Autozone Case Study

The income over the last three years has been fluctuating.. This tells us the company has an initial growth period. Sales also drop between years 7 and 8 and the gross profit margin decreased as well. This may be due to operating expenses. This leads to the prospect of stable future sales. The stakeholders are continuing to back the company and the company does predict sales will remain stable. The modest increase in sales does not show enough to recover without making adjustments to free capital.

First of all, return on asset (ROA) is a ratio used to measure how efficient a company generates profit using its assets, which is the invested capital. We noticed that HH’s ROA was increasing from 2006 to 2010. However, HH’s ROA for 2011 dropped dramatically from 18.41%(year

Since an ROE of 21.48% equals the product of 4.41% and 4.87 (ROA and Equity Multiplier), it indicates that the firm is able to achieve such high ROE only through a high financial leverage.

Ratio analysis is a very useful tool when it comes to understanding the performance of the company. It highlights the strengths and the weaknesses of the company and pinpoints to the mangers and their subordinates as to which area of the company requires their attention be it prompt or gradual. The return on shareholder’s fund gives an estimate of the amount of profit available to be shared amongst the ordinary shareholders; where as the return on capital employed measures an organization 's profitability and the productivity with which its capital is utilized. Return on total assets is a profitability ratio that measures the net income created by total assets amid a period.

When combining the figures for ROE, ROA and the DuPont analysis it appears that the company is using leverage favourably. ROE is greater than ROA and assets are greater than equity. This is a positive sign for shareholders as it suggests a good investment return in a company that is managing its shareholder equity well (Evans & McDowell, 2009).

Return on Total Assets was 4.43% which is below five percent. That indicates that the company is not accurately converting its assets into profit. The total for Return on Stockholders’ Equity was 8.89%, however financial analysts prefer ROE to range between 15-20 %. The company’s low ROE indicates that the company is not generating profit with new investments. Lastly, Debt-to-Equity ratio for the company was 1.01 which indicates that investors and creditors are equally sharing assets. In the view of creditors, they see a high ratio as a risk factor because it can indicate that investors are not investing due to the company’s overall performance. The totals of these three ratios demonstrate that the company’s financial state is not as healthy as it should be.

For example as AutoZone expands all over the United States it scans every environment to identify changing tendencies and decorations, watching over a particular tendency and decoration, and asses their business influence. In 1979 AutoZone opened their first store in Arkansas, and they started the company from scratch. They looked up to PEP boys though they were and are still strong competitors; they kept working hard in small margins and were very tight operators so that discipline helped them as they learn the business. Now AutoZone is now the nation’s largest retail auto parts chain.

| The ROE decreased in the last year but still in the good margin of profitability.

Industry is defined as “a group of competitors that produce similar products or services” (Parnell, 2008). AutoZone’s industry could be considered automotive as they provide parts and services for vehicles. Whereas services such as actual mechanic work are not performed on the premises, certain services that are offered at dealerships are performed at AutoZone stores.

Next is Asset turnover with .55 times which is a measure of the efficiency of asset utilization. Finally the equity multiplier with 2.26 which is a measure of financial leverage of the firm. When compared to the traditional ratios we get similar results; Profit margin 25.44% (27% DuPont) versus 18.75% industry average. Asset turnover is .54 (.55 DuPont) versus .50 industry average. Equity multiplier 2.28 times (2.26 times DuPont) versus 2 times industry average. The results show that the DuPont analysis using ROE as the main determinant are very similar to the regular ratios. Furthermore the ROE of the traditional ratio is 31.32% with DuPont being 33.10% versus the industry average of 18.75% shows that the firms ROE is very robust. While the firm has some challenges with respect to liquidity and inventory management, as well as debt management it still is doing a good job with respect to its shareholders. However it could be doing a little better for the stockholders, and needs to address some of the above issues mentioned.

AutoZone industry would be made up of auto parts, automotive accessories, and maintenance items for vehicles to be used by the person who does the work themselves or a professional who needs parts for their shop. Diagnostic testing is available for alternators, batteries and starters, using ALLDATA software to zero in on what needs to be repaired but you cannot buy tires nor will AutoZone will make the repairs for you (www.autozone.com). With all the factors to take into consideration the primary industry would be lower prices because this was the basis for starting out AutoZone similar to Walmart by making products available at low prices every day by shipping the products out to the stores from their own distribution center (Parnell, 2008).

4) Company Q’s current rate of return (ROE) is 14%. It pays out (payout ratio) half of its earnings as dividends. Current book value is $50 per share. Book value per share will grow as Q reinvests earnings.

In this paper, an analysis of Amazon’s financial position for the year ending 2015 has been conducted. Amazon’s Pro Forma financial statements for the 2016 and 2017 were generated so as to assess the future financial position of the company. When you look at the breakdown of the analysis of financial ratios, the Return on Equity (ROE) using the DuPont method of analysis and the

3. The deterioration in profitability resulted from a decrease in cost of goods sold as a percentage of sales, and from a decrease in operating expenses as a percentage of sales. The only favorable factor was the decrease in the income tax paid.

Also, the gross profit had a lower increase(+9.67%), that means the cost of sales increased more than the revenue increase in term of percentage. There was a 13.16% rose in net operating expense as both selling and distribution costs and administrative expenses increased. One of the reasons why net operating expense increased because the firm had a programme of reinvesting for organic growth which supply chain, IT and store portfolio had improved. The rose of the net operating expense lead to a 2.13% drop in the operating