In: Finance
OceanGate sells external hard drives for $270 each. Its total fixed costs are $50 million, and its variable costs per unit are $220. The corporate tax rate is 30%. If the economy is strong, the firm will sell 2 million drives, but if there is a recession, it will sell only half as many.
a. What will be the percentage decline in sales if the economy enters a recession?
b. What will be the percentage decline in profits if the economy enters a recession?
c. Comparing your answers to (a) and (b), how would you measure the operating leverage of this firm?
a) Percentage decline in sales is 50%
b) Percentage decline in profit is 100%
c) Degree of operating leverage is 2.