Valuation Method Changelog

Valuation method

A stock's value on KashVector changes for two reasons: the company's own numbers, or our method. This page records every change to the method, when it took effect, and why.

Last change 23 October 2026 · Rates in use today · Rate updates

Method changes

October 2026

23 Oct

Cyclical companies: revenue smoothed as well as margins

For miners, energy, chemicals, autos and semiconductor companies, the starting cash flow already used the company's average margin over several years. It now also uses the lower of this year's revenue and its multi-year average. A company losing money at the operating line no longer borrows its sector's typical margin.

Why: At a record commodity price, one year's sales overstate what the business earns across a full cycle. Averaging the margin alone smoothed the profitability but not the price. A weak year keeps its lower figure, so the change only ever makes a boom-year valuation more conservative.
Affects: Cyclical sectors, most visibly gold and lithium miners.

Website
Screens
Ticker pages
Watchlist
Apps (from 2.9)

23 Oct

Markets

France gets its own equity risk premium

French listings (.PA) now use France's own equity risk premium of 4.94% (Aa3 rating) on top of the euro risk-free rate, instead of the eurozone figure of 4.20%.

Why: We follow Damodaran's euro convention: one euro risk-free rate (the German Bund) for every euro-denominated company, with each country's extra risk carried in its equity risk premium. France's rating and bond spread now sit well apart from Germany's, so it gets its own premium.
Affects: Companies listed in Paris. Their valuations are more conservative than before.

Website
Screens
Ticker pages
Watchlist
Apps (from 2.9)

23 Oct

Consistency

New markets reach the apps without an app update

The list that matches an exchange suffix (.AX, .PA, .SA and so on) to its market's rates is now served from our server alongside the rates themselves.

Why: When we add a country, the apps can start using its rates straight away instead of waiting for the next app store release.
Affects: App users, from version 2.9.

Apps (from 2.9)

22 Oct

Consistency

One rate table for the website and the apps

The website and the apps now take the full table of risk-free rates, equity risk premiums and terminal growth rates from one server source.

Why: The same stock is valued on the same discount rate wherever you look it up.
Affects: Every market.

Website
Apps

19 Oct

Sector margin benchmarks use the median of each market's peers

When a cyclical company's own multi-year margin is negative, we use its sector's typical margin instead. That benchmark is now the median of peers listed in the same markets, and peers with margins below -100% (usually pre-revenue developers) are left out.

Why: A median isn't pulled around by one or two extreme peers, and limiting each industry to its own markets keeps the comparison like-for-like.
Affects: Cyclical companies whose own average margin is negative.

Website
Screens
Ticker pages
Watchlist
Apps (from 2.9)

17 Oct

Markets

Brazil gets its own rates

Brazilian listings (.SA) now use a Brazilian risk-free rate of 11.09% (the 10-year BRL bond less Brazil's Ba1 default spread), an equity risk premium of 7.30% and terminal growth of 5.0%.

Why: Brazilian companies report in reais, so their cash flows should be discounted at Brazilian rates.
Affects: Companies listed in São Paulo.

Website
Watchlist
Apps

15 Oct

US, UK and Hong Kong risk-free rates net of default risk

The risk-free rate for these three markets is now the 10-year government bond yield less that country's default spread (US 0.22%, UK and Hong Kong 0.48%), from Damodaran's July 2026 table.

Why: Each market's equity risk premium already includes the country's default risk, so taking it out of the risk-free rate counts it once. India, Korea, Japan and China have used this convention since 15 August.
Affects: US, UK and Hong Kong stocks. Cash-flow valuations rise modestly, roughly 3% to 15% depending on the company.

Website
Screens
Ticker pages
Watchlist
Apps

14 Oct

New analysis

"What's priced in?"

A reverse DCF: we solve our own Base case backwards for the five-year cash-flow growth that would justify today's share price, then set it beside the company's actual multi-year revenue and cash-flow growth.

Why: Turns "is it cheap?" into a question you can judge yourself: does the market expect faster or slower growth than the company has delivered?
Affects: Companies valued with the cash-flow (DCF) model.

Website
Apps

7 Oct

Screens

Europe screen covers the STOXX Europe 600

The weekly Most Undervalued Europe screen now ranks around 570 companies from the STOXX Europe 600, up from about 200 large caps. Its track record restarted that day.

Why: A wider universe gives a fuller picture of the European market, including mid caps.
Affects: The Europe screen.

Screens

2 Oct

Rates

A live US risk-free rate, shared everywhere

The US rate now follows the 10-year Treasury yield through the day. Our server fetches it once, refreshes it every 30 minutes, and every surface reads that same value.

Why: US yields move every day. One shared value keeps the website, the apps and the Watchlist on the same number.
Affects: US stocks, plus any market without its own rate table.

Website
Watchlist
Apps

September 2026

24 Sep

New analysis

AI Sector Correlation

Two readings of how closely a stock's daily returns move with AI: against a broad AI basket (AIQ) and against semiconductors (SMH), after removing the effect of the overall market, over the last 365 days.

