C. Assess investment performance utilizing specific performance measurements.

FOR THE EXCEL TEMPLATE!!!!!!

Do not use the formulas in the revenues (1.04) and Cost of Goods Sold (0.70) cells! They are only examples in the spreadsheets that have absolutely nothing to do with the five companies! You need to review the Morningstar and Value Line company reports to analyze each company's historical revenues and earnings growth. The historical data provides you with estimates for each company's future revenues and earnings growth to be used in the MS Excel spreadsheets.

 

Please note the importance of calculating your revenues/earnings predictions as I am unaware of any equity analysts that "consistently" predict a public corporation's future outlook. They come close often but not all the time. You are to analyze a company's historical revenues and earnings performance/growth and use the data to calculate and apply what you consider reasonable forecasts/estimates for future growth. The first step is to review the corporations' recent annual reports to study their historical revenues/earnings growth. As we all know, predictions of performance in "any" endeavor (economy, business, sports, etc.) are primarily based on analyzing historical data/information, so do not think too much on your future revenues/earnings estimates.

 

The data/estimates in the spreadsheets' cells are only "examples" of how to calculate the financial ratios in a company's financial report. Please disregard the specific data in the function cells. You need to input data based on the companies' historical performance. For example, the 4% revenue growth (1.04) and cost of goods sold (.70) in the function cells are only examples. Your estimates are based on the company's historical performance found in the income statements of the respective annual reports and the research reports (Morningstar, Value Line, MarketWatch.com, Zacks, etc.). The current inputs/data examples should be changed to your estimates starting with revenues (top line) down to net income (bottom line). You are the analyst and your future expectations could be higher/lower based on historical and current expectations. Feel free to change the years in the spreadsheet; however I believe 2017 is a good starting point for the calendar or fiscal year. A five-year forecast is practically the norm in equity research.