit at an assumed multiple on final-year EBITDA, subtract the remaining debt, and you have exit equity value.
   5. Compute IRR and money multiple against the initial cheque. Then attribute the return across the three drivers: debt paydown, EBITDA growth and multiple change. A sponsor will always ask which one is carrying the deal.
   6. The sanity test: if the whole return depends on exiting at a higher multiple than you paid, it is not an investment thesis, it is a bet on the market.

   Where candidates lose it

   Describing the mechanics with no attribution of returns. Every good LBO answer ends with which of the three drivers produces the IRR, and an acknowledgement that multiple expansion is the one you cannot control.

   Expect next

   • How do you drive returns in an LBO?
   • What makes a good LBO candidate?
   • Do a paper LBO for me.

   Reported by candidates at Truist Securities (Generalist, Charlotte, 2024); TPG (Investment Banking, New York, 2024); Advent International (Technology, Media and Telecom, Palo Alto, 2020); Lazard (Investment Banking, New York, 2026). Source: Wall Street Oasis.

7. 064What credit metrics would you look at when analysing a company like Nike?CreditIntermediatetechnicalTSTruist SecuritiesLeveraged Finance · Atlanta · 2024

   Say this

   Leverage and coverage first: net debt to EBITDA and EBITDA to interest. Then cash conversion, free cash flow to debt, and the maturity profile. For a consumer brand I would add inventory days, because that is where the trouble shows up first.

   Then walk it

   1. Leverage: net debt to EBITDA, and gross leverage too, since cash can be trapped offshore or needed for operations. For an investment grade consumer name you would expect well under two times.
   2. Coverage: EBITDA or EBIT to interest expense, and the tighter test, free cash flow after CapEx and dividends against interest.
   3. Cash conversion: free cash flow to total debt, and EBITDA to free cash flow, which tells you how much of the reported profit is real.
   4. Liquidity and maturities: cash on hand plus undrawn revolver against the next two years of maturities. A profitable company still defaults if it cannot refinance.
   5. For Nike specifically: inventory days and the gap between revenue growth and inventory growth. When inventory grows faster than sales in a branded consumer business, discounting and a gross margin hit are coming. I would also look at wholesale versus direct mix and geographic concentration.

   Where candidates lose it

   Reciting generic credit ratios and ignoring that they named a specific company. The sector-specific metric, inventory in this case, is what shows you can actually underwrite rather than recite. Always bring one metric that fits the named business.

   Expect next

   • What line items would you look at to assess creditworthiness?
   • How would you assess a good borrower?
   • How would you qualitatively assess an entity for a rating?

   Reported by candidates at Truist Securities (Leveraged Finance, Atlanta, 2024). Source: Wall Street Oasis.

8. 069Explain the different ways a firm might finance itself, besides straight equity and debt.Capital structureIntermediatetechnicalHSBCGeneralist · New York · 2024TSTruist SecuritiesCorporate Banking · Atlanta · 2025

   Say this

   Everything in between: convertible bonds, preferred stock, mezzanine and PIK, plus asset-based routes like securitisation, sale-leaseback, factoring and equipment leasing. And structural options like a rights issue or a convertible preferred.

   Then walk it

   1. Hybrid instruments sit between the two: convertible bonds give a low coupon in exchange for equity upside, preferred stock ranks ahead of common with a fixed dividend, and mezzanine or PIK sits below senior debt with equity warrants attached.
   2. Asset-based financing monetises specific assets rather than the whole enterprise: asset-backed lending against receivables and inventory, securitisation of a receivables pool, factoring, and equipment leasing.
   3. Sale-leaseback converts owned real estate into cash while keeping the operational use. It is off-balance-sheet in spirit, though under current standards the lease liability comes back on.
   4. Operational financing is often overlooked: stretching supplier terms, customer prepayments and deferred revenue are all working capital funding, and they cost nothing.
   5. And there are equity variants: rights issues to existing holders, PIPEs, convertible preferred for a strategic investor, and in some markets government or development-bank funding for specific projects.
   6. The structuring logic is to match the funding to the asset. Long-lived assets get long-dated debt, receivables get revolving asset-based facilities, and uncertain growth gets equity or something convertible.

