[furiouslol]

they offered discounts and 100% refunds to customers who bought just before the end of the quarter, and they ended up with extra cash for their 10-Q even though these actions hurt the business.

DCF deals with this. They get upfront cash but since these actions hurt the business, it hurts cashflow in the future. So it's not like as if they got off scot-free with this strategy. Like I said, DCF requires that you have really good estimates about future cashflows. If you say But you don't see it!, then you are not making good estimates.

Note: My point is not that DCF will give you a 99.99% accurate valuation. No model will since all models depends on the accuracy of the inputs. My point is that given the amount of knowledge you have about a particular company, the DCF model provides the best framework to reaching a fair valuation.

A company with a few long-lived assets, like an airline with just a couple planes, will show low earnings and high cash flow when it's not replacing a plane. This is one of those situations in which high cash flow is deceptive and earnings are not.

It is not deceptive. If the company does that, you just assume their future cashflow from operations will decline from the aging planes.

While other valuation models are useful in supporting your initial valuation calculations, DCF is the fundamental block.