Assignment 2: Submission—Course Project - AU ACC201

The three selected companies for this assignment are; Amazon Inc, Google, and Apple Inc that are all American publicly traded companies. A quantitative and qualitative analysis is essential to identify the best investment among the three stated companies. The analysis helps assess the rewards and risks of investing in a particular company. Some key factors to consider are financial performance, market analysis, and growth of the company. Financial performance involves assessing the profitability and financial stability of a company. Financial reports that include balance sheets, profit and loss statement, and cash flow projections will help determine a company’s current net worth, company’s strengths, sales and expenses, and operating capital and credit needs. Market analysis will involve studying the marketplace and target customers for a business in a particular industry. It will include evaluating competition in that particular industry (Ashe-Edmunds, n.d).

Income statements, cash flow and balance sheet for the three companies are examined. Apple’s income statement as of 30th September 2017 indicates gross profit and net income of $88,186,000 and $48,351,000 respectively that is a decline from 2015. The balance sheet al ending same period indicates total assets of $375,319,000 an increase since 2015 and total liabilities of $241,272,000 an increase from 2015 (Apple Inc. (AAPL), 2018). Google’s income statement as of 31st December 2017 indicates gross profit and net income of $62,272,000 and $12,662,000 respectively that is a decline since 2015. The balance sheet ending same period indicates total assets of $197,295,000 and total liabilities of $44,793,000 an increase from 2015 (Alphabet Inc. (GOOG), 2018). Amazon’s income statement as of 31st December 2017 indicates gross profit and net income of $65,932,000 and $3,033,000 respectively. The balance sheet ending same period indicates total assets of $131,310,000 and total liabilities of $103,601,000 an increase since 2015 (Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN.SN), 2018).

From the above financial statements and knowledge of the industries of the stated companies, I find Apple the most profitable investment.

References Alphabet Inc. (GOOG). (2018). Retrieved from Yahoo Finance: https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/GOOG/balance-sheet?p=GOOG Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN.SN). (2018). Retrieved from Yahoo Finance: https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/AMZN.SN/balance-sheet?p=AMZN.SN Apple Inc. (AAPL). (2018). Retrieved from Yahoo Finance: https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/AAPL/financials?p=AAPL Ashe-Edmunds, S. (n.d). Factors to Consider When Investing in a Company. Retrieved from Chron: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/factors-consider-investing-company-66762.html