¶ … working average cost of capital (WACC) is an important component of determining what operations to finance and comparing different alternatives. This calculation takes into account the costs that go into providing the capital that a firm can use for different ends. It is sometimes referred to as the "hurdle" rate because projects must always return a require amount to make the investment viable; with a few exceptions. The cost of capital is determined by first considering the firms equity and debt structure. Each time of investment in the business will have a different rate of return that it offers investors. For example, assets that were financed through a bank will have a different repayment structure and rate than assets that were financed through the sale of stock. The company must first average the cost of all the different financing activities that it has engaged in before it can calculate a baseline for the WACC. Other factors are also important and play a role in the WACC calculations such as the "risk-free rate." This is the rate that is considered to be virtually risk free and government bonds are typically used. If the company can invest in a risk-free investment, then there is an opportunity cost in investing in alternative investments and this must be considered. There is also an inflation...
Cash flows that come in the future are not worth quite as much as cash that comes today because future cash flows must be discounted to reflect the effects of inflation. Furthermore, the company must also include risk in the calculation. There is always a risk that the investment will not provide the returns expected and the company must also include risk when calculating WACC.Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
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