For Apple

2. Find the most current income statement and balance sheet for that company as well as for the year prior to that. You can find these from the company's website under investor relations or you can go to the SEC site FreeEdgar.

3. Create common size balance sheets and income statements for those two years. (Balance sheet all values get divided by the Total Assets to create percentages, Income Statement all values get divided by Total Revenue to get percentages) It is strongly recommended that you use Excel for this part but not required.

4. Look at the Gross Profit Margin % and discuss how it changed and discuss some factors that may have caused the change and if the Gross Profit Margin stayed exactly the same then simply state that. Now go back to the dollar financial statements you started with and calculate one other ratio of your choice that changed from one year to the next and discuss what factors may have caused that to change.