"The Pulse" -- #127 / Consumer & AI

Recruiting Timeline:

Banking:

Where We’re At:

• SA 2027: No updates here. 3 banks are actively recruiting for SA 2027. January 1st will be a big deadline for many app openings

• FT 2026: No new updates this week. 66 firms are actively recruiting for FT 2026  

• If you need some interview support or just need a place to vent, check out our Coaching Program: Coaching for banking, consulting, and buyside recruiting | The Pulse. 95%+ of those coached for the summer 2026 recruiting season received offers!

New SA 2027 Applications:

• None

New FT 2026 Applications:

• None

See below to gain access to our premium database, updated weekly, which houses the application processes for over 300+ banks/consulting/buyside firms! Gain an edge over everyone else by not having to spend countless hours tracking applications and deadlines.

Consulting:

Where We’re At:

• This process is 80% complete. We are still waiting on a few larger firms to release applications, but most of the remaining releases will be boutiques.

SA 2026 released apps:

• Strategy& - Summer Associate (SA 2026)

SA 2027 released apps:

• None

FT 2026 released apps:

• None

Buyside:

Where We’re At:

• SA 2027: Charlesbank Capital Partners opened their app this week. There are currently 11 buyside firms actively recruiting for SA 2027

New SA 2027 released apps:

• Charlesbank Capital Partners: MM PE (SA 2027)

The database is updated weekly and contains 300+ Investment Banking and Consulting internships/full-time positions along with:

• Interview tips for specific companies

• Interview prep material

• Applications and deadlines linked so that you can apply with one click

• Insider information about the application process

• Professionals to network with

• Buyside deadlines, interview prep, and people to network with for the sweatiest of students

We send the updated dataset every week with the latest banking and consulting job postings. We released our 127th update today.

Students we have been helping have already landed roles at Blackstone, Goldman, J.P. Morgan, Jefferies, Citi, and Solomon.

To get access to the database and the weekly updates, you make a one-time investment of $65 Credit Card / Debit Card: (ThePulsePrep—Stripe.com) that grants you annual access to the updated database (please reach out for additional payment options). If you don’t find our services helpful, we simply ask for feedback on an area we can improve upon and will refund your $65.

This is a small investment for a huge payout when you secure your dream offer!

Premium Database——>Database for banking, consulting and buyside roles | The Pulse 

Market Update: 

The Consumer and AI

The U.S. economy right now is kind of a weird mix; not booming, but not falling apart either. On one hand, there are layoffs, nervous consumers, and slower growth. On the other hand, the stock market and corporate profits are still surprisingly strong. It’s very worth paying attention to, especially if you’re a student thinking about your future job or the economy you’re about to graduate into.

Jobs are being cut as companies adjust to slower growth and new tech. In October 2025 alone, over 25,000 jobs were cut in the US.

You might have heard about the Amazon job cuts, but there are certainly other companies on the same page–UPS plans to eliminate around 48,000 positions this year as part of a restructuring and automation push. AI is a big factor. Firms are using it to get work done faster and cheaper.

More AI adoption tends to slow job growth but boost productivity, meaning companies are making more money with fewer people. This is good for profits, but not great for new workers.

Fortunately for the economy, corporate earnings are holding up well. The S&P 500’s earnings grew about 10.7% year-over-year in Q3 2025, one of the strongest growth rates in years.

Consumer-facing companies like Chipotle and Sweetgreen are still profitable, but there is a caveat: fewer people are actually spending in-store. Chipotle’s comparable restaurant sales fell 4%, and Sweetgreen’s same-store sales dropped 7.6%, showing that even name-brand corporate slop companies are feeling cautious about consumer behavior.

Part of the reason is that consumers are bifurcating. Higher-income households are in pretty good shape — they’ve mostly paid down debt, their incomes are solid, and they’re still buying big-ticket items and dining out. Lower and middle-income consumers, however, are cutting back, spending more cautiously, and rethinking discretionary purchases.

Big cities like New York are definitely expensive, so if you’re feeling less confident about job security, it’s not surprising that you’ll spend less.

Consumer confidence reflects this divide. Recently, lots of students and young professionals are feeling that jobs are harder to get and that the economy is “tighter”, which naturally makes people spend less. Still, spending hasn’t collapsed. Consumer spending rose 0.6% in August after a 0.5% gain in July. People are more cautious, but they’re not disappearing from the economy entirely.

Markets seem to be looking past the caution as they are still highly profitable (unlike during the dotcom bubble). The S&P 500 and Nasdaq are up big this year, helped by tech and strong earnings. Investors are betting the Fed’s fight against inflation is mostly over, and that interest rates might drop in 2026. If that happens, borrowing costs for student loans, homes, and business expansion could get easier, giving people and companies some breathing room.

All this to say that there are structural and economic changes making the labor market more competitive, but the 24-hour news cycle is always more pessimistic than is justified. Corporate, white collar jobs do not disappear overnight, but as a student, it is important to take a very forward-looking approach and try to develop a strong skillset.

Disclosure: Nothing written here is financial advice or should be used for investment decisions.

Comps & Precedent Transactions Analysis

Last week, we covered the DCF. This week, we cover Comps & Precedent Transactions Analysis to round out the Big 3 valuation methods.

-Comparable Companies Analysis- 📌 

Matching apples to apples. 🍎 

At its core, comps analysis involves spreading financial metrics of very similar companies to determine how they match up against one another

You're trying to value Company A: a U.S.-based cybersecurity, SAAS business with a $20bn enterprise value 💵 

To find good comps, you want to find as many SIMILAR businesses as possible (3-5) usually works. They should be similar in:

-Industry
-Business Model
-Size
-Geography

If you check those boxes, you'll spread some multiples such as EV / EBITDA, EV / Sales, and Debt / EBITDA to assess where Company A sits amongst peers.

To arrive at a valuation, you'll take your median EV / EBITDA and apply it to Company A. This is your comps valuation! ✅ 

-Precedent Transactions Analysis- 📌 

Easy one and similar to comps.

Let's revert back to valuing Company A. You want to see if there were any RECENT deals that involved the acquisition of a SIMILAR business by either:

a). a strategic buyer (typical operating company--usually a competitor)

or

b). a financial sponsor (PE firm)

The deal must be recent. Think the last 2-3 years to account for current market conditions 🗓️

So, with precedent transactions you can arrive at a proxy for Company A's value by analyzing recent transactions of similar companies.

At the end of the day, valuation boils down to the number someone else is willing to pay for something 💰

Going Forward:

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“The Pulse” #127