Question: OceanGate sells external hard drives for $160 each. Its total fixed costs are $30 million, and its variable costs per unit are $110. The corporate tax rate is 30%. If the economy is strong, the firm will sell 6 million drives, but if there is a recession, it will sell only half as many.
a. What is the firm's degree of operating leverage (defined as the ratio of the percent change in EBIT to the percent change in sales) in going from a recession to a strong economy?
b. If the economy enters a recession, what will be the firm's after-tax profit?