Listener Q&A: Should You Adjust Your WACC for Inflation?
Author: By Andrew Sather, Stephen Morris, and Evan Raidt | Stock Market Guide to Buying Stocks
March 16, 2026
Duration: 52:13
In this episode, Andrew and Stephen get into the financial weeds to answer a great listener question from passaro94 about how inflation actually impacts a company's value. We break down the macroeconomic side of investing—explaining exactly what the Federal Reserve does, the critical differences between inflation and deflation, and how the best businesses account for these economic shifts using pricing power.
Finally, we take it a step further and explain how to practically tie inflation into your WACC (Weighted Average Cost of Capital) and DCF (Discounted Cash Flow) calculations so you can accurately value stocks no matter what the economy is doing.
In This Episode, You’ll Learn:
What the Federal Reserve actually does and why it matters to everyday investors.
The difference between inflation and deflation.
How businesses use pricing power to survive (and thrive) during inflation.
How to properly factor inflation into your Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) models.
Timestamps
00:00 - Intro & getting into the financial weeds
04:30 - Listener Q&A: passaro94 asks about adjusting WACC for inflation
12:15 - What does the Federal Reserve actually do?
21:00 - Inflation vs. Deflation: What beginners need to know
28:45 - How businesses survive inflation using pricing power
36:20 - Tying inflation into your WACC and DCF valuation models
43:30 - Final thoughts
Resources Mentioned
The Value Spotlight Newsletter: https://einvestingforbeginners.com/value-spotlight-newsletter/
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Remember, invest with a margin of safety—emphasis on the safety. Have a great week, and we’ll talk to you next time.
Timestamps are generated by artificial intelligence, and are not 100% accurate depending on the platform used for listening.
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