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The Annual Report Project

 
The Annual Report Project described here has proved successful in other classes. It may be used with the annual report of any company. After analyzing the company, you will write a paper stating your conclusions and recommendations. Conclusions may be “Buckle is financially sound and I would invest in the company” or “Buckle is financially questionable and I would not invest in the company”. You conclusions and recommendations must be supported with your analysis. Details of the analysis and written paper follow.
 

Instructions

 
1. Select Buckle 10K report. You may also obtain the company’s 10K report on Angel (Lessons/Chapter 12/Assignments/Buckle Financial Statement Analysis).
 
2. Your financial statement analysis should consist of the items listed on page 4 of this handout. The items below should help you gather some information for your paper.
 
3. Research for recent articles (more than one) about Buckle; using the articles that you found (and other references that you wish to use) write a summary of your findings on a separate page. This should include your conclusion about the company based on the articles (for example, what are, or were, the problems the company faces and has anything been resolved). Use your conclusions in your final paper.
 
4. Access the company’s investor relations Internet page. List five items of information available on the investor relations page and how each item would help you evaluate the company.
 

General Information

 
General information may be in several places of annual reports or on the company’s web site. This information generally appears at the beginning of the report, the end of the annual report, or on or near the inside back cover.
 
Answer the following questions about the annual report
 

Financial Analysis

 
1. Using the 5 years of information that I provided, for each of the years listed below, calculate the following ratios (read textbook pages 570-583)
 

 
1. Calculate or create (read textbook pages 564-569)
 
* Using the Excel spreadsheet provided
* Create vertical (common size) balance sheets for the five years.
* Create vertical (common size) income statements for the five years.
* Create a graph of the common size amounts for 2014.
* Create horizontal analysis of the balance sheet for the five years.
* Create horizontal analysis of the income statement for the five years.
* Create horizontal analysis of the statement of cash flows but only for the following items:
* Total of “Net cash flows from operating activities”
* Total of “Net cash flows from investing activities”
* Total of “Net cash flows from financing activities”

Written Analysis

 
After analyzing the company, you will write a paper stating your conclusions and recommendations. Conclusions may be “Buckle is financially sound and I would invest in the company” or “Buckle is financially questionable and I would not invest in the company”; or somewhere between these conclusions. You conclusions and recommendations must be supported with your analysis. Details of the analysis and written paper follow.
 
Critical thinking is the thoughtful, deliberate process of deciding whether you should accept, reject, or reserve judgment about a particular idea (investing in Buckle). It is also a measure of your confidence in the idea itself. Use critical thinking whenever you make a decision, solve a problem, take an action, or decide what to believe. Although the word critical can mean to find fault or to criticize, critical thinking is not a negative activity. Rather, it is a process where you ask questions, challenge assumptions, examine claims, and identify alternatives or answers.
 
A claim is a statement that someone says or writes about a topic (Buckle is financially sound is a claim). The claim can be true or false. In contrast, you can measure the amount of truth in a claim. For example, if a colleague claims the Buckle jeans are the most popular product, you can refer to jean sales to determine if that claim is true. When you are presented with a claim, you decide whether to accept, reject, or investigate it.
 
When you are solving problems or engaged in other activities that demand critical thinking, you are examining and thinking about an issue. In general terms, an issue is any controversial subject that you discuss, dispute, or review. An issue is different from a simple topic of conversation because it raises questions or concerns. For example, Buckle is financially questionable are an issue; their sales should be increasing, but they are not, which raises concerns about the financial stability of Buckle.
 
In the context of critical thinking, an argument is a set of one or more claims that support a particular conclusion. The claims are sometimes called premises. When you try to persuade someone to adopt your point of view, you typically make an argument and offer evidence that helps prove your claim as true. You should also evaluate other peoples’ claims carefully and decide whether you accept their arguments (see item 3, on page 1, above).
 
Thinking critically demands that you distinguish between fact and opinion. Typically, a fact is a claim that is considered to be true. An opinion is a claim that someone believes is true. Opinions may or may not be factual, even though people often assert their opinions as facts. If you can collect data about and analyze a claim, it is said to be a factual matter. This term suggests that you are not certain the claim is a fact, but could prove or disprove if necessary.
 
Your written paper and financial analysis will contain facts (Buckle financial data) and you will express your opinion about Buckle’s financial conditions base on these facts.
 
Your written paper will summarize your findings. There is no expected or minimum length. The paper should be long enough to cover the below items at a minimum. The paper should, at a minimum, include comments about:
 
* Ratio analysis: Study the ratios, common size statements, and trend analysis that you calculated. Comment on the company’s short term solvency, cash flows, debt financing, and profitability. These four areas are the major areas for which you calculated ratios on page 4, above. Use your analysis to justify your comments. Use graphs if it helps illustrate your point.
 
* Identify three areas that you think are possible problems and comment on why you believe these are problems. Use your analysis to support your selection. What additional information would you want to have to better understand the areas that you identified as problems? Use graphs if it helps illustrate your point.
 
* Comment on what your research (newspaper or magazine articles) says about the company. This is from Instruction 3 of this document.
 
* Comment on what is your overall assessment of the company?
 
I will grade your paper using two rubrics “Critical Thinking” and Written Communication” Both of these rubrics are on Canvas Modules/Chapter 12/Assignments/Buckle Financial Statement Analysis).
 
Submit your assignment on the due date. The submission should be two files; one Word file and one Excel file. The file name must include your last name. For example, my “Financial Statement Analysis” can be renamed “Sabado Financial Statement Analysis” The submission should include and be in the following order:
 

1. Word file

1. Cover sheet (see next page below – You should tell me if your section of the assignment is, in your opinion, Complete (C), Partial Complete (PC), Not Complete (NC)). For example, if your written paper is complete, delete the PC and NC.
2. Written paper
3. The Annual Report Project handout (this document)
4. Summary of your research and a copy of the articles that you used.

2. Excel file:

 
1. The vertical (common size) balance sheets for the five years.
2. The Vertical (common size) income statements for the five years.
3. The graph of the common size amounts for 2014.
4. The horizontal analysis of the balance sheet.
5. The horizontal analysis income statement.
6. The horizontal analysis of the statement of cash flows but only:
 
1. Total of “Net cash flows from operating activities”
2. Total of “Net cash flows from investing activities”
 
* Total of “Net cash flows from financing activities”
 

Product code: Project Report-AW319

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