2. Ratio Analysis You want to examine the fi nancial ratios for Dell Inc. Go to www.reuters.com and type in the ticker symbol for the company (DELL). Now fi nd fi nancial ratios for Dell and the industry and sector averages for each ratio.

a. What do TTM and MRQ mean?

b. How do Dells recent profi tability ratios compare to their values over the past fi ve years? To the industry averages? To the sector averages? Which is the better comparison group for Dell: the industry or sector averages? Why?

c. In what areas does Dell seem to outperform its competitors based on the fi nancial ratios? Where does Dell seem to lag behind its competitors?

d. Dells inventory turnover ratio is much larger than that for all comparison groups. Why do you think this is?