Analyze the financial position of a publicly-traded corporation.
The company’s website and the SEC’s EDGARLinks to an external site. site can be used to view all of the financial statements of a publicly-traded U.S. corporation. Yahoo! FinanceLinks to an external site., the Wall Street JournalLinks to an external site., and MorningStarLinks to an external site. are sources for free information on companies’ financial statements and ratios. These sites allow you to see the last four years of most financial statements easily, but do not provide the statements of stockholders’ equity. However, EDGAR is not as user-friendly. Here are instructions for accessing financial statements through EDGAR.
Go to EDGAR | Company FilingsLinks to an external site.
Search for the corporation you are researching, by name or stock symbol.
Click on the company name.
On the right side of the screen, click on “10-K (annual reports) and 10-Q (quarterly reports)”
Click on “View all 10-Ks and 10-Qs”
Click on each of the last four 10-K annual statements. Within each one, you will find the financial statements for that year. Sometimes the companies have consolidated statements that incorporate the results of their subsidiaries, which is fine if you are analyzing the parent company and want to include all of that information in your analysis.
Rubric
Maximum Points
Title slide and MLA or APA format – Apply basic academic formatting to the title page, in-text citations, and references.
1
Part 1 – Research and describe the company’s primary business activities. In addition, provide information regarding the company’s history, position within their industry, competition, recent developments, and future direction.
1
Part 2 – Summarize at least two significant news items from recent articles or reports about company. Use the library’s academic databases to search for news about the company. Cite quoted and paraphrased material appropriately.
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Part 3 – Analyze the company’s last four annual income statements. Identify trends, concerns, and opportunities.
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Part 4 – Analyze the company’s last four annual cash flow statements. Identify trends, concerns, and opportunities.
1
Part 5 – Analyze the company’s last four annual balance sheets. Identify trends, concerns, and opportunities.
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Part 6 – Analyze the company’s last four statements of stockholders’ equity. Identify trends, concerns, and opportunities.
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Part 7 – Identify the following ratios for the company: current, quick, gross profit margin, price/earnings, debt-to-equity, return on assets, and return on equity. What does each ratio tell you about this firm’s current financial position?
1
Part 8 – Explain why you would or would not recommend an investment in this company. Justify your recommendations based on the financial analysis and research you conducted regarding this firm.
1
References slide with three or more sources – Incorporate research to strengthen your analysis.
