Financial Ratios
Financial ratios are essential to provide an accurate valuation of a firm. Select a publicly traded firm of your choice. Select one ratio each in the areas of (a) performance, (b) activity, (c) financing, and (d) liquidity warnings. Provide an evaluation of the selected firm’s strengths and weaknesses. Based on the ratios you selected, how well does your chosen firm perform? Explain.
Sample Answer
I will use Apple Inc. (AAPL) as an example.
Performance
- Return on equity (ROE): ROE measures how much profit a company generates with its shareholders’ equity. A high ROE indicates that a company is using its assets efficiently and generating a lot of profit. AAPL’s ROE for the trailing twelve months (TTM) is 43.1%, which is higher than the industry average of 20.4%.
Activity
- Days sales outstanding (DSO): DSO measures how long it takes a company to collect its receivables. A low DSO indicates that a company is collecting its receivables quickly and has good cash flow. AAPL’s DSO for the TTM is 25.4 days, which is lower than the industry average of 34.3 days.