As a team, select an industry to analyze. Reuters provides lists of industries under Sectors and Industries at www.reuters.com . (Click on an industry and then select Company Rankings for a list of members of that industry.) Each team member should acquire the annual report or 10-K for one publicly traded company in the industry, with each member selecting a different company. (Library files, the SEC EDGAR service at www.sec.gov , or the company itself are good sources.)

Required:
On an individual basis, each team member should write a short report answering the following questions about the selected company. Discuss any patterns across the companies that you as a team observe. Then, as a team, write a short report comparing and contrasting your companies.
1. What formats are used to present the
a. Balance Sheets?
b. Income Statements?
c. Operating Activities section of the Statement of Cash Flows?
2. Find one footnote for each of the following and describe its contents in brief:
a. An accounting rule applied in the company’s statements.
b. Additional detail about a reported financial statement number.
c. Relevant financial information but with no number reported in the financial statements.
3. Using electronic sources, find one article reporting the company’s annual earnings announcement.
When is it dated and how does that date compare to the balance sheet date?
4. Using electronic sources, find two analysts’ reports for your company.
a. Give the date, name of the analyst, and his or her recommendation from each report.
b. Discuss why the recommendations are similar or different. Look at the analysts’ reasoning for their respective recommendations.
5. Using the SEC EDGAR website ( www.sec.gov ), what is the most recent document filed by your company with the SEC (e.g., 8-K, S-1) and what did it say in brief?
6. Ratio analysis:
a. What does the return on total assets ratio measure in general?
b. Compute the ROA ratio for the last three years.
c. What do your results suggest about the company?
d. If available, find the industry ratio for the most recent year, compare it to your results, and discuss why you believe your company differs from or is similar to the industry ratio.
7. Use the ROA profit driver analysis to determine the cause(s) of any differences in the ROA ratio over the last three years. (Remember that you computed the three profit driver ratios in the last three chapters.)