Glossary for Investors

Net Present Value

Net Present Value (NPV) is the difference between the present value of cash inflows and the present value of cash outflows. NPV is used in capital budgeting to analyze the profitability of an investment or project. Because of the time value of money, a dollar earned in the future won’t be worth as much as one earned today. The discount rate in the NPV formula is a way to account for this.

Full Glossary