Data Update 1 for 2023: Setting the Table

Damodaran describes his annual data compilation effort covering 47,913 publicly traded companies globally, providing company-level metrics on risk, profitability, leverage, and pricing multiples across 95 industry groups. The article addresses three dangers of data usage (distractions, treating data as a crutch, and selective bias), outlines the four objectives for annual data review (perspective, mean reversion analysis, countering unfounded assertions, and validating rules of thumb), and previews upcoming analysis on inflation, country risk, corporate hurdle rates, debt, and valuation shifts in 2022.