Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC): Definition, Formula, and How to Calculate It

WACC is the average rate that a company is expected to pay to finance its assets, weighted by capital structure.

Exact formula

Where Re = cost of equity, Rd = cost of debt, E = market value of equity, D = market value of debt, Tc = corporate tax rate.

Notes

  • WACC is widely used as a discount rate in DCF models.
  • Estimating Re often uses CAPM; Rd uses market yields adjusted for default risk.

Related terms