Why: It shows how much a stock's price tends to move with the AI trade. It is a descriptive statistic, not a valuation input or a signal.
Affects: Every stock. Added to ticker pages and screens on 24 September, and to /evaluate/ and the apps on 13 October.

Website
Screens
Ticker pages
Apps

22 Sep

Rates

Equity risk premiums updated to Damodaran's July 2026 table

Every market's equity risk premium now follows Damodaran's July 2026 update: US 4.42%, Australia and eurozone 4.20%, UK and Hong Kong 4.94%, Korea 4.81%, Japan and China 5.07%, India 6.92%.

Why: Damodaran publishes a new country risk table twice a year. We adopt each update so the discount rates reflect current market conditions.
Affects: Every market.

Website
Screens
Ticker pages
Watchlist
Apps

17 Sep

Screens

Undervalued screens add a solvency floor

Companies in the Altman Z-Score's distress zone are no longer ranked on the six undervalued screens. The margin-of-safety ceiling rose from 80% to 100%.

Why: A stock can look cheap because the market is pricing real bankruptcy risk. The floor keeps the rankings to companies on reasonably solid ground, and the higher ceiling stops genuinely deep discounts being cut off.
Affects: All six undervalued screens.

Screens

14 Sep

New analysis

Solvency Check

Every company now gets a Solvency Check: the Altman Z-Score (bankruptcy risk from five balance-sheet ratios) and the Piotroski F-Score (nine tests of financial strength).

Why: Valuation tells you what a business might be worth. Solvency tells you how likely it is to survive long enough for that to matter.
Affects: Non-financial companies. Banks, insurers and REITs are excluded, as both scores were designed for industrial companies.

Website
Screens
Ticker pages
Apps

2 Sep

Growth estimates built from multi-year history

The Base case growth rate now comes from fundamental growth (return on equity times the share of earnings kept in the business). For most companies it is checked against multi-year revenue and cash-flow growth, and the lower of the two is used. It stays between -5% and 15%.

Why: One year's growth is noisy. Several years of history, cross-checked against what the business can fund itself, gives a steadier and more conservative starting point.
Affects: Every company valued with the cash-flow (DCF) model.

Website
Screens
Ticker pages
Watchlist
Apps

August 2026

25 Aug

Sector-average margin for loss-making cyclicals

When a cyclical company's own multi-year margin is negative, its starting cash flow uses its sector's typical margin instead.

Why: A miner or chipmaker at the bottom of its cycle still has earning power through the cycle. The sector's margin gives a reasonable estimate of it.
Affects: Cyclical companies with a negative multi-year margin.

Website
Screens
Ticker pages
Watchlist
Apps

24 Aug

New model

Regulated utilities: Excess Return model

Regulated utilities (electricity, gas, water) are now valued with the Excess Return model: book value plus the present value of returns earned above the cost of equity.

Why: A regulated utility's profit is set mainly by the return regulators allow on its asset base. A model built on equity and returns on equity fits that better than free cash flow, which heavy ongoing investment keeps low.
Affects: Regulated utilities.

Website
Screens
Ticker pages
Watchlist
Apps

24 Aug

New model

Cyclical companies: cash flow normalised across the cycle

For mining, oil and gas, autos, chemicals and semiconductors, the starting cash flow uses the company's average free-cash-flow margin across several years, applied to its revenue.

Why: Cyclical profits swing between boom and bust. Valuing from one year captures wherever the cycle happens to be today, not the business's earning power across it.
Affects: Cyclical sectors.

Website
Screens
Ticker pages
Watchlist
Apps

24 Aug

New model

Conglomerates: holding-company discount

Conglomerates get a flat 15% discount on whichever model values them.

Why: Diversified holding companies typically trade below the sum of their parts, reflecting head-office costs and the difficulty of valuing many businesses at once.
Affects: Companies Yahoo Finance classifies as conglomerates.

Website
Screens
Ticker pages
Watchlist
Apps

20 Aug

New model

Airlines: EV/EBITDA model

Airlines are valued on enterprise value to EBITDA, at a 6x base multiple (Bear and Bull vary it by 20%).

Why: Airlines carry heavy leases and debt and swing with fuel prices and travel demand, which makes their free cash flow too erratic to project. EV/EBITDA is how the industry is usually compared.
Affects: Airlines.

Website
Ticker pages
Watchlist
Apps

19 Aug

New model

REITs: P/AFFO model

Equity REITs are valued on adjusted funds from operations (AFFO) times a sector multiple, such as office, retail, industrial or residential.

Why: Accounting depreciation makes property owners' reported profit and free cash flow look far lower than the cash they actually generate. AFFO is the standard measure REIT investors use.
Affects: Equity REITs (mortgage REITs excluded).

Website
Ticker pages
Watchlist
Apps

19 Aug

New analysis

One page for every model

/evaluate/ runs the Buffett, Dalio and Graham scores plus the right valuation model for any ticker in one view.

Why: You no longer need to know in advance which tool suits a company. The data decides.
Affects: Every stock.

