The Relative Performance of Five Alternative Warrant Pricing Models

Five warrant pricing models are examined in this study: a pair based on the Black–Scholes model, a pair based on the constant elasticity of variance (CEV) modification, and an extendible-warrant model (à la Longstaff). Based on more than 20,000 warrant price observations, the flexible-exponent CEV model generates the lowest average absolute pricing error in most of the warrants examined. The dilution-adjusted Black–Scholes model, however, remains a reasonable, economical alternative in many cases.