Financial Forecast in Business and an Application Proposal: The Case of Random Forest Technique

The financial forecast is a subject that investors and researchers have been working on for many years. The developing business environment and the globalising market have led to many variables. This situation has led to the complexity of forecasting models. Technological developments have enabled financial forecasts to be made by computer programs. This way, it has been possible to analyse with more variables and avoid mistakes. In this study, five businesses from different sectors whose shares are traded in Borsa Istanbul were randomly selected. The financial statements of these businesses between 2009 and 2020 were obtained from the Public Disclosure Platform website. Current assets, fixed assets, equity, net sales, and net profit items of the businesses between 2010 and 2020 are forecasted using the random forest technique. As a result of the research, it has been determined that the random forest technique can be used effectively in the financial forecast.