Pfizer Inc. discovers, produces, and distributes medicines, including Celebrex and Lipitor. Ford Motor Co. develops, markets, and produces automobiles and trucks. Microsoft Corporations develops, produces, and distributes a variety of computer software and hardware products including Windows, Office, Excel, and the Xbox.
1. Without computing the rates of return on total assets, rank from highest to lowest Pfizer, Ford, and Microsoft in terms of their rates of return on total assets.
2. The following data (in millions) were taken from recent financial statements of each company.

Compute the rate of return for each company using the preceding data, and rank the companies€™ rates of return from highest to lowest. Round the rates of return to one decimal place.
3. Analyze and explain the rankings in(2).

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Pfizer Ford Microsoft Income before taxes and interest Total assets at the beginning of the year... Total assets at the end of the year 12,762 13,112 S 22,267 164,687 108,704 $188,002 $178,348 $121,271 195,014 __.. .-