Write a 2,500 word Financial Analysis on Costco Wholesale Corporation

Financial Analysis Paper FIN315

Finance (Structure of Paper)

1. Title Page
2. Table of Contents Page (see page two)
3. Proper Section Headings
4. Content Section (See Below)
   1. Introduction
   2. Content
   3. Summary and Conclusions
5. Appendix
6. Reference Page
7. Other Issues to Consider
   1. Pagenumbers,
   2. Justify text,
   3. Fontsize12
   4. Single line spacing
   5. Single-sided(if possible),
   6. Use of Graphs,
   7. Stapled,
   8. Overall: this needs to be a very tidy/organized paper.
8. 8. See Kohl’s Example

Financial Analysis Paper

(Content Section: To be discussed in the Lecture Notes)

The Class Project is intended to follow the lecture notes and by midterm you should have most of the necessary information required to complete the project. The project is designed to relate the theories covered in both the lecture notes and textbook to the real world. Each student will

be assigned a publicly traded company (see below). Your paper must be typewritten and consist of at least 2,500 words excluding tables, charts, quotations, etc. Papers containing less than 2,500 words (not including tables, charts, etc.) will have 50 points deducted from the paper.

Assigned Publicly Traded Company: Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST)

Special Note: you must use Excel to generate graphs for your paper. In support of your paper including the graphs, this Excel spreadsheet must be submitted with your paper. I will not accept any graphs, tables, etc. copied from a website, generated by a website and copied over to your paper, etc.  This must be your own work.

1. Introduction: Provide a company overview (discussion), IPO date, industry for which it competes, top competitors, etc.
2. Discuss the firm's corporate governance.
3. Provide a stockholder analysis.
   • See holders/ownership section in Yahoo Finance, other.
4. Discuss the firm's business model.
   • How does the firm make money? Discuss revenues by business unit.? Does the firm have a competitive advantage? Discuss.
5. Discuss the firm's dividend policy (if any).
6. Decide on a Benchmark Company (competitor) for which to compare your company and discuss. (DO NOT use an industry group of companies as found in the Kohl’s example.) Example Walmart Inc. http://financials.morningstar.com/competitors/industry- peer.action?t=WMT
7. Ratio Analysis: Provide a discussion of the firm’s key Ratios (2 from each category), especially in comparison to a Benchmark Company (include DuPont

Analysis). Collect at least 4 years of data for analysis. Use most recent Annual Report (do not use Quarterly report). Please note: you must use Excel to generate graphs, tables, etc. for your paper. In support of your paper including the graphs, this Excel spreadsheet must be included with your paper. I will not accept any graphs, tables, etc. copied and/or generated by a website and copied over to your paper. This must be your own work.

8. Discuss the firm’s Altman Z-Score (this will be one of the last topics studied).

Collect 4 years of data for analysis. You must use Excel to graph the Z-Score.

9. Summary and Conclusions: Summarize the data collected above. Some questions for discussion: 1) is the company financially stable, 2) does this company have a competitive advantage, 3) what are some threats to the company’s survival, and 4) is the company worth owning as an investment?

Paper must be at least 2,500 words.