Business Final Paper

1. Select a Company
Select one company that you would like to analyze for your project. Make sure you select a company:

whose main operations are based in the United States, and
that has their financial statements online (SEC filing 10-K)

Visit the Company research page from Albertsons Library (Links to an external site.) and spend a couple of hours researching what company you would like to do your final project on. Feeling stuck? Here are three examples of companies that you can choose from if you do not want to select your own company:

THE BOSTON BEER COMPANY, INC.
MONSTER BEVERAGE CORPORATION
AMERICAN PUBLIC EDUCATION, INC.

2. Complete the Financial Ratio Analysis
After selecting your company, you will use three analytical techniques to evaluate the company’s financial performance. In a Microsoft Excel workbook, create three tabs and use one tab for each of the following:

Complete a horizontal analysis (aka trend analysis) for the company over the three most recent fiscal years. This means you will need to look up at least two 10-Ks for the same company. 
Complete a vertical analysis for the company over three fiscal years. Again, this means you will need to look up at least two 10-Ks for the same company.
Choose one ratio from each of the following to complete for the company on the most recent fiscal year (for a total of four ratios):

Liquidity
Solvency
Profitability
Stock Market

3. Memo
Based on your analysis, you will write to a professional audience to persuade them whether they should or not invest in the company. Organize your analysis into a business memo format (for an example, please review the Memo Format (Links to an external site.)). Your memo should be written in a Microsoft Word document and include:

An executive summary (one paragraph) describing whether they recommend investing in the company
No more than two additional pages (single-spaced) that explain your recommendation. Make sure to reference your financial analysis and course materials to support your analysis.