Case Study Facts

Following JPMorgan Chase's significant acquisition of First Republic Bank in 2023, how does the Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH) explain the market's reaction to major corporate financial decisions, and what implications does this have for a company's approach to capital structure and dividend policy? Consider how information asymmetry between management and investors affects market efficiency, particularly during periods of banking sector stress, and analyze how the market's processing of complex financial information influences both the timing and structure of major corporate actions like acquisitions, stock buybacks, or dividend changes. Examine the relationship between market efficiency and the speed at which new information is incorporated into stock prices, especially in cases involving large financial institutions where systemic risks may be a concern.

Provide answer

Company X has $10M of excess cash (i.e., cash that is not used in the company's operations) and operating assets that will generate risky (i.e., uncertain) future cash flows with a present value today of $25M. It has no other assets. The company has risky zero-coupon bonds outstanding with a face value of $20M, and no other debt.  Who is likely to gain and who is likely to lose from the following maneuvers? a) Company X pays a cash dividend of $10M to its shareholders.  b) Company X halts operations and sells all of its operating assets for $15M. It invests the proceeds from this sale along with its $10M of existing cash in Treasury Bills (i.e., risk free bonds).

6

By mid-2007 at the start of the financial crisis U.S. financial institutions were holding more than $900 Billion of tranches of subprime mortgage backed securities. Banks bought the subprime securities for all of the following reasons except: Group of answer choices D. Large amounts of insurance afforded protections C. U.S. real estate anticipated to rise A. Apparent high return potential B. In essence writing a deep out-of-the-money put on the market

Long-Term Capital Management (LTCM) implemented a convergence trading strategy involving corporate bonds and U.S. Treasuries. Expecting the spread between corporate bond yields and Treasury yields to narrow over time, LTCM took large leveraged positions, going long (buying) corporate bonds and short (selling) Treasuries. However, the 1998 Russian debt crisis triggered a flight to quality, causing corporate bond prices to fall and Treasury prices to rise, leading to a divergence of the spreads and massive losses for LTCM's trades. On July 1, 1998, LTCM initiated a convergence trade by going long $100 million notional of Baa-rated 10-year corporate bonds with a yield of 7.5% and coupon rate of 7%, and shorting $100 million notional of 10-year U.S. Treasury bonds with a yield of 5.5% and coupon rate of 5%. a. Explain LTCM's rationale for going long corporate bonds and short Treasuries in their convergence trade. What were the underlying assumptions behind this strategy? b. Calculate…

Why Softbank was willing to bail WeWork despite losses and mismanagement of funds (multiple answers possible): a. WeWork captured a ‘blue ocean’ type market opportunity b. WeWork had a charismatic CEO c. WeWork was labelled as a ‘unicorn’ start-up d. WeWork had an extremely high pre-IPO evaluation e. WeWork was experiencing faster growth than incumbent competitors

6. Backroads Sporting Goods is trying to determine its optimal capital structure, which now consists of only debt and common equity. The firm does not currently use preferred stock in its capital structure, and it does not plan to do so in the future. To estimate how much its debt would cost at different debt levels, the company's treasury staff has consulted with investment bankers and, on the basis of those cussions, has created the following table: 4 Debt-to-Capital Ratio 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 a 9.56% h 10.48% Equity-to- Capital Ratio 11.13% d. 11.45% e. 12.25 % (w.) 1.0 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 Debt-to-Equity Ratio (D/E) 0.00 0.25 0.67 1.50 4.00 Bond Rating A BBB BB Before-Tax Cost of Debt 65% 7.5 9.5 D Backroads uses the CAPM to estimate its cost of common equity. r.. The company estimates that the risk-free rate is 6%, the market risk premium is 5%, and its tax rate is 40%. Backroads estimates that if it had no debt, its "unlevered" beta, bu, would be 1.25. On the basis of this information,…

During the Great Recession of 2008-2009, corporate cash conversion cycles typically increased in length by a significant amount. Why might this have occurred? Was it a good decision by corporate CFOs to allow this to happen? Explain.

