The purpose of this assignment is to employ accounting principles and relevant business practices to evaluate a company’s performance and financial position through a comparison to industry data.

Locate the Critical Thinking CT-4 problem at the end of Chapter 9 in the textbook. This will serve as the structure for your assignment. Begin by choosing two competing publicly traded companies from the list below.

1. Coca-Cola and PepsiCo
2. Home Depot and Lowe's
3. Walmart and Target
4. Nike and Adidas

Review the competing companies’ ratios provided at the MSN Money website http://www.msn.com/en-us/money. For the pair of companies selected, you will need to use each company’s stock symbol to locate the liquidity, solvency, and profitability ratios on the MSN Money website. As part of your research, you will need to identify each company’s stock symbols prior to accessing the website, as this information will not be provided to you.

Once you know each company’s stock symbol, begin by entering the appropriate company symbol in the “Quote Search” search box on the MSN Money website. Under the “Analysis” heading, use the Growth, Profitability, Price Ratios, Financial Health, Trading Statistics, and Management Effectiveness information to complete a 750-1,000 word comparison addressing the following:  

1. Evaluate each company’s liquidity relative to its competitor, then compare both companies to the industry averages.
2. Evaluate each company’s solvency relative to its competitor, then compare both companies to the industry averages.
3. Evaluate each company’s profitability relative to its competitor, then compare both companies to the industry averages.

Note: 

You will be assessed on your ability to evaluate each company’s performance based on the information provided at MSN Money. You do not need to calculate the ratios for individual companies or the industry averages. Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion. You are required to submit this assignment to Lopes Write. Refer to the Lopes Write Technical Support articles for assistance.