Boeing 7e7

Executive Summary

A key factor in determining a project's viability is its cost of capital [WACC]. The estimation of Boeing's WACC must be consistent with the overall valuation approach and the definition of cash flows to be discounted. Note that this process is a forward looking focus and is laden with uncertainty. It is how the assumptions are modeled that many costly mistakes can be made. While finding a rate of return for an individual project, it is important to remember that WACC is only appropriate for an individual project.

The many factors affecting WACC are: general economic conditions, market conditions, the firm's operating and financial decisions, amount of financing, business risk, constant financial risk, and dividend policy. These factors have a direct impact on the variables used in calculating WACC. Such variables include the term structure of interest rate, the risk free rate, the beta, the market risk premium, the firm's marginal tax rate, and its capital structure.

Since Boeing has two business components—defense and commercial—first begin by determining the unlevered beta for its commercial component. This is accomplished by comparing Lockheed and Northrop's average unlevered