Description
Purpose of Assignment
The purpose of this assignment is to evaluate the inventory sectionof two companies using basic comparative analysis, and to interpret thedata to gain insight about the company’s inventory management.
Assignment Steps
Resources: Appendices D and E located in Financial Accounting: Tools for Business Decision Making
Note: While the data are not from the same year, inferences can be drawn regarding inventory management of the two companies.
Write a 950-wordcomparative analysis using the 2014 financial statements of Amazon.com, Inc. , and the 2015 financial statements for Wal-MartStores, Inc. If the attached Financial Statements cannot be opened, goto www.amazon.com.Select the Investor Relations link at the bottom of the page and thenselect the 2014 Annual Report under Annual Reports and Proxies.The Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements begin on page 43.
The following are Wal?Mart Stores, Inc.’s financial statements as presented in the company’s 2015 annual report. To access Wal?Mart’s complete annual report, including notes to the financial statements, follow these steps:
Go to http://corporate.walmart.com.
Select Financial Information and then Annual Reports & Proxies under the Investors tab.
Select the 2015 Annual Report (Wal?Mart’s fiscal year ends January 31).
The Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements begin on page 40.
- About the companies. Include information on each of thecompany’s operations, challenges they are facing and opportunities theyplan to pursue. (Use the management discussion in the complete 10-Kreports and other information from Amazon’s and Wal-Mart’s websites tocomplete.)
- Compute the 2014 values for Amazon.com and the 2015 values for Wal-Mart based on the information in the financial statements:
- Inventory turnover (Use cost of sales and inventories)
- Days of inventory
- Conclusions concerning the management of the inventory can you draw from this data.
Show work on Excel® spreadsheet and submit with analysis.
(Excel Spreadsheet attached) The Financial Statement for Amazon and Wal-Mart are also attached
