Access a publicly traded company's financial report via its Web site. Using the company's financial statements, describe and discuss each of the 4 basic financial statements provided by the firm for its most recent years of operations.
- Begin your paper by presenting an overview of the company.
- What business is it in?
- How long has it been in this business?
- Who are its major competitors? Are they manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, or service providers?
- Does the company sell to a domestic or international market?
- What are some of the events that have happened past that have led to where the company is now?
- Why did you choose this company?
- What are you expecting to learn by studying this company?
- Next, discuss each of the firm's financial statements.
- Income Statement
- Is the company profitable?
- Are its sales and profits growing?
- What are its major expense categories?
- Does the company appear to be growing at a reasonable rate relative to sales?
- Balance Sheet
- Are its assets, liabilities, and equity growing or shrinking?
- Which individual accounts are growing or shrinking, and should you be concerned about any of this?
- Statement of Stockholders' Equity
- What activities had the largest impact of each of the major categories?
- What are some of the categories that you have never seen before?
- Statement of Cash Flows
- How much of the change in cash was a result of operation, investing, and financing activities?
- If the changes were positive or negative, what does that suggest?
- Do any of the changes concern you, and why?
In your final assessment of the firm's financials, summarize your initial findings and make an assessment of the firm's health based on this preliminary review. Later, you will be contrasting your initial assessment with the final assessment you will make after doing a complete formal analysis of the firm.