DCF Calculator: Test Your Own Valuation Assumptions
A discounted cash flow model is only as good as its inputs — so this calculator puts every input in your hands. Set your growth rates, discount rate, and terminal assumptions, and watch the intrinsic value, the value breakdown, and the sensitivity grid react live. New to DCF? Read the step-by-step DCF valuation guide first.
Operating cash flow minus CapEx — reinvestment is already subtracted here.
Your near-term thesis. Check the company's history before going above ~20%.
Growth rarely stays high — competitors arrive, markets saturate.
Forever growth — keep at or below long-run GDP+inflation (~2–3%).
Your required return. Higher risk → higher rate → lower value.
Total debt minus cash. Negative means net cash (adds value).
Adds an upside/downside readout vs your intrinsic value.
Projected vs discounted cash flows
The gap between the bars is the cost of waiting — a dollar in year 10 is worth much less than a dollar today at 9% required return.
Sensitivity — intrinsic value per share
How wrong can you afford to be? Rows vary the discount rate, columns vary stage-1 growth. If the value collapses one cell away from yours, your thesis needs a margin of safety.
| WACC \ Growth | 6.0% | 9.0% | 12.0% | 15.0% | 18.0% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7.00% | $302.36 | $344.62 | $391.63 | $443.78 | $501.5 |
| 8.00% | $244.95 | $278.67 | $316.14 | $357.69 | $403.64 |
| 9.00% | $205.34 | $233.17 | $264.09 | $298.34 | $336.19 |
| 10.00% | $176.39 | $199.95 | $226.09 | $255.03 | $286.98 |
| 11.00% | $154.35 | $174.65 | $197.16 | $222.07 | $249.56 |
How this DCF calculator works
The model projects free cash flow through two growth stages, then adds a terminal value for everything beyond the forecast horizon using the Gordon Growth formula. Each future cash flow is discounted back to today at your chosen rate, giving an enterprise value. Subtracting net debt yields equity value; dividing by shares outstanding gives intrinsic value per share.
The two charts are the understanding part: the cash-flow chart shows how discounting shrinks distant dollars, and the sensitivity grid shows how much your valuation moves when growth or the discount rate is slightly different — which is exactly where most DCF mistakes hide. If a one-point change in WACC breaks your thesis, you have no margin of safety.
For real filed numbers to start from — free cash flow, net debt, and shares outstanding for thousands of companies — see the per-company valuation pages, for example Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT) or NVIDIA (NVDA).
Frequently asked questions
- What does a DCF calculator do?
- It estimates what a business is worth today by projecting its future free cash flows and discounting them back to the present at your required rate of return. Divide the resulting equity value by shares outstanding and you get an intrinsic value per share to compare against the market price.
- What growth rate should I use?
- Start from the company’s own history and analyst revenue expectations, then apply judgment: very few companies sustain more than 20% growth for five years. This tool uses two stages so you can model fast near-term growth fading to a mature rate.
- How do I choose the discount rate (WACC)?
- The discount rate is the annual return you require for the risk you are taking. A common approach is the company’s weighted average cost of capital — typically 7–10% for stable large caps and 10–14% for riskier businesses. Higher risk means a higher rate and a lower present value.
- Where does CapEx come in?
- Free cash flow is operating cash flow minus capital expenditures, so reinvestment is already subtracted from the number you enter. A company that must spend heavily to grow shows that trade-off as lower starting FCF for the growth you assume.
- Why is so much of the value in the terminal value?
- The terminal value captures all cash flows beyond your explicit forecast, compressed into one number. If it dominates the valuation (say, above 75%), your result rests mostly on the perpetual-growth assumption — treat it cautiously and check the sensitivity grid.
This tool is for education and research, not investment advice. Assumptions are yours; outcomes in markets are uncertain.