Pfizer Inc. (PFE) discovers, produces, and distributes medicines, including Celebrex and Lipi-tor. Ford Motor Co. (F) develops, markets, and produces automobiles and trucks. Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) develops, produces, and distributes a variety of computer software and hardware products including Windows, Office, Excel, and the Xbox.

1. Without computing the return on assets, rank from highest to lowest Pfizer, Ford, and Microsoft in terms of their return on assets.

2. The following data (in millions) were taken from recent financial statements of each company: Pfizer Ford Net income ................................. Total assets at the beginning of the year...... Total assets at the end of the year ............ $ 21,979 154,229 181,476 $ 17,937 257,035 267,261 Microsoft $ 61,271 301,311 333,779 Compute the return on assets for each company using the preceding data, and rank the companies return on assets from highest to lowest. Round the return on assets to one decimal place.

3. Analyze and explain the rankings in (2).