| Session 11: Equity Valuation: Industry and Company Analysis in a Global Context Reading 40: Discounted Dividend Valuation
 
 
 LOS p: Illustrate the use of spreadsheet modeling to forecast dividends and value common shares.       Financial models such as the DDM represent a cornerstone of equity valuation from an academic standpoint. But in the real life, many analysts do not use the DDM. The least likely reason for this is: 
 
 
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| A) | some of the assumptions required are impractical. |  |  
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| B) | modern research has shown that many of the old standbys do not work. |  |  
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| C) | the model lacks the flexibility required to model values in the real world. |  |  
 
 
 
The DDM requires assumptions that many analysts find impractical. In addition, the model lacks the flexibility to adapt to changing circumstances. Both of these problems can be overcome, to a large extent, by using spreadsheet modeling to forecast cash flows and other variables. |