Which element makes working capital forecasts particularly uncertain for industries dominated by small private firms, according to the chapter?

Correct answer: Large share of private, small-business sales with limited public disclosures makes precise measurement difficult.

Explanation

When many industry sales come from private small firms, disclosure gaps make working-capital estimation more uncertain and require use of third-party data and corroboration.

Other questions

Question 1

Which of the following is a recommended forecast object when preparing a financial model for a publicly listed retailer with regular quarterly disclosures?

Question 2

An analyst is forecasting revenue for a mature retail company. Which forecast approach is most appropriate if the analyst expects no material changes in industry structure or the company's competitive position?

Question 3

Which top-down revenue driver would an analyst use to estimate a retail company's sales if they plan to relate company growth to macro trends?

Question 4

When forecasting revenue for a marketplace platform that reports GMV and separates retailer sales from third-party merchant sales, what must an analyst do to convert GMV into recognized revenue?

Question 5

Which statement about non-recurring items in revenue forecasting is most accurate?

Question 6

Which method is most commonly recommended to forecast maintenance capital expenditures?

Question 7

When forecasting working capital using efficiency ratios, which of these formulations is correct for Days Inventory on Hand (DOH)?

Question 8

An analyst forecasts revenue growth of 10 percent next year but input commodity prices are expected to rise 30 percent. If the company can pass through only 15 percent of the input increase to selling prices and expects volume to change, which forecast approach is most appropriate to forecast gross margin next year?

Question 9

Which of the following is TRUE about using management guidance in forecasts?

Question 10

When projecting SG&A expenses, which practice is recommended in the chapter?

Question 11

An analyst uses DSO = 15 days, DOH = 70 days, and DPO = 120 days. If next-year revenues are forecast at 365,000 and COGS at 240,000, what is the projected accounts receivable balance (rounded)?

Question 12

Which of the following best describes the difference between maintenance and growth CAPEX forecasts?

Question 13

An analyst forecasts EBITDA of 200 million next year and management targets a gross-debt-to-EBITDA ratio of 2.0. What gross debt does this imply?

Question 14

Which of the following signals suggests an analyst should use an analyst-discretionary forecast rather than a historical-results approach?

Question 15

An analyst forecasts Iliso Marketplace's GMV growth by assuming national retail sales grow 3.4% and Iliso’s share of that market increases by 2 basis points. Which type of forecast object is being used?

Question 16

Which of the following is a correct reason to forecast operating expenses on an aggregated basis rather than disaggregating every cost line?

Question 17

If a company's inventory turnover is expected to increase because the product mix shifts toward perishable groceries, which working capital metric will most likely change and how?

Question 18

In Example 2 (YY Ltd.), what is the correct method to compute accounts payable given DPO and COGS?

Question 19

An analyst wants to estimate long-term maintenance CAPEX for a company with aging fixed assets. Which approach from the chapter is most sensible?

Question 20

Which statement best captures the chapter's guidance on model complexity?

Question 21

In the Iliso Marketplace case, third-party merchant take rate is 15 percent. If third-party GMV is forecast at 2,500 million, how much revenue will Iliso recognize from third-party fees?

Question 22

Which approach to forecasting is least appropriate for a company in a fast-changing technological industry with few comparable peers?

Question 23

What is the main advantage of using efficiency ratios (DSO, DOH, DPO) in working capital forecasting?

Question 24

An analyst expects a company's DSO to fall from 45 days to 30 days as it improves collections. How will this affect accounts receivable if next year's revenue is forecast at 365 million?

Question 25

Which of the following is the best approach to model SG&A for a five-year horizon when detailed segment cost data are not available?

Question 26

An analyst uses depreciation to estimate maintenance CAPEX. Which caveat from the chapter should the analyst remember?

Question 27

Which scenario analysis practice does the chapter recommend when uncertainty is high?

Question 28

In the tablet vs PC cannibalization example, which key concept is used to estimate the impact on PC shipments?

Question 29

Which of the following is a primary reason analysts split CAPEX into maintenance and growth when forecasting?

Question 30

If an analyst's revenue forecast grows faster in higher-margin segments than in lower-margin segments, what is the expected effect on overall operating margin?

Question 31

Which forecasting object is least appropriate for an analyst valuing a bank?

Question 32

When might an analyst choose to forecast net working capital as a percent of sales rather than by efficiency ratios?

Question 33

Which of these statements about using industry base rates and convergence in forecasts is consistent with the chapter?

Question 34

An analyst wants to test how a 2 percent reduction in gross margin impacts operating income over a three-year forecast. According to the chapter, what is a suitable approach?

Question 35

If management suspends guidance during high uncertainty, which forecasting approach does the chapter recommend using instead?

Question 36

When estimating revenue for a retailer, which bottom-up driver is most appropriate if the retailer discloses same-store (comps) sales?

Question 38

Which of the following is true about forecasting gross margin for an airline facing volatile jet fuel costs with no hedging program?

Question 39

If a company is transitioning from rapid growth to mature growth, which forecasting model for dividends does the chapter find most appropriate?

Question 40

Which of these is an advantage of using FCFE (free cash flow to equity) over DDM (dividend discount model) for valuation?

Question 41

In preparing a forecast for Warehouse Club Inc., the analyst finds the company’s SG&A as percent of sales is materially lower than the industry average because of its cost-leadership model. According to the chapter, what is the analyst’s best action?

Question 42

Which of the following describes a valid use of management guidance in forecasting CAPEX?

Question 43

According to the chapter, what is the recommended treatment of non-cash stock-based compensation in cash-flow based forecasts?

Question 44

Which of the following is the chapter's recommended first step when a major competitor announces a large acquisition likely to alter market shares?

Question 45

Which datapoint is most useful to calibrate a forecast of a company's maintenance CAPEX in absence of explicit disclosures?

Question 46

How should an analyst treat a large, clearly-identified one-time legal settlement in the income statement when building forward operating forecasts?

Question 47

Which of the following is TRUE regarding the selection of forecast horizon?

Question 48

Which of these is an example of a capacity-based bottom-up revenue driver?

Question 49

An analyst is forecasting a multi-year restoration of profitability after a structural downturn. Which forecast approach combination does the chapter suggest is likely to be most useful?

Question 50

Which of the following best describes the chapter's recommendation about documenting assumptions in forecasts?