2. Business and financial risk The impact of financial leverage on return on equity and earnings per share Consider the following case of Purple Panda Importers: Suppose Purple Panda Importers is considering a project that will require $350,000 in assets. • The company is small, so it is exempt from the interest deduction limitation under the new tax law. • The project is expected to produce earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of $60,000. • Common equity outstanding will be 25,000 shares. • The company incurs a tax rate of 25%. If the project is financed using 100% equity capital, then Purple Panda Importers's return on equity (ROE) on the project will be addition, Purple Panda's earnings per share (EPS) will be Alternatively, Purple Panda Importers's CFO is also considering financing the project with 50% debt and 50% equity capital. The company's debt will be 10%. Because the company will finance only 50% of the project with equity, it will have only 12,500 shar Panda…

As companies evolve, certain factors can drive sudden growth. This may lead to a period of nonconstant, or variable, growth. This would cause the expected growth rate to increase or decrease, thereby affecting the valuation model. For companies in such situations, you would refer to the variable, or nonconstant, growth model for the valuation of the company's stock. Consider the case of Portman Industries: Portman Industries just paid a dividend of $2.40 per share. The company expects the coming year to be very profitable, and its dividend is expected to grow by 12.00% over the next year. After the next year, though, Portman's dividend is expected to grow at a constant rate of 2.40% per year. Assuming that the market is in equilibrium, use the information just given to complete the table. Term Dividends one year from now (D1) Horizon value (P1) Intrinsic value of Portman's stock Value The risk-free rate (TRF) is 3.00%, the market risk premium (RPM) is 3.60%, and Portman's beta is 1.70.…

As companies evolve, certain factors can drive sudden growth. This may lead to a period of nonconstant, or variable, growth. This would cause the expected growth rate to increase or decrease, thereby affecting the valuation model. For companies in such situations, you would refer to the variable, or nonconstant, growth model for the valuation of the company's stock. Consider the case of Portman Industries: Portman Industries just paid a dividend of $2.40 per share. The company expects the coming year to be very profitable, and its dividend is expected to grow by 20.00% over the next year. After the next year, though, Portman's dividend is expected to grow at a constant rate of 4.00% per year. Assuming that the market is in equilibrium, use the information just given to complete the table. Term Dividends one year from now (D₁) Horizon value (P₁) Intrinsic value of Portman's stock The risk-free rate (TRF) IS 5.00%, the market risk premium (RPM) is 6.00 %, and Portman's beta is 1.30. What…

As companies evolve, certain factors can drive sudden growth. This may lead to a period of nonconstant, or variable, growth. This would cause the expected growth rate to increase or decrease, thereby affecting the valuation model. For companies in such situations, you would refer to the variable, or nonconstant, growth model for the valuation of the company’s stock. Consider the case of Portman Industries: Portman Industries just paid a dividend of $2.40 per share. The company expects the coming year to be very profitable, and its dividend is expected to grow by 20.00% over the next year. After the next year, though, Portman’s dividend is expected to grow at a constant rate of 4.00% per year. Assuming that the market is in equilibrium, use the information just given to complete the table. Term Value Dividends one year from now (D₁)      Horizon value (Pˆ1P̂1)      Intrinsic value of Portman’s stock        The risk-free rate (rRFrRF) is 5.00%, the market risk…

Give your thoughts on the prompts below  Firms use market capitalization when considering the market value added. We have seen that a number of things can affect capitalization values, so is this really the best method to use?   A well known company recently had  a 20-1 stock split that drew a lot of attention...how does this affect their market value added? Administrative errors can have a big impact in receivables turnover and payment delay ratios, so companies should include administrative and other indirect costs in the calculations of those ratios. Agree or Disagree and defend your answer.

Which of the following events is most likely to encourage a firm to INCREASE the amount of debt in its capital structure with other things held constant? Group of answer choices: Management believes that the firm's stock has become overvalued. Its sales become more stable over time. Its degree of operating leverage increases. The costs that would be incurred in the event of bankruptcy increase. The corporate tax rate decreases.

3) In the fall of 2008, AIG, the largest insurance company in the world at the time, was at risk 3 of defaulting due to the severity of the global financial crisis. As a result, the U.S. government stepped in to support AIG with large capital injections and an ownership stake. How would this affect, if at all, the yield and risk premium on AIG corporate debt?

As companies evolve, certain factors can drive sudden growth. This may lead to a period of nonconstant, or variable, growth. This would cause the expected growth rate to increase or decrease, thereby affecting the valuation model. For companies in such situations, you would refer to the variable, or nonconstant, growth model for the valuation of the company’s stock.   Consider the case of Portman Industries:   Portman Industries just paid a dividend of $3.12 per share. The company expects the coming year to be very profitable, and its dividend is expected to grow by 16.00% over the next year. After the next year, though, Portman’s dividend is expected to grow at a constant rate of 3.20% per year.