week 2 (mod 2 & 3) Flashcards
- what is business analysis?
- business model
- competitive advantage
- business cycle
what is regulation s-k?
- us regulation on providing a description of a business
- requires a description of the general development of the business of the registrant during the past 5 years or such shorter period as the registrant may have been engaged in business
- requires a narrative description of the business done and intended to be done by the registrant and its subsidiaries, focusing on the registrant’s dominant segment or each reportable segment about which financial info is presented in its fs
simpler terms:
- articulate how the company makes money
- identify the type of economic frictions the comp addresses in the econ system
where does a majority of mcdonald’s profit come from?
real estate
where does a majority of airlines’ business come from?
loyalty programs
where does a majority of costco’s profit come from?
membership fees
what is swot analysis
- internal factors
- strengths
- weaknesses- external factors
- opportunities
- threats
- external factors
what questions need to be asked about a company’s competitive advantage?
- does the comp actually have a competitive advantage and if so what factors explain it?
- is the competitive advantage sustainable?
- if the comp has no ca, does its mgmt have a plan to develop a sustainable ca that can be implemented in an acceptable period of time and with a reasonable amnt of investment
what factors are there when it comes to achieving comeptitive advantage?
- barriers to entry
- patents, copyrights, and other legal protections
- regulatory and licensing barriers
- product/service differentiation
- technological innvation and product design
- marketing, distribution, and after-sale customer support
- market segmentation
- cost leader
- access to low cost raw materials/labour
- manufacturing or service efficiency
- manufacturing scale efficiencies
- greater bargaining power with suppliers
- sophisticated it systems
what is the business model
business description:
- industry
- life cycle stage
competition:
-major competition
market share
competitive advantage
product and/or service:
product profile
sales driver
life cycle
customers:
major customers
customer concentration
marketing strategy distribution process
supplier:
key suppliers
credit terms
bargaining power
alternative source of supplier
ownership:
owners
owner structures
owners involvement
governance and mgmt:
board of directors
mgmt and directors’ background/experience
compensation
successor plan
what is financial statement analysis?
- accounting adjustment
- ratio analysis
- common size
what is time series comparison
- horizontal analysis
- comparing ratios with the levels in prior periods
- normal vs abnormal: identifying changes in performance and detecting the underlying cause
- triangulate (use a variety of data sources, including time space and persons) the ratios with structural changes
- basically: comparing a specific line across different periods of the comp or with another comp’s line overall
what is cross sectional comparison?
- comparing a firm’s ratios with competitors
- also called comparative analysis (comps for short)
- triangulate the ratios with corporate strategy
what is ratio analysis
purpose is to forecast future
what does it mean when ratios tend to mean revert?
- if they are unusually high → tend to fall
- if they are unusually low → tend to rise
- caveat: this a general empirical pattern for many ratios in a large sample of firms
- the speed and completeness depend on the ratio and specific firm
what is common size analysis?
- common size (vertical statements)
- all f/s accounts expressed as a % of one amnt
- what should be used as the common denominators for common size income statement and balance statement, respectively?
- revenue, assets
what are advantages of common size (vertical statements)
- allows meaningful comparisons:
- over time while “controlling” for changes in firm size (measured as either sales/total assets)
- for firms using different currencies
- between firms
what is a caution you should take when completing common size analysis?
- changes in expenses may not be directly related to chanegs in sales
- dig deeper to understand reasons underlying changes
what are % change (horizontal) statements?
- amnts are expressed a % of a base year (fixed or rolling)
- focus is on growth in each item over time
what is a caution you should take when completing horizontal statements?
- small (immaterial) accounts (esp on b/s) often can be associated with huge percentage changes
- does not mean that they are important
when calculating ratios what are the 3 types of combinations of accounts that can be used?
- both b/s and i/s accounts (ex. roa (r = ni))
- with only b/s accounts (ex. debt to equity ratio)
- with only i/s accounts (ex. profit margin)
if the purpose is to evaluate the performance in a period of time (ex. year/quarter), how do you use i/s and b/s accounts?
- using i/s accounts WITHIN that period
- using time-weighted b/s - averaging beginning and ending balance
why do we use ending balance?
- with long time-series, it does not matter much if used consistently
- one more year of data
- easier to calculate
- more timely