While the calculation requirements of this assignment are important, equally important are your discussion and analysis of the quantitative results. You will submit two documents: 1) a spreadsheet containing your horizontal and vertical analysis (and perhaps your ratios) and 2) a word document containing your essay. You will submit both parts separately.

Directions:

Choose a publicly traded company and perform an expanded analysis on the financial statements. Use the most current 10K statements available on SEC (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. or annual statements in Yahoo Finance (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.. Complete the following for your chosen firm in an Excel spreadsheet:

1. Horizontal and vertical analysis of the income statements for the past three years (all yearly balances set as a percentage of total revenues for that year).
2. Horizontal and vertical analysis of the balance sheets for the past three years (all yearly balances set as a percentage of total assets for that year).
3. Ratio analysis (eight ratios of your choosing) for the past three years PLUS a measurement for the creditworthiness of your firm as measured by Altman’s Z-score. Note that if you used your chosen firm for our ratio-related discussion posts, then you MUST also present industry-average ratios or current year competitor ratios for your ratio analysis. Comparing your firm’s ratios to a close competitor or an industry-average ratio makes your analysis much more meaningful.

You will then take what you submitted in your spreadsheet, and use that information to write your paper.

Directions:

Your paper must:

• Be 4-6 pages in length.
• Include a proper introduction and conclusion.
• Include a reference page.
• Provide your reader with an overall understanding of the financial health of your chosen firm including the following:

• Discussion of the ratio analysis results, including rationale for the ratios chosen.
• Discussion of all horizontal and vertical analysis from above.
• Discussion of four items from the management discussion of the firm that support the conclusion formed in your discussion of the financial results.