A critical financial accounting skill is the ability to read, analyze, and make actionable decisions from any financial statement. Business leaders gain valuable information from the annual reports of direct competitors, companies that operate in similar fields, and companies in which they are considering an investment or partnership.
Instructions
You are the CFO of a family owned, regional mass merchandise retailer. You operate in a very competitive market against a host of large national retailers. Your CEO is a big believer in learning from players of all sizes, and is requesting your analysis and guidance. While there are dozens of potential companies worth exploring, you want to begin by taking a close look at two major players: Walmart (NYSE: WMT) and JC Penney (NYSE: JCP). You have decided to organize your work into TWO components:
Part A: Financial Analysis Snapshot of key data from the annual reports
Part B: Executive Memo and brief Video Presentation of your analysis
Part A: Financial Analysis Snapshot Submission Requirements
NOTE: ****All work is to be completed and submitted in the Excel template****
***The template is attached below for part A of the assignment. The business I chose to use would be Walmart. Fill in the template using information you gather for Walmart!
Go to the Investor Relations section of each company’s website and download their annual reports. You may need to download more than one report to get all required historical data.