Damodaran WACC calculator
An independent WACC tool that starts from Damodaran’s published sector betas, country tax rates, and default spreads. It is not NYU Stern or Damodaran’s own calculator.
What this calculator uses
A Damodaran-style WACC still needs a risk-free rate, a market risk premium, a beta, a tax rate, and a cost of debt. This site fills the last three from Damodaran’s January 2026 tables, then lets you override any input.
Cost of equity is CAPM plus size and company-specific risk. Cost of debt is the risk-free rate plus a coverage-based spread. Open the calculator to see both next to WACC.
Sector betas
Pick an industry and the calculator loads the global unlevered beta for that sector. It then relevers the beta with your tax rate and market debt-to-equity ratio, so the cost of equity reflects both business risk and financial leverage.
Sector beta is a peer starting point, not a firm-specific estimate. If you have a better bottom-up beta, switch the calculator to “set levered” or type your own unlevered beta.
Tax rates and default spreads
The tax country sets the marginal corporate tax used in after-tax cost of debt and in the Hamada relevering formula. EBIT and interest expense produce an interest coverage ratio. That ratio maps to a synthetic rating and a Damodaran default spread.
Global sector betas
Unlevered betas by industry. The calculator levers them with your tax rate and D/E.
Country tax rates
Corporate marginal tax rates used in after-tax cost of debt and Hamada relevering.
Ratings and default spreads
Interest coverage maps to a synthetic rating and a debt spread over the risk-free rate.
What is not Damodaran
The risk-free rate and market risk premium come from Fernandez country surveys (2025, with 2024 averages where a country is missing). The size premium is from the Kroll 2025 study. Those pieces sit on top of the Damodaran beta, tax, and spread inputs.
Full citations are on the data sources section of the WACC guide.
How to run a Damodaran-style WACC
Choose country and sector
Loads Fernandez rf/MRP, Damodaran tax, and the sector unlevered beta.
Set size and coverage
Market cap selects the Kroll size premium. EBIT and interest select the default spread.
Set the capital structure
Equity and debt weights relever beta and weight ke versus after-tax kd.
Override what you know better
Company beta, a quoted credit spread, or a local tax rate should replace the table defaults when you have them.
Limits
- Industry averages hide company quality, growth, and operating leverage. Treat the result as a first pass.
- Synthetic ratings from coverage are not a substitute for a traded bond yield or a bank quote.
- Damodaran tables are updated periodically. This calculator uses the January 2026 files linked above.
- If you need the difference between WACC and cost of equity, use the matching rate for the cash flow — not a blended rate on equity cash flows.
Damodaran WACC FAQ
Is this Aswath Damodaran’s official WACC calculator?
No. This is an independent calculator. It applies Damodaran’s publicly published sector betas, country tax rates, and default-spread tables, then combines them with Fernandez country premiums and Kroll size premiums.
Which Damodaran datasets are used?
Global sector unlevered betas, corporate marginal tax rates by country, and ratings / interest-coverage default spreads, using the January 2026 updates linked in the WACC guide.
Does the calculator use Damodaran’s equity risk premium?
No. The risk-free rate and market risk premium come from Fernandez country surveys (2025, with 2024 fallback). Damodaran data is used for beta, tax, and debt spread.
Can I override Damodaran inputs?
Yes. Country, sector, tax rate, unlevered or levered beta, and the debt spread are starting points. You can replace any of them with company-specific estimates before reading WACC.