What is Financial Analysis

Financial analysis is a quintessential tool in determining the financial health and performance of a business, investment, or any other entity dealing with finances. It involves the assessment of financial statements, ratios, and other financial indicators to make informed decisions. 

 A few components of financial analysis are:

1. Financial Statements Analysis:
   • Income Statement (Profit & Loss Statement): To understand a company's revenues, expenses, and profitability over a specific period.
   • Balance Sheet: Provides insights into a company's assets, liabilities, and shareholders' equity at a given period.
   • Cash Flow Statement: It tracks the inflow and outflow of cash within a company and helps assess its liquidity and cash management.
2. Ratio Analysis: This helps analyze a company's financial performance, like profitability, liquidity, solvency, and efficiency. 
3. Trend Analysis: Examining financial data over multiple periods to identify trends and patterns to understand a company's financial health and performance.
4. Comparative Analysis: Comparing the financial performance to competitors or industry peers to provide valuable insights into relative strengths and weaknesses.
5. Risk Assessment: Risk analysis helps identify potential risks - credit risk, market risk, and operational risk, associated with an investment or business.
6. Valuation: Financial analysis even involves using various methods to estimate the intrinsic value of a company's stock or the fair value of an investment.
7. Forecasting: Financial analysis often involves making forecasts and projections based on historical data and assumptions. 

Financial analysis serves a variety of purposes. For example:

• Investment decisions: To estimate the company's financial health and investment potential.
• Lending decisions: To evaluate a company's ability to repay a loan.

Management decisions: To track the company's performance, identify areas for improvement, and make informed decisions about resource allocation and strategic planning.

What are Popular Financial Analysis Courses?

Financial Analysis programs essentially cover a wide range of topics. i.e.:

• Financial Accounting
• Corporate finance
• Investment banking
• Financial markets
• Portfolio management
• Risk management

Master's Degrees in Financial Analysis

• Master of Science in Financial Analysis (MSc Finan)
• Master of Finance (MF)
• Master of Business Administration in Finance (MBA Finance)

Bachelor's Degrees in Financial Analysis

• Bachelor of Science in Financial Analysis (BS Finan)
• Bachelor of Arts in Financial Analysis (BA Finan)
• Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance (BBA Finance)

In addition to core financial analysis courses, many programs offer electives in specialised areas such as fintech, sustainable finance, and quantitative finance.

Best Universities for Financial Analysis:

QS World University Rankings 2023 has ranked these 10 Universities as the top 10 to pursue various finance courses.

 According to the QS World University ranking 2023, these universities offer highly regarded Master of Science in Finance (MSc Finan) and Master of Business Administration in Finance (MBA Finance) programs. 

A few universities offer specialized programs in financial analysis. They are Harvard University's Master of Finance in Financial Mathematics (MSFM) and MIT's Master of Finance (MF).