To better assess a company's performance, further analysis should be done beyond just looking at the numbers presented on a company's financial statements. By looking into possible reasons for the numbers, we can work to identify patterns and obtain insight into both similarities and differences between different years and between different companies. As an example, let's look at two very visible retail food companies in Canada-Loblaw and Empire. Both of these companies are in the supermarket industry, but, even though cost of sales is the main expense for both (inventory), gross profit margins are continually higher for Loblaw vs. Empire. Further digging is needed then to try to understand why. Loblaw is a much larger company overall, with revenues 1.8 times that of Empire ($48B vs. $26.68 in 2019). But, this alone doesn't explain a gross profit margin difference. Loblaw also operates more discounts stores. But, this actually adds more to the puzzle as discount stores generally have lower profit margins. While both companies have in-store pharmacies in their food retail stores, Loblaw generates a much more significant portion of its total revenues from drug retail sales ($13.3B or almost 1/3 of food retail sales). How is it doing this? Firstly, Loblaw stores are physically larger and so have a larger drug retail space. Secondly, in addition to retail food stores, Loblaw owns Shoppers Drug Mart. To confirm if these heightened drug retail sales are causing the difference in gross profit margins, a look at Loblaw's gross profit margin before the Shoppers Drug Mart acquisition in 2014 reveals it was similar to Empire at that time (at 23.7%). Finally, location differences may also offer a reason for gross profit margin differences. Empire stores operate mostly in Central and Eastern Canada, while Loblaw has a larger presence in Ontario, Western, and Northern Canada. Click here to view the data in Power BI How to Access Power Bl: You can open the Power BI file in this problem statement with Power BI Desktop. If you don't have it already. search for "Power BI download" in your internet browser, or click here for a free download. 2016. 2019 2018 O 2017 In looking at the gross profit margin change year over year between 2016 to 2019, which statement is accurate? O Since Empire's gross profit margin increased from 24% in 2016 to 24.9% in 2019, and Loblaw's gross profit margin increased from 28.4% to 30.7%, we can say Empire's GPM increased, on average 0.9% and Loblaw's GPM increased, on average 2.3%. Loblaw's gross profit margin growth has been decreasing year over year, indicating that Empire's GPM will surpass Loblaw soon. O Loblaw's gross profit margin increased 1% in 2019 vs. Empire at 2.9%, suggesting Empire's GPM has increased faster on average from 2016 to 2019. Loblaw's gross profit margin increased, on average, more than Empire, over the last 3 years at an average of 2.6% vs. 1.2% per year. What is the percentage of discount stores to total stores for both Loblaw and Empire? O 26% of Loblaw stores vs. 6% of Empire's stores are discount stores 28% of Loblaw stores vs. 15% of Empire's stores are discount stores 30% of Loblaw stores vs. 10% of Empire's stores are discount stores 50% of Loblaw stores vs. 50% of Empire's stores are discount stores What can be concluded from this dashboard? O The overall fair value of all investments in 2020 is less than what is was in 2019. O Fair value assessments are correlated with the amount invested in each category. O The three largest investment categories have all increased in value based on fair value evaluations. O The investment amount categorized as level 3 suggests the OTPPB is not managing investments effectively