Prior to beginning work on this assignment, retrieve the financial statements you downloaded for Deere & Company in Week 1, and download the following financial statements for Caterpillar Inc. – Financials Quarterly ResultsLinks to an external site..

Files to Download

• Download the quarterly reports (10Q) for Deere & Company by completing the following:
  • Go to the Deere & Co. investors’ webpage, Investor RelationsLinks to an external site., on the Deere & Company website.
  • Click to expand last year’s set of statements under the “Quarterly Earnings & Events” header in the middle of the page.
• Download the appropriate quarter earnings 10Q (“News Release and Financials”). Use the following information to determine the specific quarter for which you should download:
  • If this course’s start date is in January through February, download last year’s Quarter 1 financial statements (e.g., 1Q Income Statement, Balance Sheet, Statement of Cash Flows).
  • If this course’s start date is in March through June, download last year’s Quarter 2 financial statements (e.g., 2Q Income Statement, Balance Sheet, Statement of Cash Flows).
  • If this course’s start date is in July through September, download last year’s Quarter 3 financial statements (e.g., 3Q Income Statement, Balance Sheet, Statement of Cash Flows).
  • If this course’s start date is in October through December, download last year’s Quarter 4 financial statements (e.g., 4Q Income Statement, Balance Sheet, Statement of Cash Flows).
• Download the annual report for Deere & Company by completing the following.
  • Go to the John Deere investors’ webpage, Investor RelationsLinks to an external site., on the Deere & Company website.
  • Select the “Show Archived Annual Reports” button under the Annual Report & Proxy Statement header toward the bottom of the page.
  • Download the annual report from two years ago from the drop-down menu.

One critical component of financial analysis involves comparing a firm’s financial statements with other firms in the industry. Through such a comparison, financial managers can reveal useful information about risks, investment opportunities, market indicators, and economic factors.

Throughout this course, you have been researching and analyzing various financial statements for Deere & Company. For this Final Paper, you will culminate your analysis with an in-depth comparison of Deere & Company and Caterpillar Inc.

In your project, you will complete the following items based on the files you previously downloaded:

• Examine the four primary financial statements for each firm and address the following:
  • Statement of Cash Flows:
    • Compare the statement of cash flows for the two firms, noting the major inflows and outflows of cash. 
  • Income Statement:
    • Compare the income statements for the two firms, noting the issues each one faces regarding sales projections.
  • Balance Sheet:
    • Compare the balance sheets for the two firms, noting any issues each firm may want to address regarding liability, and how each firm might be impacted by increasing interest rates.
  • Shareholder Equity:
    • Calculate the shareholder equity for each firm.
• Calculate the following ratios and provide a trend analysis on each company: 
  • ROI analysis
  • Ratio analysis, to include the following ratios (please be sure to show calculations): 
    • Profit margin 
    • Return on assets 
    • Return on equity 
    • Receivable turnover 
    • Average collection period 
    • Inventory turnover 
    • Current ratio 
    • Working capital 
    • Debt-to-total assets 
    • Debt-to-equity 
    • Earnings per share 
    • Price to earnings ratio 
  • Create a horizontal, vertical, and trend analysis of the Income statement and Balance Sheet.
• Compare and contrast the two firms in the context of the global economy, noting which types of cultural differences might impact each firm as it does business in other countries.
  • Include examples to illustrate your point.
• Compare and contrast each firm’s global strategic plan based on the information in the annual report from two years ago.
• Propose which company would be better to invest in, based on the above comparisons. Your proposal should include the key metrics you used to make your decision.

The Final Project assignment 

• must be eight to 10 double-spaced pages in length (not including title and references pages) and formatted according to APA StyleLinks to an external site. as outlined in the Writing Center’s APA Formatting for Microsoft WordLinks to an external site. resource. 
• must include a separate title page with the following: 
  • title of paper in bold font 
    • Space should appear between the title and the rest of the information on the title page. 
  • student’s name 
  • name of the institution 
  • course name and number 
  • instructor’s name 
  • due date 
• must utilize academic voice. See the Academic VoiceLinks to an external site. resource for additional guidance. 
• must include an introduction and conclusion paragraph. Your introduction paragraph needs to end with a clear thesis statement that indicates the purpose of your assignment 
  • For assistance on writing Introductions & ConclusionsLinks to an external site. as well as Writing a Thesis StatementLinks to an external site., refer to the Writing Center resources.
• must cite and provide reference entries for the required Deere & Company and the Caterpillar Inc. financial documents in addition to the course text. 
  
  • The Scholarly, Peer-Reviewed, and Other Credible SourcesLinks to an external site. table offers additional guidance on appropriate source types. If you have questions about whether a specific source is appropriate for this assignment, please contact your instructor. Your instructor has the final say about the appropriateness of a specific source.