Consider Apple and Samsung and download their balance sheets and income statements for a period of 3 years. You are required to critically evaluate the financial statements individually across the 3-year period and cross-sectionally. Identify the main strengths and weaknesses of the companies and make recommendations for future improvement.

Note: Students are expected to comment on the change of company financial performance (income statement) and position (balance sheet) during the 3-year period of examination by looking at the main accounts and how they have changed (information may be taken from the notes to the accounts). The aim of this assignment is to familiarize students with the information content of annual reports. So, you do not have to check the accuracy of the reported figures or how they have been recorded. You should use financial ratios.