Which analysis is commonly used to estimate the value of a company in terms of its future earnings potential?

Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) analysis is a widely accepted method for estimating the value of a company based on its future earnings potential. This approach involves forecasting the company’s expected cash flows over a specific period and then discounting those cash flows back to their present value using an appropriate discount rate. The underlying principle is that a dollar received in the future is worth less than a dollar received today due to the time value of money, which is a fundamental concept in finance.

The DCF analysis focuses on the intrinsic value of a company, considering its ability to generate future cash flows. By projecting these cash flows and applying a discount factor, analysts can derive a valuation that reflects future earnings potential rather than solely relying on current assets or market conditions.

Other methods, while useful in their contexts, do not specifically focus on future earnings in the same manner. For instance, asset-based valuation emphasizes the current value of a company’s assets, market capitalization analysis evaluates a company's market value based on its stock price and shares outstanding, and comparative analysis looks at the valuation of similar companies to derive conclusions. However, none of these methods provide as direct a calculation of future earnings potential as DCF analysis does.