Listen to a recording of an analyst call (AKA earnings call or quarterly conference call) for your company. Listen to about 15-20 minutes of the call and write a summary of your observations, including any questions that you might have wanted to ask the CEO/CFO, etc.
Answer and discuss the importance of the following:
Who is the company’s current CEO? Is he or she also the Chair of the Board? Discuss the company’s considerations in making this decision.
Who serves on the board’s Audit Committee? How many members are Financial Experts? What experience qualifies them for that designation? Do you agree with this designation? Why or why not?
What was the CEO paid last year? What portion of his or her total pay was in the form of bonus? What performance measures were used to determine the CEO’s bonus?
Who or what entity holds the highest percentage of the company's stock? Are most of the beneficial owners reported individuals or institutions?
Is there more than one class of common stock outstanding? How many votes does each share of each class of stock get? Does any one person or entity control the voting rights at the company? If so, who?
Strategy Analysis
Industry Analysis: Porter’s Five Forces
Rivalry among existing firms
Threat of new entrants
Threat of substitutes
Buyer power
Supplier power
Company Strategy Analysis
Is your company following a Low Cost Leader or a Product/Service Differentiation Strategy?
Where would evidence of this strategy show up in their financials?
Financial Analysis
Recasted Income Statement (3 years)
Recasted Balance Sheet (3 years)
Common Size Income Statement (3 years)
DuPont Analysis (1 year)
Profitability Analysis Ratios (3 years)
Profit Margin
Return on Assets (ROA)
Return on Equity (ROE)
Gross profit margin
EBIT Margin
Accounts Receivable Turnover and Days’ Receivable
Inventory Turnover and Days’ Inventory
Accounts Payable Turnover and Days’ Payable
PP&E Turnover
Long-term Asset Turnover
Risk Analysis
Non-Financial Risk Analysis
Review the Risk Factors section of the company’s most recent 10-K and discuss the three factors mentioned which, in your opinion, may have the most significant impact on the company
Financial Risk Ratios (3 years)
Current ratio
Quick ratio
Cash ratio
Liabilities-to-equity ratio
Interest coverage ratio
Forecasting
Growth Rate
Sustainable Growth Rate
Calculate the company’s dividend payout ratio (if applicable) and the Sustainable Growth Rate
Weighted Average Cost of Capital
Use the CAPM to compute the required rate of return on equity capital for the company.
Determine the cost of debt (if applicable) and the cost of preferred stock (if applicable)
Compute the weighted average cost of capital for the company
Forecasted Income Statement (5 years)
Sustainability Report
Determine whether or not your company prepares a Sustainability Report
If so, review the report and write a brief description of the key issues identified in the report and your observations regarding the report