Fair value (also called intrinsic value) is what a stock is actually worth, based on the company's cash flow, earnings or assets — not on its current market price. Comparing the two tells you whether a stock looks undervalued, overvalued or fairly priced.

It offers three: Discounted Cash Flow (DCF), Price-to-Earnings (P/E) and Net Asset Value (NAV, using Price-to-Book). When you search a company, it recommends the one that suits that company's sector. You can still switch to either of the other two.

Each CSE company is grouped by what its business actually does, and each group has a method that suits it:

1. NAV for banks, finance, insurance, conglomerates, investment companies, property, plantations and hotels — their value sits in their assets, or their profits swing too much for P/E.
2. DCF for telecom, power and beverages & tobacco — steady, predictable cash flows.
3. P/E for food, healthcare, manufacturing, services and most other companies — earnings are the clearest yardstick.

Just one, from the company's latest financial reports on the CSE website: Free Cash Flow (TTM) for DCF, EPS (TTM) for P/E, or Total Equity for NAV. TTM means trailing twelve months — the total of the last four quarters. Price, share count and market cap are filled in automatically.

1. It projects free cash flow for each year of the projection period (10 years by default), using your growth rate.
2. It discounts each year's cash flow back to today's value, using your discount rate.
3. It adds a terminal value for all cash flows after the projection period, using your terminal growth rate.
4. It divides the total by the number of shares to get the intrinsic value per share.
5. It applies your margin of safety to get a buy price, and compares both with the market price.

P/E: intrinsic value = EPS × target P/E. With the PEG option, the fair P/E equals the company's earnings growth rate (Peter Lynch's rule of thumb).

NAV: net asset value per share = total equity ÷ shares outstanding. Intrinsic value = NAV per share × target P/B. A target of 1.0x means paying exactly what the company's net assets are worth on paper.

Free cash flow is the cash a company generates from its operations after capital expenditure (money spent on assets like buildings and equipment). Find operating cash flow and capital expenditure in the company's cash flow statement, then subtract one from the other.

Estimates rarely match what actually happens. A margin of safety is a buffer below fair value, so you only buy at a price that still works if things go worse than expected. The calculator starts at 25% for DCF and P/E and 20% for NAV. Raise it for businesses you're less sure about.

No. They are sector starting points, set conservatively, so beginners have a sensible place to begin. A fast-growing company may deserve a higher multiple than its sector, and a weak one a lower one. Review every assumption before relying on the result.

No. The results are educational estimates, not financial advice, a guarantee, or a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Markets, company performance and the economy can change in ways no model predicts. Update your inputs with the latest financial data, and speak to a qualified financial advisor before making investment decisions.