Obtain a copy of Google's latest Annual Report or 10-K. You can do this by downloading and printing the documents from your company's website or from the EDGAR database at the Securities & Exchange Commission (www.sec.gov)
Answer these 4 questions
Understanding the Annual Report and 10K (Note: Show your computations)
How does current year's sales revenues and net income (i.e., earnings) compare with that in previous years? Compute the annual growth rate for the last four years for both sales revenue and net income. [For example, if revenues in Year 1 and 2 are 100 and 125 respectively, the growth rate from Year 1 to Year 2 is 25%]. What earnings trend do you observe and what factors may be causing this trend?
Calculate the gross margin percentage (Gross Profit divided by Net Sales) for each period presented in the income statement. What trend in gross margin do you observe and what factors may be causing this trend?
Where are the resources of your company employed? Figure this out by calculating a percentage of the total assets for each asset displayed in the balance sheet. The total should equal 100%. What are the three largest individual assets as a percentage of the total? Why do you think the company needs to have these assets as part of their business?
What method(s) of depreciation does your company use? Does the company use the same method of depreciation for all types of long-lived assets? Where did you find this information?