FINANCIAL ANALYSIS PROJECT – Worth 200 points This assignment will be done in parts with a formal paper submitted at the end of the semester incorporating all the analysis.  I will provide input as you submit each section.  You should incorporate any suggestions I make for each section into your final paper. Section 1:  Company Research – Due Date MARCH 9TH – Worth 25 Points: Chose a company that you have an interest in working for when you graduate or one you would like to invest in.  Make this fun and chose a company that provides a good or service that is of interest to you.  Once you chose a company, please complete the following: • Find a copy of the company’s latest annual report and skim through it.  You will be using this report for much of the analysis you complete in subsequent parts of this project.  You might be able to find a 2013 year-end report at this point for some companies.  If not, use the report for the 2012 year-end.  Please make sure the annual report is comparative providing AT LEAST 3 years of financial data.  Please locate the FULL annual report – not just the financial data.  It should include management commentary as well as financial data. • Please find at least 2 Internet articles about the company and read through those. • Submit a PDF copy of the annual report you have chosen along with the two articles selected in DROPBOX. Once you have completed reviewing the annual report and articles, please complete the following: 1. Provide a synopsis of the company providing information about the company’s history, product / services, major customers, major suppliers, and leadership.  This should be 2-3 paragraphs in length. 2. Look up the current and historical stock prices for you company for the dates listed below.  You should be able to find this information easily on the Internet using.  Below are a couple of links you can use to find current and historical stock prices. • http://www.marketwatch.com/tools/quotes/historical.asp • http://www.dailyfinance.com/historical-stock-prices/ • http://finance.yahoo.com/stock-center/#mkt-movers Using the dates below, prepare a graph showing the stock price fluctuation. a. A current stock price b. Stock Price at December 31, 2013 c. Stock Price at December 31, 2012 d. Stock Price at December 31. 2011 Below the graph provide a written analysis of the stock price and speculate why the company is seeing changes in their stock value.  Reasons can involve company activities, the economy, current events/trends, etc. This analysis should be 1-2 paragraphs in length. 3. Research and summarize at least two (2) news events (this may include mergers, acquisitions, or political issues) that occurred from 2010 to the present day.  This is the purpose of your two required Internet articles.  Speculate on the impact, if any, the event had on the company’s stock price.  How might this information influence your decision to invest in the company?  This section should be 2-3 paragraph.

1. FINANCIAL ANALYSIS PROJECT – Worth 200 points
This assignment will be done in parts with a formal paper
submitted at the end of the semester incorporating all the
analysis. I will provide input as you submit each section. You
should incorporate any suggestions I make for each section into
your final paper.
Section 1: Company Research – Due Date MARCH 9TH –
Worth 25 Points:
Chose a company that you have an interest in working for when
you graduate or one you would like to invest in. Make this fun
and chose a company that provides a good or service that is of
interest to you. Once you chose a company, please complete the
following:
• Find a copy of the company’s latest annual report and skim
through it. You will be using this report for much of the
analysis you complete in subsequent parts of this project. You
might be able to find a 2013 year-end report at this point for
some companies. If not, use the report for the 2012 year-end.
Please make sure the annual report is comparative providing
AT LEAST 3 years of financial data. Please locate the FULL
annual report – not just the financial data. It should include
management commentary as well as financial data.
• Please find at least 2 Internet articles about the company and
read through those.
• Submit a PDF copy of the annual report you have chosen
along with the two articles selected in DROPBOX.
Once you have completed reviewing the annual report and
articles, please complete the following:

2. 1. Provide a synopsis of the company providing information
about the company’s history, product / services, major
customers, major suppliers, and leadership. This should be 2-3
paragraphs in length.
2. Look up the current and historical stock prices for you
company for the dates listed below. You should be able to find
this information easily on the Internet using. Below are a
couple of links you can use to find current and historical stock
prices.
• http://www.marketwatch.com/tools/quotes/historical.asp
• http://www.dailyfinance.com/historical-stock-prices/
• http://finance.yahoo.com/stock-center/#mkt-movers
Using the dates below, prepare a graph showing the stock price
fluctuation.
a. A current stock price
b. Stock Price at December 31, 2013
c. Stock Price at December 31, 2012
d. Stock Price at December 31. 2011
Below the graph provide a written analysis of the stock price
and speculate why the company is seeing changes in their stock
value. Reasons can involve company activities, the economy,
current events/trends, etc. This analysis should be 1-2
paragraphs in length.
3. Research and summarize at least two (2) news events (this
may include mergers, acquisitions, or political issues) that
occurred from 2010 to the present day. This is the purpose of
your two required Internet articles. Speculate on the impact, if
any, the event had on the company’s stock price. How might
this information influence your decision to invest in the
company? This section should be 2-3 paragraphs in length.

