A discount rate is used to determine the current value of a set of future cash flows. When an analyst wishes to value a company, the company's discount rate is the rate that a the they earn on investments in their business. The discount rate is commonly used to determine a company's value using a discounted cash flow (DCF) valuation. In a DCF valuation, the discount rate is the rate at which future cash flows are discounted when finding their current value. In that sense, the discount rate is the expected returns on future projects within a company.
It is important to note that the discount rate is not a fixed value for any given company, but instead it is a subjective value. No one can determine exactly how much a company will earn on future investments and as such no one could determine the exact discount rate to use during a valuation. In most cases, analysts will use historic figures along with the discount rate of comparable investments when selecting the discount rate to use in a valuation analysis.
Edit Metric
Edit
History
Bookmark
