If Levered Free Cash Flow is used in a DCF, what does it indicate regarding the valuation?

• A. It provides Enterprise Value
• B. It provides Cash Flow before debt payments
• C. It provides Equity Value
• D. It provides a comparison to WACC

Answer: (C)

When Levered Free Cash Flow is used in a Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) analysis, it specifically relates to the cash available to equity holders after accounting for all expenses, taxes, and interest payments. This is what distinguishes Levered Free Cash Flow from Unlevered Free Cash Flow, which represents cash flows before any debt obligations are paid.

Using Levered Free Cash Flow allows the analyst to derive the Equity Value of the company. This is because the calculation reflects the cash flow that is actually available to shareholders, which is essential for determining how much equity investors can expect to receive in the future. By discounting these cash flows at the cost of equity (as the cash flows are for equity holders), the analysis aims to ascertain the current value of those future cash flows specifically for the equity portion of the capital structure.

In contrast, the other options present different concepts. Enterprise Value typically relates to Unlevered Free Cash Flow as it encompasses the total value of a business, inclusive of debt, thereby providing insights about both equity and debt holders. Cash Flow before debt payments describes Unlevered Free Cash Flow, which focuses on the cash available to all capital providers before servicing debt. Lastly, the relationship to WACC (Weighted Average Cost of Capital)