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LPSN (LivePerson) WACC % :2.65% (As of Dec. 15, 2024)


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What is LivePerson WACC %?

As of today (2024-12-15), LivePerson's weighted average cost of capital is 2.65%%. LivePerson's ROIC % is -15.40% (calculated using TTM income statement data). LivePerson earns returns that do not match up to its cost of capital. It will destroy value as it grows.

For a comprehensive WACC calculation, please access the WACC Calculator.


LivePerson WACC % Historical Data

The historical data trend for LivePerson's WACC % can be seen below:

* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD.
* For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.

* Premium members only.

LivePerson WACC % Chart

LivePerson Annual Data
Trend Dec14 Dec15 Dec16 Dec17 Dec18 Dec19 Dec20 Dec21 Dec22 Dec23
WACC %
Get a 7-Day Free Trial Premium Member Only Premium Member Only 4.50 8.86 9.30 7.19 4.93

LivePerson Quarterly Data
Dec19 Mar20 Jun20 Sep20 Dec20 Mar21 Jun21 Sep21 Dec21 Mar22 Jun22 Sep22 Dec22 Mar23 Jun23 Sep23 Dec23 Mar24 Jun24 Sep24
WACC % Get a 7-Day Free Trial Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only 4.23 4.93 1.71 1.40 3.40

Competitive Comparison of LivePerson's WACC %

For the Software - Application subindustry, LivePerson's WACC %, along with its competitors' market caps and WACC % data, can be viewed below:

* Competitive companies are chosen from companies within the same industry, with headquarter located in same country, with closest market capitalization; x-axis shows the market cap, and y-axis shows the term value; the bigger the dot, the larger the market cap. Note that "N/A" values will not show up in the chart.


LivePerson's WACC % Distribution in the Software Industry

For the Software industry and Technology sector, LivePerson's WACC % distribution charts can be found below:

* The bar in red indicates where LivePerson's WACC % falls into.



LivePerson WACC % Calculation

The weighted average cost of capital (WACC) is the rate that a company is expected to pay on average to all its security holders to finance its assets. The WACC is commonly referred to as the firm's cost of capital. Generally speaking, a company's assets are financed by debt and equity. WACC is the average of the costs of these sources of financing, each of which is weighted by its respective use in the given situation. By taking a weighted average, we can see how much interest the company has to pay for every dollar it finances.

WACC=E/(E + D)*Cost of Equity+D/(E + D)*Cost of Debt*(1 - Tax Rate)

1. Weights:
Generally speaking, a company's assets are financed by debt and equity. We need to calculate the weight of equity and the weight of debt.
The market value of equity (E) is also called "Market Cap". As of today, LivePerson's market capitalization (E) is $72.480 Mil.
The market value of debt is typically difficult to calculate, therefore, GuruFocus uses book value of debt (D) to do the calculation. It is simplified by adding the latest one-year quarterly average Short-Term Debt & Capital Lease Obligation and Long-Term Debt & Capital Lease Obligation together. As of Sep. 2024, LivePerson's latest one-year quarterly average Book Value of Debt (D) is $527.2728 Mil.
a) weight of equity = E / (E + D) = 72.480 / (72.480 + 527.2728) = 0.1208
b) weight of debt = D / (E + D) = 527.2728 / (72.480 + 527.2728) = 0.8792

2. Cost of Equity:
GuruFocus uses Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) to calculate the required rate of return. The formula is:
Cost of Equity = Risk-Free Rate of Return + Beta of Asset * (Expected Return of the Market - Risk-Free Rate of Return)
a) GuruFocus uses 10-Year Treasury Constant Maturity Rate as the risk-free rate. It is updated daily. The current risk-free rate is 4.395%. Please go to Economic Indicators page for more information. Please note that we use the 10-Year Treasury Constant Maturity Rate of the country/region where the company is headquartered. If the data for that country/region is not available, then we will use the 10-Year Treasury Constant Maturity Rate of the United States as default.
b) Beta is the sensitivity of the expected excess asset returns to the expected excess market returns. LivePerson's beta is 1.78.
c) (Expected Return of the Market - Risk-Free Rate of Return) is also called market premium. GuruFocus requires market premium to be 6%.
Cost of Equity = 4.395% + 1.78 * 6% = 15.075%

3. Cost of Debt:
GuruFocus uses latest TTM Interest Expense divided by the latest one-year quarterly average debt to get the simplified cost of debt.
As of Sep. 2024, LivePerson's interest expense (positive number) was $4.984 Mil. Its total Book Value of Debt (D) is $527.2728 Mil.
Cost of Debt = 4.984 / 527.2728 = 0.9452%.

