Guidance for Performing Financial Analysis
Part 2. Company, industry and competitive strategy (no more than
3
to 5 minutes):
a. Information pertaining to your company’s operating activities can be found in :
 |
Management’s Discussion and Analysis from the company’s Form 10-K filed with the SEC |
|
Library data bases such as LexisNexis Academic, Mergent Online, .and Business Source Premier. |
|
Financial service, such as Morningstar, Money Central (MSN), Yahoo! Finance, MarketWatch.com, or StreetInsider.com. |
b. You want to analyze the company's operating activities in relationship to the strengths and weaknesses of its industry and major competitors.
c. Some suggested items to be included in this section are listed below.
| Company’s primary and secondary SIC or NAICS industry codes |
| Industry segments – how many, which segments are the largest and
strongest? i. Segment revenue, assets, expenses, gross margin, etc. ii. The main products and target customers for those products |
| Your company’s competitors, competitive strategy, and competitive condition |
| Company size based on: i. Dollar amount of assets, sales/revenues, and net income ii. Market share iii. Earnings per share (diluted) and number of common shares outstanding |
| Research and development efforts and spending |
d. You might also want to perform a SWOT analysis of the company’s competitive strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats that promote or impede its growth and profitability.