Try these example inputs in the DCF calculator.
These figures match this guide's worked example. They are illustrative. They stay on this device and never appear in the URL.
Discounted cash flow, or DCF, asks what a stream of future unlevered free cash flow to the firm is worth in today’s dollars. This site’s model discounts those cash flows at a firm rate such as WACC, then adds cash and subtracts debt to get equity value. Divide by the shares you type and you have a value per share — the output of those assumptions, not a buy price. That is not the same as a levered (equity) DCF, which discounts cash flow to equity at an equity required return.
Key takeaways
FCF in year t = starting FCF × (1 + growth)^t
Terminal value = FCF_n × (1 + terminal growth) ÷ (discount rate − terminal growth)
Value per share = (PV of UFCFs + PV of terminal value + cash − debt) ÷ shares
Cash flows land at each year-end. Enter unlevered free cash flow to the firm (cash the business could distribute to all capital providers). The discount rate is a firm rate such as WACC, not a figure loaded from the ranking. FCF, cash, and debt use the same currency, typically USD here. Shares are a count — this model will not invent a share count from a market-cap snapshot. Do not treat shares as if they were dollars.
Start with $100 of unlevered free cash flow. Grow it 5% a year for 5 years. Discount at 10%. Use 3% terminal growth, $50 of cash, $20 of debt, and 10 shares.
The model value is about $163.19 a share. A 20% margin of safety is that number times 0.8, about $130.55 — still a haircut on a model, not a bid.
Unlevered FCF in this model is EBIT × (1 − tax rate) + D&A − capex − the increase in net working capital. The calculator can build that starting FCF from those pieces. It still grows that one starting figure at a constant rate.
The five projected cash flows in the example, rounded:
| Year | Free cash flow | Present value at 10% |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $105.00 | $95.45 |
| 2 | $110.25 | $91.12 |
| 3 | $115.76 | $86.97 |
| 4 | $121.55 | $83.02 |
| 5 | $127.63 | $79.25 |
Terminal value is extra, discounted from the end of year 5. In this example it is most of enterprise value — about 73% — which is why a small change in the discount rate or terminal growth moves the share value a lot. The calculator prints that share and a ±1 / ±0.5 percentage-point grid.
Run the same inputs in the DCF calculator. To see what explicit-period growth a market price already assumes in this model, use the reverse DCF calculator.
It translates a cash-flow path and a discount rate into a present value. Change growth, the discount rate, or terminal growth and the value moves. That sensitivity is the lesson.
The result is only as honest as the inputs. Growth that never shows up, a discount rate that is too low, or terminal growth that is too high will inflate the number. The model does not know about taxes, dilution after the share count you typed, or whether the business can actually compound.
It is a different lens from P/E, which uses earnings, and from enterprise value, which is a snapshot of the whole firm rather than a projection. None of them is a recommendation.
If terminal growth is at or above the discount rate, stop. Do not “fix” the formula by flipping a sign. The calculator leaves the result blank.
Cash, debt, and a live price can appear on a company page. They do not invent free cash flow, a discount rate, or shares for this model. Type those in the DCF calculator, and treat the output as a reading of your assumptions.
Primary references for the Gordon growth constraint and the distinction between firm and equity cash flows include Damodaran’s discounted cash flow lecture (opens in a new tab) and the CFA Institute 2026 free cash flow valuation page (opens in a new tab). The calculator implements the formulas above; it is not a substitute for those texts.
For general education only. Nothing here is investment advice.
Formulas and worked examples are MarketCapLens's. See who checks the numbers.