What is working capital?

Identify Costco working capital in years, 2013, 2014, 2015.

Based on that information, what inference can you draw from its working capital?

Using the same company, describe its cash conversion cycle.

	2008-08	2009-08	2010-08	2011-08	2012-08	2013-08	2014-08	2015-08	2016-08	2017-08	TTM
Revenue USD Mil	72,483	71,422	77,946	88,915	99,137	105,156	112,640	116,199	118,719	129,025	132,735
Gross Margin %	12.4	12.7	12.8	12.6	12.4	12.6	12.6	13.0	13.3	13.3	13.2
Operating Income USD Mil	1,969	1,777	2,077	2,439	2,759	3,053	3,220	3,624	3,672	4,111	4,213
Operating Margin %	2.7	2.5	2.7	2.7	2.8	2.9	2.9	3.1	3.1	3.2	3.2
Net Income USD Mil	1,283	1,086	1,303	1,462	1,709	2,039	2,058	2,377	2,350	2,679	2,774
Earnings Per Share USD	2.89	2.47	2.92	3.30	3.89	4.63	4.65	5.37	5.33	6.08	6.29
Dividends USD	0.61	0.68	0.77	0.89	1.03	1.17	1.33	1.51	1.70	1.90	1.95
Payout Ratio % *	21.1	27.5	26.4	26.9	26.5	24.6	28.7	28.1	31.2	32.1	31.0
Shares Mil	444	440	446	443	439	441	442	443	441	441	441
Book Value Per Share * USD	21.08	22.98	24.98	27.64	28.59	23.98	27.00	24.17	26.30	22.57	25.23
Operating Cash Flow USD Mil	2,176	2,092	2,780	3,198	3,057	3,437	3,984	4,285	3,292	6,726	5,939
Cap Spending USD Mil	-1,599	-1,250	-1,055	-1,290	-1,480	-2,083	-1,993	-2,393	-2,649	-2,502	-2,655
Free Cash Flow USD Mil	578	842	1,725	1,908	1,577	1,354	1,991	1,892	643	4,224	3,284
Free Cash Flow Per Share * USD	1.44	1.91	3.86	4.31	3.59	3.74	3.56	4.39	4.27	4.88
Working Capital USD Mil	588	1,056	1,645	1,656	1,266	2,583	3,176	759	-357	-178

* Indicates calendar year-end data information

Key Ratios

Profitability

Growth

Cash Flow

Financial Health

Efficiency Ratios

Margins % of Sales	2008-08	2009-08	2010-08	2011-08	2012-08	2013-08	2014-08	2015-08	2016-08	2017-08	TTM
Revenue	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
COGS	87.61	87.28	87.23	87.43	87.58	87.44	87.41	86.98	86.68	86.71	86.80
Gross Margin	12.39	12.72	12.77	12.57	12.42	12.56	12.59	13.02	13.32	13.29	13.20
SG&A	9.67	10.21	10.09	9.83	9.64	9.66	9.73	9.91	10.23	10.10	10.03
R&D
Other		0.02	0.01
Operating Margin	2.72	2.49	2.66	2.74	2.78	2.90	2.86	3.12	3.09	3.19	3.17
Net Int Inc & Other	0.04	-0.07	-0.03	-0.06	0.01		-0.02	-0.02	-0.04	-0.06	-0.06
EBT Margin	2.76	2.42	2.64	2.68	2.79	2.90	2.84	3.10	3.05	3.13	3.11

Profitability	2008-08	2009-08	2010-08	2011-08	2012-08	2013-08	2014-08	2015-08	2016-08	2017-08	TTM
Tax Rate %	35.83	36.64	35.59	35.29	36.14	32.45	34.69	33.16	34.35	32.81	31.94
Net Margin %	1.77	1.52	1.67	1.64	1.72	1.94	1.83	2.05	1.98	2.08	2.09
Asset Turnover (Average)	3.60	3.35	3.40	3.52	3.68	3.66	3.56	3.50	3.56	3.71	3.50
Return on Assets %	6.37	5.09	5.69	5.78	6.34	7.10	6.50	7.15	7.06	7.71	7.31
Financial Leverage (Average)	2.25	2.19	2.20	2.23	2.20	2.80	2.68	3.15	2.75	3.37	3.55
Return on Equity %	14.40	11.31	12.50	12.81	14.03	17.58	17.79	20.74	20.71	23.44	24.07
Return on Invested Capital %	11.50	9.44	10.74	11.13	12.22	14.04	12.63	13.69	14.18	15.78	16.93
Interest Coverage		16.87	19.50	21.54	30.13	31.82	29.29	30.06	28.21	31.14	30.08