Website
Apps

15 Aug

New model

Banks and insurers that keep most of their earnings: Excess Return model

Banks and insurers that pay out little of their profit are now valued with the Excess Return model. Those with a steady payout stay on the dividend discount model. Indian non-bank lenders (NBFCs) join the financial-company models too.

Why: A dividend model undervalues a lender that reinvests most of its earnings. Valuing its equity and returns on equity captures what the retained profit is building.
Affects: Banks, insurers and Indian NBFCs.

Website
Screens
Ticker pages
Watchlist
Apps

15 Aug

India, Korea, Japan and China risk-free rates net of default risk

The risk-free rate for these markets is the local 10-year government bond yield less the country's default spread from Damodaran's table.

Why: Their equity risk premiums already include country risk, so this counts it once, in line with Damodaran's method.
Affects: Stocks in India, Korea, Japan and China.

Website
Screens
Ticker pages
Watchlist
Apps

13 Aug

Fading growth when the Base case shrinks

When a company's Base case growth is negative, the DCF now moves its growth gradually towards the long-run rate across the projection years, instead of holding one rate and then jumping.

Why: Declines rarely continue at the same pace forever. A gradual fade is closer to how businesses actually stabilise.
Affects: Companies with shrinking cash flow.

Website
Screens
Ticker pages
Apps

8 Aug

Cost of debt from a synthetic credit rating

A company's cost of debt now comes from a credit rating estimated from its interest coverage (how many times operating profit covers interest), following Damodaran's method.

Why: Most companies don't have a published bond yield. Interest coverage is a good proxy for how lenders would price their debt.
Affects: Every company valued with the cash-flow (DCF) model.

Website
Screens
Ticker pages
Watchlist
Apps

Rates in use today

The discount-rate inputs every tool starts from. Risk-free rates are 10-year government bond yields, less the country's default spread where its equity risk premium already carries it. The US rate updates through the day.

Market	Risk-free rate	Equity risk premium	Terminal growth
United States	Live10-year Treasury less 0.22%	4.42%	2.5%
Australia	5.16%	4.20%	2.5%
India	5.72%	6.92%	2.5%
Korea	3.80%	4.81%	1.75%
Japan	2.32%	5.07%	1.2%
United Kingdom	4.86%	4.94%	2.0%
Eurozone	3.33%	4.20%	1.8%
France	3.33%euro rate (German Bund)	4.94%	1.8%
Hong Kong	3.58%	4.94%	2.0%
China	1.10%	5.07%	0.6%
Brazil	11.09%	7.30%	5.0%

Rate updates

We check government bond yields regularly and update a market when its yield has moved.

Date	Markets	Change
23 Oct	Australia, India, Japan, eurozone, Hong Kong	Australia 5.16%, India 5.72%, Japan 2.32%, eurozone 3.33%, Hong Kong 3.58%
17 Oct	Brazil (new)	11.09% (BRL 10-year less default spread)
15 Oct	All nine markets	Refreshed during a global bond rally
2 Oct	United States	Now live, refreshed every 30 minutes
1 Oct	Australia, UK, Hong Kong	Australia 5.42%, Hong Kong reviewed against new data
30 Sep	Australia, India, Korea, Japan, UK, eurozone	Small moves as yields drifted higher
22 Sep	All markets (equity risk premiums)	Damodaran's July 2026 country risk table
18 Sep	US, Australia, India, Korea, Japan, eurozone	Global bond selloff continued
11 Sep	US, UK, eurozone, Australia, India, Korea	Yields up 15-25 basis points in a global bond selloff
6 Sep	Hong Kong	Checked against an HKMA 10-year bond tender
4 Sep	UK, eurozone, India, Korea, Japan, China	Regular refresh
2 Sep	Australia	Refreshed to the current 10-year yield

About this page

KashVector picks a valuation model for each company from its data: a discounted cash flow for most companies, and dedicated models for banks, insurers, utilities, REITs and airlines. We keep improving those models, and this page is the record of what changed and when.

Each entry says what changed, why, which companies it affects, and where it applies: the website, the weekly undervalued screens, the per-stock pages, the Watchlist, or the apps.

Frequently asked questions

Why does a stock's value change from one week to the next?

For two reasons: the company's own numbers (a new annual report, a price move, a dividend) or a change to our method. This page lists the second kind, with the date each change took effect.

Where do your rates come from?

Risk-free rates are each market's 10-year government bond yield. Where a country's default risk is already in its equity risk premium, we take that default spread out of the yield, following Aswath Damodaran's method. Equity risk premiums come from Damodaran's country risk table, updated twice a year.

Do changes reach the apps straight away?

Rate updates reach the apps through our server the next time the app opens. Changes to the models themselves arrive with an app update; where it matters, an entry names the version that carries it.

Are older ticker pages and screen results recalculated?

Weekly screens use the current method from their next run. Each ticker page is a snapshot, valued with the method in place on the date shown at the top of the page, and picks up changes when it is next refreshed.

Is this financial advice?

No. KashVector shows how a valuation model responds to a company's data. It does not recommend buying, selling or holding any security.