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Homework answers / question archive / Company Analysis paper: Using the accounting and analytical tools presented in this class, each student will prepare an analysis of a public company (a company traded on either the NYSE or NASDAQ Exchanges)
Company Analysis paper: Using the accounting and analytical tools presented in this class, each student will prepare an analysis of a public company (a company traded on either the NYSE or NASDAQ Exchanges).
ü The conclusion of the Company Analysis paper will be whether you (not a rating agency, not a brokerage firm, not any other entity), but will you
o Buy the Company’s bonds in the medium to long term (5 to 10 years). If the Company does not issue bonds, would you buy the Company’s bonds if they did issue bonds?
o Buy the Company’s common stock in the medium to long-term (5 to 10 years)
Approaches to the analysis should include:
ü Abstract
ü Brief history of the company
ü Current state of the financial health of the company
ü Trends in the financial health over recent years and potentially into the future
ü Comparison of the subject company with at least one or two competitors and/or industry sector
o For example, 4 to 6 of the most important financial ratios to your Company (not all the ratios that will be discussed)
ü Analysis of the subject company’s industry sector
o Relative strengths or weaknesses
o Factors affecting the industry such as product, technical innovation, regulation, economic cycles, etc.
ü Assessing the company’s position within the industry context
o Is it a leader?
o Does it have a clear advantage vis a vis other industry participants?
o Is it subject to extreme competition or pricing pressure?
ü Conclusion
o Will you (your opinion is all that matters, supported by your analysis)
§ Buy the Company’s bonds in the medium to long term (5 to 10 years). If the Company does not issue bonds, would you buy the Company’s bonds if they did issue bonds?
§ Buy the Company’s common stock in the medium to long-term (5 to 10 years)
The company chosen is at your discretion, but should not be so complex or one for which the information is not readily available, that makes it more difficult than necessary. Students should pick a subject company outside his/her usual frame of reference. For example, if a student is employed in the technology sector, he/she should choose a company in another industry, such as food. In my experience, retail companies make the best selection.
Deliverables:
· No later than class #5 on October 9th the Company that you want to analyze must be approved by me
o Please submit to me the full legal name of the company and the ticker symbol used to trade the security on the NYSE or NASDAQ exchange. If a Company does not have a ticker symbol, it is NOT a public company. No more than two students will be allowed to choose the same company
· No later than the beginning of class #13 on December 3rd the Company Analysis Paper is due
o The paper is to be submitted both in printed copy (handed in at class) and electronically as WORD document (no other format is acceptable) attached to an email sent to me at wmmcgue1@bu.edu
o The company paper analysis should not exceed 8 to 10 pages, double spaced using font 12 or 14. The page limit does not include the cover page and exhibits.
o The pages must be numbered
The Company Analysis Paper is to be prepared using the APA writing style and guideline for references format. The paper must contain a bibliography and all direct quotations and data sources must be properly cited. The Department uses the APA style as it lends itself well to both reading the paper and understanding references without being cumbersome as some other styles. Students can download the student style guide from the American Psychological Association website http://www.apastyle.org/elecref.html or you can purchase the APA style guide from the Bookstore. There is even a help disk that can be purchased that will step the student through the process as you write your paper, if you desire a more “personal assistance”.
The company paper analysis is considered to be a research paper. Remember that work that you use from other authors MUST be referenced. Since it is assumed that you are not an authority on the topic that you are writing, it is expected that this paper is an overview of many different sources of information. These sources must be credited to the author using the APA format. This is your paper and not the cut and paste of someone else’s work. The internet has led to a false sense of what research is all about. Those new to research tend to think that it means spending an afternoon surfing the internet and then an afternoon cutting from the material available. Keep in mind the internet is (1) not quality oriented (some information is good and some is bad – the internet does not know the difference) and (2) the internet is Not the sole source of research. In particular, sources such as Wikipedia are the works of individual submitters which are not reviewed for accuracy, etc. Therefore, these sources are not reliable and should not be used in academic research papers. Keep in mind that the Boston University Library, as well as your local, state, and national (US Library of Congress) libraries has extensive on-line services. Please use them.
A Definition of Plagiarism: “The academic counterpart of the bank embezzler and of the manufacturer who mislabels products is the plagiarist: the student or scholar who leads readers to believe that what they are reading is the original work of the writer when it is not. If it could be assumed that the distinction between plagiarism and honest use of sources is perfectly clear in everyone’s mind, there would be no need for the explanation that follows; merely the warning with which this definition concludes would be enough. But it is apparent that sometimes people of goodwill draw the suspicion of guilt upon themselves (and, indeed, are guilty) simply because they are not aware of the illegitimacy of certain kinds of “borrowing” and of the procedures for correct identification of materials other than those gained through independent research and reflection.”
“The spectrum is a wide one. At one end there is a word-for-word copying of another’s writing without enclosing the copied passage in quotation marks and identifying it in a footnote, both of which are necessary. (This includes, of course, the copying of all or any part of another student’s paper.) It hardly seems possible that anyone of college age or more could do that without clear intent to deceive. As the other end there is the almost casual slipping in of a particularly apt term which one has come across in reading and which so aptly expresses one’s opinion that one is tempted to make it personal property.”
