Financial Statement Analysis for AMAZON

Please check the files attached ACC 251 Term Paper assignment
Total points: 30 % (25% Final paper and 5% for presentation)

Objectives:

1. To develop and use the spreadsheet models.

2. To better understand the concepts, benefits as well as limitations of financial statement analysis.

Grading and Submission

1. Your grade will be based on how well you construct the programs to present the information. It will also be based on the ease with which a user can change inputs and still receive the correct answers.

2. One point will be taken off for each minor mistake made, and five points will be taken off for each major mistake made. Partially completed computer project will not be graded, and a zero will be assigned.

3. Late submission will not be accepted, and a zero will be assigned.

4. The title and proposal due: Week 3

5. The tentative presentation date is December 6, 2019 A copy of your presentation materials (ppt. file), the Excel output of Project, and the written paper should be submitted before the presentation date. Submit a hardcopy of written paper (in MS Word format) on the due date in class.

Item Due Date
1. Presentation Materials November 20, 2020

2. Written Project December 4, 2020

Project Instructions

Step 1: Collect Information

Choose a public traded company that you have access to their financial reports

Collect the company’s major financial reports for the recent five fiscal years (5 years data).

https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/viewer?action=view&cik=1018724&accession_number=0001018724-20-000004&xbrl_type=v

Step 2: Input Data

(a) Create a file called ACC 251 Last Name First name. All the work should be done on sheet1of this file.

(b) Input the actual dates, headings, data, and variables to be calculated. If the format is not followed closely, one or more points will be taken off.

Step 3: Compute Financial Ratios

• Liquidity ratios
Measures a firm’s ability to meet its current obligations
• Borrowing capacity (leverage) ratios
Measures the degree of protection for long-term creditors
• Profitability ratios
Measures the earning ability of a firm
• Cash flow ratios
• Z-scores (bankruptcy prediction, I will explain this in our excel lab)
• Forecasting (Simple ratio-forecasting model to determine what the good finance strategy the company could do in the coming year, I will explain this in our excel lab)

Written Part

Part I: Contents

1. The term paper combines the quantitative results from the above calculations to develop a thorough and complete analysis.

2. It discusses and evaluates the performance of a publicly traded company. You will analyze the financial data and relate them to the various topics covered in this course.

3. Your term paper should include the following elements:

(a) Abstract: give your audience a quick view to know what the paper is about
(b) Introduction: Introduce the company and explain why you chose this company (Something interesting about the company).
(c) Explain ratio analysis you did
(d) Answer the following questions:
d.1 If you were a loan officer who works for a bank, would you recommend granting a loan equal to 5% of the company’s outstanding equity value to it? Why or why not? Be specific.

d.2 Would you invest your money in bonds, preferred stock, and/or common stock issued by this company? If yes, which ones? Why? If not, why? Be specific.

d.3 If you were the financial advisor of the company, what suggestions you would give them. (Answer this question based on the ratio analysis, especially the Z-score model and the forecasting)

(e) Conclusions
(f) References

4. Take a stand: make recommendations to d.1, d.2 and d.3 with analyzes to back up your decisions. Quantitative analyzes and qualitative discussions are needed to support your arguments.

5. Here are the suggested contents of your paper.

● Introduction
– What do you know about this company?
– What business is the company in?
– With whom does it compete?

● Review of the Financial Strength (Ratios Analysis)
– What do the good and bad ratios imply about the performance of the firm?
– Is the company comparatively strong or weak? In which areas?
– Does it manage its assets and finance properly?
– Is it liquid?
– What about its profitability?
– Is the company financially sound in general?
– Should investors invest their money in its securities?
(You may read the analyst reports from Standard & Poor’s NetAdvantage to learn more insights about the company.)

● Recommendation and Suggestions to questions d.1, d.2, and d.3.

● Conclusions

● References

Do not spend too much effort on explaining the terms/theories. Points will be deducted for irrelevant/redundant arguments.

Part II: Style and Font

1. Text should be formatted for 8.5 x 11-inch paper (the default of MS Word), double -spaced Times New Roman at 12 points, with one-inch margins. You should follow the American Psychological Association (APA) guidelines to prepare your paper (https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/).

2. An ideal length of the paper is between 12 – 15 pages

3. Any tables, charts or figures, etc. should be inserted into the proper locations.

4. Avoid typographical errors; missing pages; inconsistent footnotes, headings, or references; and other similar blunders. They communicate to the reader that the paper was prepared hastily.

5. Use headings. Under each heading, use one or two sentences to conclude the section at the end.

6. Writing Rubric is attached as Appendix A in this document.

Presentation Part
Presentation Grading Criteria

Note: Do NOT spend too much time on the introduction of the company and its product.

Do NOT rely too heavily on the pre-written materials.

The presentation should last around 5-7 mins.

1 = Poor
2 = Below average
3 = Average
4 = Good
5 = Excellent
Poor Excellent

Professional appearance 1 2 3 4 5

Freedom from reading 1 2 3 4 5

Organization & clarity of materials 1 2 3 4 5

Ability to handle questions 1 2 3 4 5

Ability to raise questions to peer presentations 1 2 3 4 5

Appendix A
Writing Skills Assessment Form

Student:______________________

Content
Poor Acceptable
Excellent
Topic is poorly developed. Supporting details are absent or vague. Trite ideas and/or unclear wording reflect lack of understanding of topic and audience. Topic is evident with some supporting details; generally meets requirements of assignment. Topic is well developed, effectively supported and appropriate for the assignment. Effective thinking is clearly and creatively expressed.
1 2 3
Comments:

Organization Poor Acceptable Excellent
Writing is rambling and unfocused, with main theme and supporting details presented in a disorganized, unrelated way. Writing demonstrates some grasp of organization, with a discernible theme and supporting details. Writing is clearly organized around a central theme. Each paragraph is clear and relates to the others in a well-planned framework.
1 2 3
Comments:

Language Poor Acceptable Excellent

Writing lacks sentence variety. Significant deficiencies in wording, spelling, grammar, punctuation, or presentation. Sources, if consulted, poorly cited.
Some sentence variety; adequate usage of wording, grammar, and punctuation. Some cited sources used. Wide variety of sentence structures. Excellent word usage, spelling, grammar and punctuation. Multiple sources correctly cited. Effective integration of information.
1 2 3
Comments:

Total =