NPV Analysis

It is always interesting to see a real-world application of concepts you have learned in class. Recently, Voyageur Pharmaceuticals Ltd. released the results of its capital budgeting analysis of a barium sulfate project in British Columbia, Canada. Notice the company repeatedly refers to the project NPV, but also calculates the IRR and payback period. The report includes the key variable assumptions and the NPV per share. What we also find interesting is the sensitivity figure near the bottom of the article. The company shows the sensitivity of the project to changes in operating costs, revenue, and capital. It appears that the NPV of this project is most sensitive to changes in revenue.

Century Bonds Issued

With the threat of an increase in interest rates, it appears to be a good time for borrowers to lock on interest rates for a long time. TTUN is the latest to do so, issuing $1.2 billion worth of century bonds, that is bonds with a 100-year maturity, at a coupon rate of 4.45 percent. At the same time, TTUN issued $800 million of 30-year maturity bonds at 3.5 percent. Other Big Ten universities, including the University of Minnesota, Michigan State University, Rutgers University, and THE Ohio State University have issued century bonds in recent years.

Onshoring

Which automobile company exports the most cars from the U.S.? Most people would probably guess Ford or GM, but for the 8th straight year, BMW is the U.S. auto export leader. During 2021, BMW exported 257,876 cars valued at $10.1 billion from the company's plant in the U.S. Although many are concerned with the negative effects of offshoring manufacturing, there are also benefits to onshoring. 

BTCS Announces Bividend

Blockchain technology company BTCS became the first Nasdaq-listed company to announce a "bividend." The company will pay each shareholder the equivalent of 5 cents in bitcoin or cash, at the discretion of the shareholder. If you are not familiar with BTCS, the company has two full-time employees, a market capitalization of about $46 million, and hasn't shown a profit for the last four years. We should note that the market capitalization was based on yesterday's closing price as the company's stock has jumped about 50 percent so far today on the announcement!   

American Airlines Fights Acquisition

Airlines have often suffered losses and were hit particularly hard during the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, American Airlines (AA) has amassed significant losses. In fact, AA has an accrued tax benefit benefit due to $16.5 billion in net operating losses. To help avoid a hostile takeover which would allow the acquirer to claim the tax benefit, as well as a takeover for any other reason, AA has implemented a rights offering. Under the terms of the rights offering, AA will issue one preferred stock purchase right in the form of a dividend to each shareholder if an outside investor acquires more than 4.9 percent of the stock in the company. Each right will allow investors to purchase one share of stock at a 50 percent discount. This would serve to make a hostile takeover more expensive.

Apple Shines

Moody's recently upgraded its rating on Apple's long-term debt. Apple joins Microsoft and and Johnson & Johnson as the only three U.S non-financial corporations with AAA rated debt. Moody's credits the better credit rating with substantial operating scale, large installed base of products and services, strong customer loyalty, and brand positioning. 

Peloton And The City

In HBO's limited series reboot of Sex and the City, a Peloton bike has a major role. And even though Peloton was aware that the bike would be used, it was unaware (spoiler alert) that a major character would suffer a fatal heart attack after using the bike. And while using a product in a television show is generally more of a Marketing topic, it is also related to Finance as Peloton stock crashed 11.35 percent the day after the show first aired. Shares of the company are down 73 percent for the year, so this is not the first time the stock's foot slipped off the pedal.