Description

COMPANY FINANCIAL ANALYSIS PROJECT

Objective: The primary purpose of this project is to provide you with an in-depth look at a company's annual report and the industry in which it operates and to familiarize you with searching on the Internet.  In particular, you will conduct analyses of the financial statements contained in the report and relate your analysis to the business environment and industry in which the company operates.

Basic Information:  The student is to pick a publicly traded company of their choice.  Using one of the large web based financial companies such as Yahoo! Finance at www.finance.yahoo.com, the student should pull off the Income Statement, Balance Sheet, Cash Flow and computed ratios.

Additional clarification regarding requirements:

1.         TREND ANALYSIS: The student should complete a trend analysis utilizing the Income Statement, Balance Sheet, and Cash Flow for the organization.  A basic analysis of what trends are developing and why.  Minimum of 5 items.

2.         RATIO ANALYSIS: The student needs to also obtain industry ratios for the industry that this company is in some finance companies will automatically calculate these to you.  The student may calculate the ratios themselves if desired.  A comparison to the industry needs to be done that includes ratios comparison and acknowledgements of key drivers to the business.  The student should be able to identify if the company is strong or weak and reasons for this conclusion.  Minimum of 8 ratios.

Suggested ratios to be analyzed: Current Ratio, Quick Ratio, Inventory Turnover, Days Sales Outstanding, Days Cash on Hand, Fixed Asset Turnover, Total Asset Turnover, Total Debt to Total Assets, Times Interest Earned, Profit Margin on Sales, Return on Assets, Return on Common Equity, Stock Price to Earnings.

3.         OVERALL ASSESSMENT:  The student is to identify if the company is either: excellent, good, average, or poor condition financially and give their justifications.

All written assignments are prepared according to the guidelines of the APA Publications Manual (for assistance use http://owl.english.purdue.edu) and the following format:

1.      The title page should contain the company, the author's name, and the institutional affiliation. Include the page header (described above) flush left with the page number flush right at the top of the page.

2.      The body of the paper is neatly typed, Times New Roman, size 12 font, double spaced (unless a more appropriate formal format is used i.e., letter, table, etc.), with one inch margins on all sides and each page is consecutively numbered.

3.      Reference lists, appendices and other attachments are clearly labeled and referenced within the body of the report.