“Between these poles there are degrees and degrees, but they may be roughly placed in two groups. Close to outright and blatant deceit - but more the result, perhaps, of laziness than of bad intent – is the patching together of random jottings made in the course of reading, generally without careful identification of their source, and then woven into the text, so that the result is a mosaic of other people’s ideas and words, the writer’s sole contribution being the cement to hold the pieces together. Indicative of more effort and, for that reason, somewhat closer to honest, though still dishonest, is the paraphrase, and abbreviated (and often skillfully prepared) restatement of someone else’s analysis or conclusion, without acknowledgement that another person’s text has been the basis for the recapitulation.”
The above paragraphs are from H. Martin and R. Ohmann, The Logic and Rhetoric of Exposition, Revised Edition. Copyright 1963, Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
· Buy the Company’s common stock in the medium to long-term (5 to 10 years)
Approaches to the analysis should include:
· Brief history of the company
· Current state of the financial health of the company
· Trends in the financial health over recent years and potentially into the future
· Comparison of the subject company with at least one or two competitors and/or industry sector
· Analysis of the subject company’s industry sector
· Relative strengths or weaknesses
· Assessing the company’s position within the industry context
· Does it have a clear advantage vis a vis other industry participants?
· Is it subject to extreme competition or pricing pressure?
· Will you (your opinion is all that matters, supported by your analysis)
· Buy the Company’s common stock in the medium to long-term (5 to 10 years)
· No later than class #5 on October 9th the Company that you want to analyze must be approved by me
· No later than the beginning of class #13 on December 3rd the Company Analysis Paper is due
· The paper is to be submitted both in printed copy (handed in at class) and electronically as WORD document (no other format is acceptable) attached to an email sent to me at wmmcgue1@bu.edu
· The company paper analysis should not exceed 8 to 10 pages, double spaced using font 12 or 14. The page limit does not include the cover page and exhibits.
· The pages must be numbered
The Company Analysis Paper is to be prepared using the APA writing style and guideline for references format. The paper must contain a bibliography and all direct quotations and data sources must be properly cited. The Department uses the APA style as it lends itself well to both reading the paper and understanding references without being cumbersome as some other styles. Students can download the student style guide from the American Psychological Association website http://www.apastyle.org/elecref.html or you can purchase the APA style guide from the Bookstore. There is even a help disk that can be purchased that will step the student through the process as you write your paper, if you desire a more “personal assistance”.
The company paper analysis is considered to be a research paper. Remember that work that you use from other authors MUST be referenced. Since it is assumed that you are not an authority on the topic that you are writing, it is expected that this paper is an overview of many different sources of information. These sources must be credited to the author using the APA format. This is your paper and not the cut and paste of someone else’s work. The internet has led to a false sense of what research is all about. Those new to research tend to think that it means spending an afternoon surfing the internet and then an afternoon cutting from the material available. Keep in mind the internet is (1) not quality oriented (some information is good and some is bad – the internet does not know the difference) and (2) the internet is Not the sole source of research. In particular, sources such as Wikipedia are the works of individual submitters which are not reviewed for accuracy, etc. Therefore, these sources are not reliable and should not be used in academic research papers. Keep in mind that the Boston University Library, as well as your local, state, and national (US Library of Congress) libraries has extensive on-line services. Please use them.
A Definition of Plagiarism: “The academic counterpart of the bank embezzler and of the manufacturer who mislabels products is the plagiarist: the student or scholar who leads readers to believe that what they are reading is the original work of the writer when it is not. If it could be assumed that the distinction between plagiarism and honest use of sources is perfectly clear in everyone’s mind, there would be no need for the explanation that follows; merely the warning with which this definition concludes would be enough. But it is apparent that sometimes people of goodwill draw the suspicion of guilt upon themselves (and, indeed, are guilty) simply because they are not aware of the illegitimacy of certain kinds of “borrowing” and of the procedures for correct identification of materials other than those gained through independent research and reflection.”
“The spectrum is a wide one. At one end there is a word-for-word copying of another’s writing without enclosing the copied passage in quotation marks and identifying it in a footnote, both of which are necessary. (This includes, of course, the copying of all or any part of another student’s paper.) It hardly seems possible that anyone of college age or more could do that without clear intent to deceive. As the other end there is the almost casual slipping in of a particularly apt term which one has come across in reading and which so aptly expresses one’s opinion that one is tempted to make it personal property.”
“Between these poles there are degrees and degrees, but they may be roughly placed in two groups. Close to outright and blatant deceit - but more the result, perhaps, of laziness than of bad intent – is the patching together of random jottings made in the course of reading, generally without careful identification of their source, and then woven into the text, so that the result is a mosaic of other people’s ideas and words, the writer’s sole contribution being the cement to hold the pieces together. Indicative of more effort and, for that reason, somewhat closer to honest, though still dishonest, is the paraphrase, and abbreviated (and often skillfully prepared) restatement of someone else’s analysis or conclusion, without acknowledgement that another person’s text has been the basis for the recapitulation.”
The above paragraphs are from H. Martin and R. Ohmann, The Logic and Rhetoric of Exposition, Revised Edition. Copyright 1963, Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
