Question

Use number available as of 6/30/2020

You have recently been hired by Swan Motors, Inc. (SMI), in its relatively new treasury management department. SMI was founded 8 years ago by Joe Swan. Joe found a method to manufacture a cheaper battery with much greater energy density than was previously possible, giving a car powered by the battery a range of 700 miles before requiring a charge. The cars manufactured by SMI are midsized and carry a price that allows the company to compete with other mainstream auto manufacturers. The company is privately owned by Joe and his family, and it had sales of $97 million last year.

SMI primarily sells to customers who buy the cars online, although it does have a limited number of company-owned dealerships. Most sales are online. The customer selects any customization and makes a deposit of 20 percent of the purchase price. After the order is taken, the car is made to order, typically within 45 days. SMI’s growth to date has come from its profits. When the company had sufficient capital, it would expand production. Relatively little formal analysis has been used in its capital budgeting process. Joe has just read about capital budgeting techniques and has come to you for help. For starters, the company has never attempted to determine its cost of capital, and Joe would like you to perform the analysis. Because the company is privately owned, it is difficult to determine the cost of equity for the company. Joe wants you to use the pure play approach to estimate the cost of capital for SMI, and he has chosen Tesla Motors as a representative company. The following questions will lead you through the steps to calculate this estimate.

1. Using the 3/30/2020 10Q, look on the balance sheet to find the book value of debt and the book value of equity. If you look further down the report, you should find a section titled either “Long-Term Debt” or “Long-Term Debt and Interest Rate Risk Management” that will list a breakdown of Tesla’s long-term debt.

2.

	As of 7/17/2020
stock price
market cap
beta
shares of stock outstanding
3 yr yield
10 yr yield
risk percent	7%
cost of equity 3yr
cost of equity 10 yr

Using a 7 percent market risk premium, what is the cost of equity for Tesla using the CAPM?

3.

Company		Beta
Ford
General Motors
Honda
Toyota
Fiat Chrysler
Volkswagen
Daimler Chrysler		7%
Industry Beta

Find the beta for each of these competitors, and then calculate the industry average beta. Using the industry average beta, what is the cost of equity? Does it matter if you use the beta for Tesla or the beta for the industry in this case?

4.

Bonds						Ratings		Last Sale		YTM
Issuer Name	Symbol	Callable	Sub-Product Type	Coupon	Maturity	Moody's®	S&P	Price	Yield	Yield to Maturity
TESLA INC	TSLA4103351		Corporate Bond	1.250	3/1/2021		B-	$     416.62	$     (137.09)
TESLA INC	TSLA4474416		Corporate Bond	2.375	3/15/2022		B-	$     455.00	$       (72.57)
TESLA INC	TSLA4530906	Yes	Corporate Bond	5.300	8/15/2025	Caa1	B-	$     102.00	$            4.59
TESLA INC	TSLA4830349		Corporate Bond	2.000	5/15/2024		B-	$     480.00	$       (36.22)
TESLA INC	TSLA4103350		Corporate Bond	0.250	3/1/2019		NR	$        99.13	$       105.44
TESLA INC	TSLA4530907		Corporate Bond	5.300	8/15/2025			$     102.58	$                 -

Find the yield to maturity for each of Tesla’s bonds. What is the weighted average cost of debt for Tesla using the book value weights and the market value weights? Does it make a difference in this case if you use book value weights or market value weights?

5. You now have all the necessary information to calculate the weighted average cost of capital for Tesla. Calculate the weighted average cost of capital for SMI using book value weights and market value weights assuming SMI has a 35 percent marginal tax rate. Which cost of capital number is more relevant? 6. You used Tesla as a representative company to estimate the cost of capital for SMI. What are some of the potential problems with this approach in this situation? What improvements might you suggest?

Answer 1

Input area:
Bond maturity	Book value	Price	YTM
3/1/2019	$ 920,000,000	94.347	2.028%
3/1/2021	$ 1,380,000,000	92.625	2.754%
BV of debt	$ 2,300,000,000
BV of equity per share	$ 10.190
Stock price	$ 232.36
Shares outstanding	129,800,000
Beta	1.400
3-month Treasury bill rate	0.06%
Market risk premium	7.00%
Tax rate	35%

	Output area:
2)	RE from CAPM	9.86%
3)	Company	Beta
	Ford	0.97
	General Motors	1.44
	Honda	0.74
	Toyota	0.54
	Fiat Chrysler	0.49
	Volkswagen	1.97
	Daimler Chrysler	1.55
	Industry Average	1.10
	RE with industry beta	7.76%
4)		Book value	Percent of total	Quoted price	Market value	Percent of total	Yield to Maturity	Book values	Market values
	3/1/2019	$ 920,000,000	0.40	94.347	$ 867,992,400	0.40	2.028%	0.81%	0.82%
	3/1/2021	1,380,000,000	0.60	92.625	1,278,225,000	0.60	2.754%	1.65%	1.64%
	Total	$ 2,300,000,000	1.00		$ 2,146,217,400	1.00		2.46%	2.46%
5)	Book value of debt	$ 2,300,000,000
	Book value of equity	$ 1,322,662,000
	Book value of company	$ 3,622,662,000
	Market value of equity	$ 30,160,328,000
	Market value of company	$ 32,306,545,400
	WACC using book value	4.62%
	WACC using market value	9.38%

6)

The biggest potential problem with SMI using Tesla’s cost of capital is that SMI is a mid-priced car, while Tesla manufactures and sells at the high end of the automobile market, although Tesla has announced plans for a lower priced model. Another factor that could affect the cost of capital is Tesla’s access to capital since it is a public company, while Swan Motors is private.