What trends are evident over the past three to five years? and what those each trend indicates about the firm.

EXHIBIT 2 McDonald's Financial Data ($ millions, except EPS data), 2014-2018 Fiscal Year 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Cash and short-term investments 2,336 2,799 2,078 7,686 1,223 Receivables (total) 1,375 1,320 1,214 1,299 1,474 Inventories (total) 122 124 110 100 59 Property, plant, and equipment (net total) 24,677 25,747 24,558 23,118 21,258 Depreciation, depletion, and amortization (accumulated) 13,814 14,608 14,569 14,575 13,186 Assets (total) 35,387 36,626 34,281 37,939 31,024 Accounts payable (trade) 1,142 1,086 860 875 756 Long-term debt 13,633 14,130 14,990 24,122: 25,879 Liabilities (total) 20,093 20,617 21,428 30,851 : 33,228 Stockholders' equity (total) 15,294 16,010 12,853 7,088 -2,204 Sales (net) 27,567 28,106 27,441 25,413: 24,622 Cost of goods sold 15,349 15,704 15,446 14,186 13,027 Selling, general, and administrative expense 2,455 2,386 2,488 2,434 2,385 Income taxes 2,614 2,619 2,614 2,026 2,180 Income before extraordinary items 5,465 5,586 4,758 4,529 4,687 Net income (loss) 5,465 5,586 4,758 4,529 4,687 5.41 5.59 4.85 4.82 5.49 Earnings per share (basic) excluding extraordinary items Earnings per share (diluted) excluding extraordinary items 5.36 5.55 4.82 4.80 5.44