Apparently, the issue of Nike’s case is to control and check the calculation cost of capital done by Joanna Cohen who is the assistant of a portfolio manager at NorthPoint Group. But I am willing to tell you that it can be a complex case in which we can doubt about sensitivity analysis done by Kimi Ford (portfolio manager) because her assumptions such as Revenue Growth Rate, COGS / Sales, S &A / Sales, Current Assets / Sales, and Current Liability / Sales have been adopted from previous income statements and balance sheets from 1995 to 2001. Perhaps, we can take new assumptions. Generally, the case issue is to examine if the share price of Nike is undervalue or overvalue and the common stock of Nike Inc should be added to the North Point Group’s Mutual Fund Portfolio or not.
Now, let me approve Kimi Ford’s analysis and tell you only the mistakes of Joanna Cohen.
What is the cost of capital?
The cost of capital is the rate of return that a firm must earn on the projects in which it invests to maintain the market value of its stock. Cohen calculated a weighted average cost of capital (WACC) of 8.4 percent by using the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) for Nike Inc. I do not agree with Joanna Cohen because of below mentioned:
-In the field of Equity’s Cost:
She should use current yields on US Treasuries 3 to 12 months at 3.59% because the yield curve is upward sloping. Upward sloping yield curve means that North Point Group should rely to short-term financing instead of long term financing. In fact, by short term financing, the manager can use cheaper cost of equity. It means that North Point Group should sell the purchased shares of Nike during the period of one year.
In the case of value of equity, Cohen’s should use liquidation value in calculating value of equity. Liquidation value per share is more realistic than book value because it is based on the current market value of the firm’s assets by