CFO News Room

JANUARY 18, 2023

The question of whether a company is making or losing money should be a simple one to answer, especially in an age where accounting statements are governed by a myriad of rules, and a legion of number-crunchers follow these rules to report profits generated by a firm.

Marketing 130

Marketing Hurdle Rate Investments Accounting 130

Musings on Markets

FEBRUARY 10, 2021

What is a hurdle rate for a business? In this post, I will start by looking at the role that hurdle rates play in running a business, with the consequences of setting them too high or too low, and then look at the fundamentals that should cause hurdle rates to vary across companies. What is a hurdle rate?

Hurdle Rate 52

Hurdle Rate Currencies Investments Valuation 52

Musings on Markets

FEBRUARY 27, 2022

Measuring Profitability The question of whether a company is making or losing money should be a simple one to answer, especially in an age where accounting statements are governed by a myriad of rules, and a legion of number-crunchers follow these rules to report profits generated by a firm.

Hurdle Rate 82

Hurdle Rate Investments Accounting Entertainment 82

Musings on Markets

FEBRUARY 15, 2023

Some of that variation can be attributed to different mixes of businesses in different regions, since unit economics will result in higher gross margins for technology companies and commodity companies, in years when commodity prices are high, and lower gross margins for heavy manufacturing and retail businesses.

Profit and Loss 52

Profit and Loss Investments Hurdle Rate Accounting 52

Musings on Markets

JANUARY 31, 2024

In my last three posts, I looked at the macro (equity risk premiums, default spreads, risk free rates) and micro (company risk measures) that feed into the expected returns we demand on investments, and argued that these expected returns become hurdle rates for businesses, in the form of costs of equity and capital.

Hurdle Rate 78

Hurdle Rate Profit and Loss Investments Accounting 78

Musings on Markets

AUGUST 19, 2024

Setting the Stage The notion of a business life cycle is neither new nor original, since versions of it have floated around in management circles for decades, but its applications in finance have been spotty, with some attempts to tie where a company is in the life cycle to its corporate governance and others to accounting ratios.

Corporate Finance 98

Corporate Finance Valuation Investments Finance 98

Musings on Markets

JANUARY 5, 2024

In January 1993, I was valuing a retail company, and I found myself wondering what a reasonable margin was for a firm operating in the retail business. Employee Count & Compensation I nvesting Principle Financing Principle Dividend Principle Hurdle Rate Project Returns Financing Mix Financing Type Cash Return Dividends/Buyback s 1.

Valuation 100

Valuation Financial Analysis Analyzing Data Profit and Loss 100