   Where candidates lose it

   Listing instruments with no organising principle. Group them, hybrids, asset-based, operational, equity variants, and finish with the matching principle. A list without a frame reads like flashcards.

   Expect next

   • When would you advise a convertible over straight equity?
   • What are the primary categories of collateral securing an asset-based loan?
   • What is the difference between a loan and a bond?

   Reported by candidates at HSBC (Generalist, New York, 2024); Truist Securities (Corporate Banking, Atlanta, 2025). Source: Wall Street Oasis.

9. 071What is happening in the US economy right now?Markets and dealsIntermediatephone / HireVueJ.P. MorganPrivate Banking · Charlotte · 2026TSTruist SecuritiesRisk Management · Charlotte · 2026CitiGeneralist · London · 2026

   Say this

   Answer with a structure rather than a list of headlines: growth, inflation, the labour market, then what the central bank is doing about it, then what that means for your desk. Four numbers and one implication.

   Then walk it

   1. Know four figures cold on the morning of your interview: GDP growth, headline and core inflation, the unemployment rate, and the policy rate. Say them with the vintage, as in 'core PCE ran at X in the latest print'.
   2. Then the tension. There is almost always one: inflation sticky while the labour market softens, or growth resilient while rates stay restrictive. Naming the tension is what makes it analysis instead of recitation.
   3. Then the policy read: what the market is pricing for the next two or three meetings, and what would change it.
   4. Then bring it back to the seat. Something like: for M&A, a lower path for rates lowers the sponsor's cost of debt, which supports higher entry multiples and should reopen the large-cap LBO pipeline.
   5. Keep it to ninety seconds. This question tests preparation and judgement about relevance, not breadth.

   Where candidates lose it

   Reciting headlines with no numbers, or numbers with no implication for banking. Also, opinions about politics. Stay on the transmission mechanism from macro to your desk, and check your figures the morning of the interview because a stale print is worse than none.

   Expect next

   • How is that affecting the M&A market?
   • Describe Jerome Powell's tenure.
   • Where did the S&P 500 close last night?

   Reported by candidates at J.P. Morgan (Private Banking, Charlotte, 2026); Truist Securities (Risk Management, Charlotte, 2026); Citi (Generalist, London, 2026). Source: Wall Street Oasis.

10. 096Why investment banking, and why this firm?FitCorephone / HireVueGoldman SachsInvestment Banking · New York · 2026CitiInvestment Banking · San Francisco · 2025TSTruist SecuritiesInvestment Banking · Charlotte · 2026Deutsche BankInvestment Banking · London · 2022Rothschild & CoInvestment Banking · London · 2025

    Say this

    Three beats: a specific moment that got you interested, what you did to test that interest, and one concrete reason for this firm that could not be copy-pasted to a competitor.

    Then walk it

    1. The origin has to be specific and true. A deal you followed, a project where you built a model, a company in your family, a case competition. Not 'I have always been passionate about finance'.
    2. Then the evidence that you tested it, because interest is cheap and action is not. A society, a self-taught model, an internship, a stock you have tracked for two years.
    3. Then why banking rather than the adjacent options, and be honest about the trade you are making. Something like: I want the transaction seat rather than the research seat because I want to be inside the execution, and I know what the hours cost.
    4. Then why this firm, with one fact that is true only of them: a specific deal, a sector franchise, the size of the analyst class, the staffing model. One real fact beats three generic compliments.
    5. Keep it to about ninety seconds and finish cleanly instead of trailing off. Then stop talking.

    Where candidates lose it

    A 'why this firm' answer that would work for any of their competitors. Interviewers hear forty versions a day and the generic ones blur. Name one thing only they do, and if you have spoken to someone there, say who and what they told you.

    Expect next

    • Why you over the other candidates from your university with the same experience?
    • What do you think analysts actually do day to day?
    • Which group do you want and why?

    Reported by candidates at Goldman Sachs (Investment Banking, New York, 2026); Citi (Investment Banking, San Francisco, 2025); Truist Securities (Investment Banking, Charlotte, 2026); Deutsche Bank (Investment Banking, London, 2022); Rothschild & Co (Investment Banking, London, 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.