3. DELIVERABLES FOR PART 1:
• PDF file of company annual report.
• PDF copies of 2 Internet articles.
• Graph of stock prices
• Word document containing the commentary requested in parts
1, 2 and 3 above.
Section 2: Balance Sheet & Income Statement Analysis – Due
Date MARCH 23rd – Worth 25 Points:
Complete the following and submit via Dropbox.
.
1. What are the primary assets held by the company based on
the Balance Sheet? What does this information tell you about
the company as a whole? This section should be 1-2 paragraphs
in length.
2. Look at the company’s financing structure (debt versus
equity). How is the company financing its operations and future
growth – debt, issuance of common stock, or through operations
(Retained Earnings)? How might that influence your investment
decision? This section should be 1-2 paragraphs in length.
3. Complete a Horizontal Analysis of the company’s balance
sheet and income statement using EXCEL for at least 2 years of
data. All annual reports will provide comparative data. What
does this analysis tell you about company trends over the past
two years? This section should be 1-2 paragraphs in length.
4. Complete a Vertical Analysis of the company using at least 2

4. years of data. Do a Vertical Analysis on both the Income
Statement and the Balance Sheet using EXCEL. Use Net Sales
as your base figure on the Income Statement and Total Assets as
your base figure on the Balance Sheet. What does this analysis
tell you about the company over the past two years? This
section should be 1-2 paragraphs in length.
DELIVERABLES FOR PART 2:
• Word document containing the commentary requested in parts
1-4 above.
• Excel spreadsheet with Horizontal analysis.
• Excel spreadsheet with Vertical analysis.
Section 3: Ratio Analysis – Due Date APRIL 6th – Worth 25
Points:
Complete the following and submit via Dropbox.
1. Complete a comparative (at least 2 years) ratio analysis of
the company. You should calculate at least two ratios in each
of the three financial performance categories – liquidity,
profitability and solvency. Discuss the results and trends from
year to year. What does this analysis tell you about the
financial strength of the company? This section should be
approximately 3 paragraphs in length.
DELIVERABLES FOR PART 3:
• Word document containing the commentary requested above.
• Excel spreadsheet with Ratio analysis (Please include
formulas).
Section 4: Other Analysis – Due Date APRIL 15th – Worth 25

5. Points:
Complete the following and submit via Dropbox.
1. Review the company’s cash flow statement. Is the company’s
cash position improving or deteriorating? What is the primary
source of cash for the company? If the company has excess
cash, how are they investing it? What does the information
from the cash flow statement tell you about the company and
how might that impact your decision to invest in the company?
This section should be 2-3 paragraphs in length.
2. Review the audit report on both the financial statements and
over internal control. Were there any problems with either
report? If so, please explain. How might that impact your
decision to invest in the company? This section should be 1-2
paragraphs in length.
3. Finally, review the management’s commentary (discussion
and analysis). What information did this provide in terms of the
future of the company? Would this information impact your
decision to invest or seek employment at this company? This
section should be 2-3 paragraphs in length.
DELIVERABLES FOR PART 4:
• Word document containing the commentary requested above.
Section 5: Complete and Finalize the Report – Due Date APRIL
30th – Worth 100 Points:
Please take all of the work and information completed above to
prepare a report either recommending or discouraging
investment in this company. The report should begin with your
recommendation – buy or pass on the investment with some
brief explanation of how you arrived at the decision. This
should be a new section of the report and not a copy/paste of the

6. material above after taking into consideration all the variables
we considered when working on this assignment.
Then you should include each of the sections of the assignment
(above) as justification for your decision. Please be sure to
incorporate any suggestions that I have made in each part
submission into your final paper. I will be looking for them in
your final paper.
PAPER SPECIFICATIONS:
The paper should be completed in MS Word and submitted via
Dropbox. Please double-space using a generally accepted 12 pt.
font (Times New Roman, Arial, Cambria or Calibri). The paper
should be a minimum (not including charts and Excel
worksheets) of 5 pages in length but can be longer.
Please include the Stock Graph and Excel Worksheets prepared
as either tables or illustrations embedded into the report or in an
Appendix to the paper.
Please include a cover page for the paper in accordance with
APA guidelines (include title of paper, your name, instructor’s
name, the class section, and the date of submission on the cover
page.)
A Bibliography (reference page) is required at the end of your
paper. Please include references for the annual report, the two
Internet articles, your stock prices, and any other data you used
to complete your analysis and paper.
Proper grammar should be used and the paper should contain no
spelling errors. Please use a Spell Check and Grammar Check
before submitting the paper. I will take points off for excessive
writing errors in your papers.

7. You should only submit original work. Submissions that are
strikingly similar will be considered joint work and all parties
submitting the paper will be provided a ZERO on the
assignment. To avoid any problems, do not discuss the details
of your paper with another class member that is doing the same
company as you.
The assignment will be subject to the late penalty guidelines set
forth in the syllabus. The exception is the FINAL PAPER due
on April 30th. Due to the timing of the assignment,
ABSOLUTELY NO LATE SUBMISSIONS will be accepted for
SECTION 5 so please do not procrastinate! This project is
worth a lot of points and can either boost or hurt your class
average. I recommend that you make a strong effort throughout
the assignment and spend some time on this.
DELIVERABLES FOR PART 5:
• Final paper using MS Word.