• In this chapter, we will use financial Internet websites (specifically, Morning Star and Google Finance) to analyze Hewlett Packard Co. Once on either website, you simply enter Hewlett Packards ticker symbol (HPQ) to obtain the financial information needed. The text mentions that financial statement analysis has two major components: a trend analysis, where we evaluate changes in key ratios over time, and a peer analysis, where we compare financial ratios with firms that are in the same industry and/or line of business. We will do both of these types of analysis in this problem. Through the Morningstar website, you can find the firms financials (Income Statement, Balance Sheet, and Cash Flow) on an annual or quarterly basis for the 5 most recent time periods. In addition, the site contains Key Ratios (Profitability, Growth, Cash Flow, Financial Health, and Efficiency) for 10 years. We will use the Key Ratios on this site to conduct the firms trend analysis. (At the bottom of the screen you will see that you can click Glossary to find definitions for the different ratios. For example, Morningstars Financial Leverage ratio is the same as the Equity multiplier that we use in the textbook.)
• On the Google Finance site (or Financial Yahoo) you can find the firms financial statements for the 4 most recent years or the five most recent quarters and key financial data for related companies for the most recent year or quarter.
• Looking at Morning Stars Profitability ratios, what has happened to Hewlett Packards profit margin (net margin %) over the past 10 years? What has happened to its return on assets (ROA) and return on equity (ROE) over the past 10 years?)