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. 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.

2. 065What specific line items would you look at on the financial statements when evaluating creditworthiness?CreditIntermediatetechnicalRCRBC Capital MarketsCorporate Banking · New York · 2026Wells Fargo SecuritiesGeneralist · North Carolina · 2025

   Say this

   Cash flow from operations, because that is what repays debt. Then interest expense, total debt and its maturity schedule, cash, the undrawn revolver, CapEx, and the working capital lines.

   Then walk it

   1. Start with cash from operations across several years. One good year proves nothing; consistency through a downturn proves a lot.
   2. Interest expense against EBITDA gives coverage. Debt and the maturity schedule tell you when the pressure comes.
   3. Cash and the undrawn facility are the liquidity buffer. Compare them to the next 12 to 24 months of obligations.
   4. CapEx split into maintenance and growth. Maintenance CapEx is non-discretionary, so it competes with debt service. Growth CapEx can be cut in a bad year, which is a real source of flexibility.
   5. Then the working capital lines, receivables, inventory and payables, because deterioration shows up there before it reaches the income statement. Rising receivable days means customers are struggling or revenue is being pushed.
   6. And off the face of the statements: operating lease liabilities, pension deficits, guarantees and contingent liabilities in the notes. Those are real claims that do not sit in the debt line.

   Where candidates lose it

   Staying on the income statement. Credit is about cash and claims, so the answer lives on the cash flow statement and in the notes. Mentioning the notes, and specifically contingent liabilities, is what separates a credit answer from an equity answer.

   Expect next

   • How would you assess a good borrower qualitatively?
   • What would you ask the CFO if you were the lead analyst?
   • How do you determine whether a company is good for credit investing?

   Reported by candidates at RBC Capital Markets (Corporate Banking, New York, 2026); Wells Fargo Securities (Generalist, North Carolina, 2025). Source: Wall Street Oasis.

3. 066If you were in a meeting with the CFO as the lead analyst, what would you ask?CreditHardsuperdayMoody'sCorporate Finance · New York · 2018

   Say this

   I would ask about the durability of revenue, the operating leverage in the cost base, and what could stop them paying the debt. Three areas: quality of revenue, quality of cost, and capital allocation intent.

   Then walk it

   1. Revenue quality: how much is contracted or recurring, what is the retention rate of last year's customers, what is the concentration in the top five, and how is pricing holding.
   2. Cost and margin: how much of the cost base is fixed against variable, so I know what happens to margin if volume drops 15 percent. That is the operating leverage question and it drives the downside case.
   3. One-time costs: what charges hit this year that will not recur, and equally, what recurring costs have been classified as one-time. That is the quality-of-earnings question and CFOs answer it carefully.
   4. Capital allocation: what is the intent on dividends, buybacks and acquisitions, and where does leverage sit in their priorities. A CFO who will defend the rating behaves very differently from one who will lever up for a buyback.
   5. And the direct question: what keeps you up at night about the next 18 months? The answer, and the hesitation before it, is usually the most informative thing in the meeting.

   Where candidates lose it

   Asking for information you could get from the filings. A CFO meeting is for intent, judgement and things not disclosed. Asking 'what was revenue last year' wastes the access and signals you did not read the 10-K.

   Expect next

   • How would you qualitatively assess an entity?
   • What would you do if their answers contradicted the filings?
   • Which single answer would most change your rating?

   Reported by candidates at Moody's (Corporate Finance, New York, 2018). 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.