Good company not the same as a good stock

 

"A great company is not necessarily a great stock." - An old investment maxim 

Thinking about this in the context of business learning is very interesting. Management classes will focus on the quality of the company. Do you have good products? is the firm well run? Is the company true to its mission? Does it make money? Investment classes will focus on the cash flow implications of a company, but there is usually the premise that firm is fairly priced. If it is not fairly priced, there is a market inefficiency. 

The idea that a good company can be expensive and lesser quality companies can be cheap is a critical part of the the investment game albeit a smaller part given the focus on indexing and passive investing.  Unfortunately, separating good from cheap is not easy to discern.