Look again at the restaurant company example I outlined earlier here on the message board. Doing so would allow me to see if a change in one driver has a deeper impact on the company than another. Anyway, today I was asked for the different valuation methods I was familiar with and was asked if I new sensitivity analysis. I think sensitivity analysis refers to estimating cash flows and determining what effects these cash flows would have on the value of the firm determined when discounting cash flows. However, I really am not sure and would like it if someone could give a brief explanation of sensitivity analysis or tell me where I might find additional info.
Research analysts depend a lot on margins.
As for L-II CFA, I am in the same boat as you are. The way I am approaching it is taking part in a study group - this really helps because you have a bunch of people with different skill sets who can solve most of the problems and give valuable inputs from their area of expertise and backgrounds. For sales projections, we ultimately like to get under the hood of the company to determine the key drivers of the company's revenues. I like to approximate as closely as possible the true ebb and flow of the company's cash flows, and of course, this will depend on the kind of company I am analyzing. Let's take for instance a restaurant company.