Can you have a negative 100% IRR?

Asked by: Anastacio Mills  |  Last update: August 28, 2025
Score: 4.1/5 (29 votes)

A negative IRR is not meaningless or necessarily incorrect (unless it is less than -- more negative than -- -100%). It might simply mean that the project or investment operates at a loss, especially when time-value is taken into account.

What if IRR is 100%?

If you double your money in 1 year, that's a 100% IRR. Invest $100 and get back $200 in 1 year, and you've just earned 100% of what you put in. If you double your money in 2 years, you need to earn *roughly* 50% per year to get there.

Do negative IRRs make sense?

So the IRR -2.6 is the rate at which you are losing money. Such scenario is very much possible in real life situations, and there is nothing wrong with your analysis if you get negative IRR. IRR is often defined as the theoretical discount rate at which the NPV of a cash flow stream becomes zero.

Is it possible to have no IRR?

Among other problems, a project may have no real-valued IRR, a circumstance that may occur in projects which require shutting costs or imply an initial positive cash flow such as a down payment made by a client. This paper supplies a genuine IRR for a project which has no IRR.

Does IRR need a negative number?

Values must contain at least one positive value and one negative value to calculate the internal rate of return. IRR uses the order of values to interpret the order of cash flows.

When IRR Fails: The Case of a Nonexistent IRR

21 related questions found

What does negative 100% IRR mean?

A negative IRR is not meaningless or necessarily incorrect (unless it is less than -- more negative than -- -100%). It might simply mean that the project or investment operates at a loss, especially when time-value is taken into account.

Can the IRR be negative?

The internal rate of return (or the yield) is the interest rate at which the net present value is equal to zero i.e. NPV(i)=0 . The IRR can be positive, negative and sometime there may be no solution, a unique solution or there can be multiple solutions.

Can IRR be 0%?

the IRR is the discount rate that makes the NPV=0,i.e. no profit, and no loss. or the highest capital cost a project can bear in order to not loss money. in NPV profile, when IRR =0, the NPV is also 0, the curve is at origin.

What is the IRR rejection rule?

The IRR rule states that if the IRR on a project or investment is greater than the minimum RRR—typically the cost of capital, then the project or investment can be pursued. Conversely, if the IRR on a project or investment is lower than the cost of capital, then the best course of action may be to reject it.

What is the rule of thumb for IRR?

Typically expressed in a percent range (i.e. 12%-15%), the IRR is the annualized rate of earnings on an investment. A less shrewd investor would be satisfied by following the general rule of thumb that the higher the IRR, the higher the return; the lower the IRR the lower the risk.

Can there be a negative ROI?

To interpret ROI (return on investment), a positive ROI means that the investment is profitable. A negative ROI means that you have incurred a loss on the investment over the period of time included in the calculation.

Can XIRR be negative?

A negative XIRR suggests losses. Analyse the reasons behind negative returns and assess whether adjustments to your investment strategy are needed.

Is it possible to have a ROI of 100%?

Return on investment (ROI) is calculated by dividing the profit earned on an investment by the cost of that investment. For instance, an investment with a profit of $100 and a cost of $100 would have an ROI of 1, or 100% when expressed as a percentage.

Is IRR better than ROI?

IRR tends to be useful when budgeting capital for projects, while ROI is useful in determining the overall profitability of an investment expressed as a percentage. Thus, while both ROI and NPV are useful, the right metric to use will depend on the context.

Is 7% a good IRR?

There isn't a one-size-fits-all answer, but generally, an IRR of around 5% to 10% might be considered good for very low-risk investments, an IRR in the range of 10% to 15% is common for moderate-risk investments, and in investments with higher risk, such as early-stage startups, investors might look for an IRR higher ...

Why is the IRR flawed?

The IRR doesn't take the actual dollar value of the project or any anomalies in cash flows into account. If there are any irregular or uncommon forms of cash flow, the rule shouldn't be applied. If it is, it may result in flawed findings.

What is a good IRR for 5 years?

For unlevered deals, commercial real estate investors today are generally targeting IRR values of somewhere between about 6% and 11% for five to ten year hold periods, with lower-risk deals with a longer projected hold period on the lower end of that spectrum, and higher-risk deals with a shorter projected hold period ...

What is the rejection rule?

The rejection region is the region where, if our test statistic falls, then we have enough evidence to reject the null hypothesis. If we consider the right-tailed test, for example, the rejection region is any value greater than c 1 − α , where c 1 − α is the critical value.

What happens if IRR is negative?

A negative IRR indicates that the present value of future cash flows is less than the initial investment, suggesting a loss on the investment.

Is 100% IRR possible?

If you invest 1 dollar and get 2 dollars in return, the IRR will be 100%, which sounds incredible. In reality, your profit isn't big. So, a high IRR doesn't mean a certain investment will make you rich. However, it does make a project more attractive to look into.

Can IRR be positive if NPV is negative?

Can IRR be Positive if the NPV is Negative? Yes, this situation can occur when a project's cost of capital exceeds the IRR. In such cases, reject the proposal. According to IRR analysis, Oilfield B has a higher IRR than Oilfield A, suggesting Oilfield B is the preferred choice.

Is a negative NPV possible?

Net Present Value = Present Value of Cash Inflows – Present Value of Cash Outflows. A positive NPV indicates that a project or investment is profitable when discounting the cash flows by a certain discount rate, whereas, a negative NPV indicates that a project or investment is unprofitable.

Why does IRR need a negative number?

Using the Functions in Excel: IRR

The initial investment is always negative because it represents an outflow. You are spending something now and anticipating a return later.

What if IRR is greater than 0?

An IRR greater than 0 means your investment is earning money, even after the future cash inflows are discounted to reflect the fact that $1 earned today is worth more than $1 earned in the future.