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Technology · Interactive Media & Services

Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) — WACC

The weighted average cost of capital for Alphabet Inc. at 2026-06-30, calculated using the Baratelli Institute methodology and sourced to the most recent public filings. The number below is a practitioner reference — free to use, free to cite, refreshed quarterly.

Snapshot: 2026-06-30 · Next refresh: 2026-09-30 · Methodology →

WACC
9.9%
Blended cost of capital
Cost of Equity (Ke)
10.1%
Rf + β × ERP
Beta
1.05
5-yr weekly, Blume-adjusted
After-tax Kd
3.9%
Pre-tax × (1 − t)

The Calculation, Walked

ComponentValueSource / Assumption
Risk-free rate (Rf)4.25%10-year US Treasury yield at snapshot date
Equity risk premium (ERP)5.55%Damodaran implied ERP, June 2026 update
Beta (β)1.055-year weekly regression vs S&P 500, Blume-adjusted
Cost of equity (Ke)10.1%CAPM: Rf + β × ERP = 4.25% + 1.05 × 5.55%
Pre-tax cost of debt (Kd)4.70%Current-yield estimate on senior unsecured debt at issuer's rating
Marginal tax rate (t)18.0%Blended federal + state; company-specific effective rate
After-tax cost of debt3.9%Kd × (1 − t) = 4.70% × 82.0%
Equity weight (E/V)97.0%Market value of equity ÷ total capitalization
Debt weight (D/V)3.0%Market value of debt ÷ total capitalization
WACC9.9%(E/V × Ke) + (D/V × Kd after-tax)

Practitioner Notes

Alphabet is essentially unlevered at market values. The book debt is small enough that any WACC calculation is dominated by cost of equity and is highly sensitive to beta assumption. Consider running the calculation both with a five-year beta and a three-year beta to bracket the answer. Practitioner note on ownership: Alphabet is a Berkshire Hathaway holding, though not among the top-five positions. Buffett has publicly regretted not owning Alphabet earlier — the eventual position is worth watching as a signal on Berkshire's evolving view of the durability of search economics.

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Where This Number Fits

Use this WACC as the discount rate in an enterprise-value DCF, the hurdle rate for value-based management analysis of GOOGL, or the cost-of-capital anchor when comparing GOOGL to peers in the Interactive Media & Services industry. For equity-only valuation frameworks (dividend discount models, residual income), use the cost of equity Ke of 10.1% instead of the blended WACC.

The methodology page walks each input in more depth and explains where reasonable practitioners disagree. If your own model uses different inputs, the companion Excel workbook exposes every formula so you can substitute directly.

Cite This Page

Baratelli Institute. “Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) — WACC.” Baratelli WACC Reference. Snapshot date 2026-06-30.
https://baratelliinstitute.com/wacc/googl.html

Related

Berkshire Read — Alphabet is a Berkshire holding
Berkshire holds Alphabet stock. The practitioner reference walks Berkshire's positions, capital deployment, and annual-letter signals.

Technology sector peers in this reference: AAPL (Apple Inc.), MSFT (Microsoft Corporation), NVDA (NVIDIA Corporation), CDNS (Cadence Design Systems, Inc.), SNPS (Synopsys, Inc.).

All companies in the reference: The full WACC Reference Library (73 companies).

The methodology: How the numbers are calculated.

The applied companion: The Baratelli CFO & Controller's Guide covers WACC methodology within a full controllership framework.

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