4. Multiply by one minus TTM Tax Rate:
GuruFocus uses the most recent TTM Tax Expense divided by the most recent TTM Pre-Tax Income to calculate the tax rate. The calculated TTM tax rate is limited to between 0% and 100%. If the calculated tax rate is higher than 100%, it is set to 100%. If the calculated tax rate is less than 0%, it is set to 0%.
The latest calculated TTM Tax Rate = 4.692 / -57.978 = -8.09%, which is less than 0%. Therefore it's set to 0%.

LivePerson's Weighted Average Cost Of Capital (WACC) for Today is calculated as:

WACC=E / (E + D)*Cost of Equity+D / (E + D)*Cost of Debt*(1 - Tax Rate)
=0.1208*15.075%+0.8792*0.9452%*(1 - 0%)
=2.65%

* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD.
* For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.


LivePerson  (NAS:LPSN) WACC % Explanation

Because it costs money to raise capital. A firm that generates higher ROIC % than it costs the company to raise the capital needed for that investment is earning excess returns. A firm that expects to continue generating positive excess returns on new investments in the future will see its value increase as growth increases, whereas a firm that earns returns that do not match up to its cost of capital will destroy value as it grows.

As of today, LivePerson's weighted average cost of capital is 2.65%%. LivePerson's ROIC % is -15.40% (calculated using TTM income statement data). LivePerson earns returns that do not match up to its cost of capital. It will destroy value as it grows.


Be Aware

1. GuruFocus uses book value of debt (D) to do the calculation. It is simplified by adding latest one-year quarterly average Short-Term Debt & Capital Lease Obligation and Long-Term Debt & Capital Lease Obligation together.
For companies that report quarterly, GuruFocus combines all of the most recent year's quarterly debt data from the beginning of the year to the year-end and calculates the average.
For companies that report semi-annually, GuruFocus combines all of the most recent year's semi-annual debt data from the start of the year to the year-end and calculates the average.
For companies that report annually, GuruFocus combines the beginning and ending annual debt data from the most recent year and then calculates the average.

2. The WACC formula discussed above does not include Preferred Stock. Please adjust if preferred stock is considered.

3. (Expected Return of the Market - Risk-Free Rate of Return) is also called market premium. GuruFocus requires market premium to be 6%.

4. GuruFocus uses the latest TTM Interest Expense divided by the latest one-year quarterly average debt to get the simplified cost of debt.


Related Terms

LivePerson Business Description

Traded in Other Exchanges
Address
530 7th Avenue, Floor M1, New York, NY, USA, 10018
LivePerson Inc is the enterprise leader in digital customer conversation.. The Conversational Cloud, the Company's enterprise-class digital customer conversation platform, is trusted by the world's top brands to accelerate their contact center transformation, orchestrate conversations across all channels, departments and systems, increase agent productivity, and deliver more personalized, AI-empowered customer experiences. The company has a presence in the United Kingdom, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and Europe.
Executives
John Deneen Collins officer: Chief Financial Officer LIVEPERSON, INC., 475 TENTH AVENUE, 5TH FLOOR, NEW YORK NY 10018
Jeffrey Ford officer: Chief Accounting Officer 530 7TH AVE., FLOOR M1, NEW YORK NY 10018
Monica L. Greenberg officer: EVP, General Counsel LIVEPERSON, INC., 462 SEVENTH AVENUE 3RD FLOOR, NEW YORK NY 10018
Alex Kroman officer: EVP, Product and Technology 530 7TH AVE., FLOOR M1, NEW YORK NY 10018
Vanessa Pegueros director C/O CARBON BLACK, INC., 1100 WINTER STREET, WALTHAM MA 02451
William Wesemann director 130 MONTALVO ROAD, REDWOOD CITY CA 94062
Norman M. Osumi officer: Chief Accounting Officer C/O LIVEPERSON, INC., 475 TENTH AVENUE, 5TH FLOOR, NEW YORK NY 10018
Robert P Locascio director, 10 percent owner, officer: Chief Executive Officer C/O LIVEPERSON INC, 462 SEVENTH AVENUE, NEW YORK NY 10018
James R. Miller director 4050 EAST COTTON CENTER BLVD. 6-68, PHOENIX AZ 85040
Bruce Edward Hansen director 17732 VINEYARD LANE, POWAY CA 92064
Yael Zheng director 345 ENCINAL STREET, SANTA CRUZ CA 95060
Alexander Spinelli officer: EVP, Chief Technology Officer LIVEPERSON, INC., 475 TENTH AVENUE, 5TH FLOOR, NEW YORK NY 10018
Kevin Lavan director 44 HILLCREST ROAD, MARTINSVILLE NJ 08836
Ernest T. Cu director LIVEPERSON, INC., 475 TENTH AVENUE, 5TH FLOOR, NEW YORK NY 10018
Daryl Carlough officer: SVP, Global & Corp Controller BEDMINSTER ONE, 135 US HIGHWAY 202/206, SUITE 11, BEDMINSTER NJ 07921