Amazon.com, Inc.'s financial statements are presented in Appendix D. Financial statements of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. are presented in Appendix E. The complete annual reports of Amazon and Wal-Mart, including the notes to the financial statements, are available at each company’s respective website. 

Instructions

a. Based on the information contained in these financial statements, determine each of the following for each company:

1. Cash and cash equivalents balance at December 31, 2015, for Amazon and at January 31, 2016, for Wal-Mart.

2. Increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents from 2014 to 2015.

3. Net cash provided by operating activities during the year ended December 31, 2015, for Amazon and January 31, 2016, for Wal-Mart from statement of cash flows.

b. What conclusions concerning the management of cash can be drawn from these data?