Faculty News

Prof. Aswath Damodaran explains the difference between the price and value of a stock

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Excerpt from Financial Times -- "I think the best way I can explain [the difference between price and value] is with an analogy. Let's suppose you go to look at a house that you want to buy. Your realtor points to the house. She names a price, or he names a price, and you say, 'Where did you come up with that number?' And the reality is, he or she came up with that number by looking at other houses in the neighborhood and what they sold for. A lot of people invest the same way. If you ask them, why are you paying $50 for Twitter or $600 for Apple, the reality is they haven't valued the company in any real sense, they've priced the company by looking at what other people are paying for the stock. That's the essence of the difference. Price is based on what other people pay. Value is based on what you think you can get back in cash flows from investor."

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