Collaborative Learning Community (CLC) assignment.
The purpose of this assignment is to use information from financial statements to compare current market share with competitors.
Throughout the course, you will be applying what you learn about the principles and practices of financial accounting by completing an ongoing project called the Financial Statement Analysis Report on a publicly traded company in the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) or National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ). The project will include seven assignments, each focusing on the analysis of financial information from various parts of the company’s financial statements. The assignments will culminate in the final report. The instructor will provide feedback on individual assignments, which students are expected to incorporate into the final report. Evidence of revision will be assessed on the final report.
Select a publicly traded company as the focus for your project. The company you select must sell a product and carry inventory on its balance sheet.
For this assignment, access a copy of the company’s annual report. This information will typically be located on the company website under “Investor Relations,” or on the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) website for the Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval (EDGAR) system. Read through the annual report to become familiar with the company.
Additionally, each student in the CLC group is required to conduct research to locate a recent press release or article related to the company’s relevant competitors. Read the press release/article and be prepared to discuss it in your assignment deliverable.
Provide a 500-750 word overview of the company addressing the following:
- Describe the company, including business sector, products sold, competitors, and the geographic area where business is conducted.
- Discuss cyclicality associated with the company’s product sales and any other information relevant to the particular business or its industry. Include any other items relevant to this business or its industry. Assume the reader knows little about the company.
- Synthesize the information from each of the press releases or articles collected by the group members and explain why this information is significant in comparing the company’s current market share to that of its competitors.
- Compare the company’s advantage and products to relevant industry competitors. Include justification of your competitor selection.