The Cash Flow Projector is built for serious equity analysis — the same methods professionals use, on primary-source data, with every assumption visible. Here is a factual look at where it sits between free stock screeners and the expensive terminals, and how its valuation toolkit maps to the methods taught in professional equity-analysis curricula.
| Capability | Free screeners | Pro terminals | The Cash Flow Projector |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-year three-statement projection | Rarely — mostly historical tables | Yes | Yes — income statement, cash flow, and balance sheet in lockstep |
| Intrinsic valuation (DCF / DDM / RI / comps) | Usually a single black-box fair value, if any | Yes | Yes — CAPM/WACC feeding FCFF & FCFE DCF, DDM, residual income, and relative valuation on one football field |
| Every assumption visible and overridable | No — fixed outputs | Partly | Yes — every driver and discount-rate input is editable, with derivations preserved |
| Primary-source data | Aggregated / resold feeds | Licensed vendor feeds | Audited SEC EDGAR XBRL filings — traceable line by line |
| Industry peer benchmarking | Limited | Yes | Yes — SIC p10–p90 percentile bars with a 4-to-1 hierarchy rollup |
| Excel / JSON export | Sometimes | Yes | Yes — full model exports for client files and audit |
| Cost | Free / freemium | Five figures per year | Free — no signup required to start, no terminal fees |
Screener and terminal columns describe typical offerings in each category and will vary by product. Nothing here is a claim about any specific named competitor.
Professional equity-analysis curricula converge on a standard valuation toolkit. The Cash Flow Projector implements that toolkit end to end and runs it against projections built from audited filings — so the analysis is genuinely professional-grade, not a simplified approximation.
Cost of capital — CAPM & WACC
Cost of equity Ke = Rf + β × ERP, after-tax cost of debt Kd × (1 − tax), blended into a market-value WACC.
Discounted cash flow (FCFF & FCFE)
Unlevered FCFF discounted at WACC and levered FCFE discounted at Ke, with Gordon-perpetuity and exit EV/EBITDA terminal values.
Dividend discount model
Single-stage (Gordon) and two-stage (H-model) forms for steady and normalizing dividend payers.
Residual income
Book value plus the present value of earnings above the equity charge — a cross-check when dividends or free cash flow are distorted.
Relative valuation
Peer multiples (P/E, EV/EBITDA, EV/Revenue) applied to year-1 metrics, with the comparable set in your control.
See the full methodology for how each method is built and reconciled.
The Cash Flow Projector is an independent, professional-grade analysis tool. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the CFA Institute or any other credentialing body, and it is not a substitute for a professional credential, license, or designation. CFA® is a registered trademark of the CFA Institute. References to professional curricula describe the standard analytical methods the tool implements — nothing more.
The tool is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice and is not a fiduciary. All projections and valuations are model-based estimates derived from third-party data and your inputs; they are not guarantees of future performance. See the disclaimer for the full statement.