Equity Research

FIN 420: Financial Reporting Analysis

Purpose of the project

The purpose of this project is to help you synthesize many important aspects of equity research analysis. Just as the title states, you will read and use financial information presented by a company in the form of an annual report. This activity helps you learn to gather information and become aware of the sources of financial information and then interpret, analyze, and use the information to evaluate the stock of publicly traded company. You will also be given the opportunity to demonstrate your presentation skills as you communicate the facts you have uncovered in your PowerPoint presentation.

The following competencies are associated with this project.

Exhibition of Responsibility

Acquisition of information

Use of information skills

Application of data gathering skills

Application of analytical skills

Use of ratio analysis skills

Development of business writing skills

Use of presentation software

Increased familiarity with industry analysis techniques

Activity Summary

This project requires students to become part of a study group consist of three to five students. Project required study group to evaluate the stock of publicly traded company, and prepare an equity research consisting of six separate but integrated components. You will need to gather information and prepare the analysis of your findings from two different perspectives that of a short-term investor and long-term investor. For the final report, should contain (but is not limited to**) the following sections 1) Business Description 2) Industry Overview and Competitive Positioning 3)Investment Summary 4)Valuation 5)Financial Analysis 6) Investment Risk. Your findings will be presented in the form of both a written report (10 pages) and a brief PowerPoint presentation.

Activity Outcome:

Upon completion of this project, you will be better prepared to use financial statements to identify strengths and weaknesses of a company. You will also become familiar with the tools of analysis that will allow you to conduct future analyses.

Assessment:

This project worth 15% and presentation worth 5%. Project should be submitted online through LMS. Similarity should be less than 15% if the similarity of the project exceeds 30% you will get zero in both project and presentation.

Project due: November, 26

Part	Due date
Business Description	05/10/2020
Industry Overview and Competitive Positioning	12/10/2020
Financial Analysis	26/10/2020
Valuation	09/11/2020
Investment Risk	16/11/2020
Investment Summary	26/11/2020
Final Project	26/11/2020

Written report Guidelines:

The written report must:

• Be no longer than ten (10) pages (not including the front and back covers provided by CFA Institute) on A4* sized paper (210mm 297mm, 8.27 11.69), although you may include an appendix of infinite length;
• Include the following information in a header on the first page:

• Company name
• Exchange
• Ticker symbol
• Sector
• Industry
• Recommendation (buy/sell/hold)
• Current price (as of __date)
• Target price (% increase/decrease)

• Contain only publicly available information;
• Be the original work of the team members;
• Contain (but is not limited to**) the following sections:

• Business Description
• Industry Overview and Competitive Positioning
• Investment Summary
• Valuation
• Financial Analysis
• Investment Risk