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

FEBRUARY 15, 2023

During the course of the year, investors also rediscovered that the essence of business is not growing revenues or adding users, but making profits from that growth. In this post, I will focus on trend lines in profitability at companies in 2022, with the intent of addressing multiple questions.

Profit and Loss 52

Profit and Loss Investments Hurdle Rate Accounting 52

Musings on Markets

AUGUST 19, 2024

Not surprisingly, the operating metrics change as companies age, with high revenue growth accompanied by big losses (from work-in-progress business models) and large reinvestment needs (to delivery future growth) in early-stage companies to large profits and free cash flows in the mature phase to stresses on growth and margins in decline.

Corporate Finance 98

Corporate Finance Valuation Investments Finance 98

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

JANUARY 5, 2024

The numbers that I computed opened my eyes to how much perspective on the high, low, and typical values, i.e., the distribution of margins, helped in valuing the company, and how little information there was available, at least at that time, on this dimension. Aggregate operating numbers 3. Profit Margins 1. Beta & Risk 1.

Valuation 100

Valuation Financial Analysis Analyzing Data Profit and Loss 100

Barry Ritholtz

FEBRUARY 21, 2023

And you know, just simple things like, hey, the value of tax loss harvesting, how do you make that apparent to people? We’ve always been a virtual company, just used to be through the mail and 1-800 number when I joined. So that’s a number I hadn’t seen before. Number one, you put it back into the business.

Leadership 109

Leadership Investments Profit and Loss Technology 109

Musings on Markets

AUGUST 15, 2023

As the risk-free rate rises, expected returns on equities will be pushed up, and holding all else constant, stock prices will go down., and the reverse will occur, when risk-free rates drop. That is why the risk-free rate becomes an input into option pricing and forward pricing models , and its absence leaves a vacuum.

Investments 83

Investments Currencies Treasury Hurdle Rate 83