Financial Analysis of Yum Brands

Summary After viewing the film “food Inc.” the way I now view the American food industry and our government has changed. I now see the food industry for what it really is, a corrupt business empire that is protected by government officials and policies. In the film it pinpoints many different areas where the food industry has become an injustice to the citizens of America, they have also been protected by laws and policies, and also have treated the cattle, chickens, and other farm animals with such cruelty for profitable gains. Some of the areas where the food industry has become an injustice to its citizens is in the processing of mass food products that are not healthy, the advertising of products to fit the description of farm grown food

Senior Management of PepsiCo is evaluating the potential acquisition of two companies – Carts of Colorado and California Pizza Kitchen – in order to expand the company’s restaurant business. If indeed PepsiCo decides to pursue the acquisition of one or both, they must decide how to align each of these business units in its historically decentralized management approach and how to forge relationships between the acquired business units and existing business units. In their evaluation, Senior Management is faced with the question of whether the necessary capital investment in order to purchase one or both of the businesses can be profitable for each of the acquired business units, but must

The “Coffee Wars – The Big Three: Starbucks, McDonald’s and Dunkin’ Donuts” article focuses on the company analysis of the Starbucks brand and how its main competitors, McDonald’s and Dunkin Donuts, has affected their brand and driven competition higher. Even though there are many companies trying to enter the specialty coffee market, these three companies own the majority of the market share. With Starbucks’ top quality and above average prices they hold a different market than the fast coffee/food market of Dunkin’ Donuts and Starbucks; yet the competitive moves Dunkin’ Donuts has made over the years in order to compete with Starbucks and surpass McDonald’s has driven competition up between all three companies. The competition has stiffened ever more in the past ten years due to the changing economy. This led to “the big three” to come up with different techniques to gain competitive advantage over the other. Although the competition between these companies is to gain most of the market share, consumers are still loyal to a certain brand; this makes it difficult to gain each other’s clientele. McDonald’s continues to appeal to customers who want value and speed, Dunkin’ Donuts focuses on the middle-class, while Starbucks a customer who desires a higher quality product along with being recognized for using the brand.

Since Starbucks entered the coffee retail business, the company has made many trade-off business decisions. The first major trade-off was made when Howard Schultz wanted to acquire present day Starbucks from three entrepreneurs Baldwin, Siegel and Bowker. Therefore, Schultz prior to the acquisition made the trade-off to open his own coffee bar in 1986 instead of staying at Starbucks as the manager of retail sales and marketing. A bold feat, Schultz was able to replicate success and was offered to buy Starbucks for $4 million. At the time of the acquisition, many investors, including the former Starbucks owners, would not expect that the American consumer would pay a premium for coffee products. Schultz, after calculating the opportunity cost, was convinced that Starbucks would become a large coffee chain not only in the United States but internationally too. Reflecting this approach, Schultz’s trade-off worked. Starbucks, according to our book has revenue exceeding $13 billion and nearly 200,000 employees. The company has also expanded to 40 countries with 17,000 stores (Hill et al., 2015).

Food Inc., a documentary on the secrets of the food industry in America, captures it’s audience’s attention by sharing some disturbing information on where their food really comes from. People in America are fooled today by the pictures and advertisements that paint an innocent picture of a farm, tricking consumers into thinking what they’re buying is real, grown food. The food industry has many dirty secrets about it’s food production methods and is scared to reveal any of them because it could put their product sales in jeopardy. The content of this intriguing film compare with chapter 19 of the history textbook in many ways. In chapter 19 of our history books, the topic of awful work conditions and standards are discussed.

For the analysis the packaged food company ConAgra Foods, Inc (CAG) was chosen. According to ConAgra 2013 Annual report, ConAgra Foods, Inc. is one of the USA’s leading food companies. It has a strong brand recognition and consumer loyalty. ConAgra 's products are sold both in large supermarkets and convenience stores. Company operates in Commercial and Consumer Foods segments. The food industry is especially interesting for the research as the demand on food will stay relatively stable even during economic crises and is continuously growing.

Starbucks financial statements were analyzed for the fiscal year ended September 27, 2015. Like all public companies, annual and quarterly financial statements are required to allow regulators and other interested parties to analyze the financial status and management decision making of the company. This analysis focuses on the results of Starbucks most recent published annual report containing their balance sheets, statement of earnings and cash flows. These statements will be analyzed against the results of one of its competitors, Dunkin Donuts, to investigate how the two companies compare to each other. It was noted that Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts do not have corresponding fiscal year ends. The data therefore is not directly comparable since the reports do not reflect the same time period of data but should provide additional insight. The paper will attempt to provide a brief analysis of Starbucks operations in terms of its liquidity, leverage, activity, profitability and growth ratios used by analysts in the industry.

According to the financial report given, General Mills is an insolvent business. This is because even after making sum purchases and general expenses; it is still able to settle for them through its everyday operation. The various sources of money are also evidenced from the financial report.

From ready-to-eat cereal to convenient meals to wholesome snacks, General Mills is one of the biggest food products manufacturers and competes in growing food categories that are on-trend with consumer tastes around the world. The company markets many well-known brands, such as Haagen Daazs, Yoplait, Betty Crocker, Totinos, and Cheerios, among others. Main rivals include Kellogg, Kraft, Conagra Foods, and Sara Lee. General Mills sells its products in three segments: U.S. retail (63% of net sales), International (25% of net sales), and Bakeries and Foodservices (12% of net sales). In addition, General Mills sells cereals and ice cream through its Cereal Partners Worldwide and Haagen Daazs Japan

This paper reviews the Cash Flow Statements of Yum Brands, Inc., Panera Bread, and Starbucks documented by case study 10-10 in our textbook for the purpose of analyzing financial health based on cash flow data. (Gibson, 2013).

In this assignment, a savvy financial analyst researching companies in which to invest a U.S. publically-traded company that would be a good investment was chosen. After a lengthy search, a company that my family is unduly familiar with, Starbucks, was chosen and in the following pages a financial analysis will be described.

“In July 2013, the Company announced a system optimization initiative, as part of its brand transformation, which includes a plan to sell approximately 425 company-owned restaurants to franchisees by the end of the first quarter of 2014” (Wendy's 2013 Annual Report, 2014, p.13). All businesses restructure its operations from time to time, and Wendy’s is no different. As a result, the reduction in the amount of company owned restaurants will expose the intellectual capital to more people, which can also begin to hurt the assets that drive revenue for the company. In addition, the less control over the individuals that work in these restaurants can affect the image of the brand, if the intellectual capital is not handled correctly. However, the affect intellectual capital has on the balance sheet of the company will ultimately be the judge of the success of the company’s intellectual

The ratio analysis indicates mostly positive outlook for Colgate-Palmolive as most of the measures look healthy. The ROE has reduced by increasing assets and reducing liabilities, the cash conversion cycle has decreased and the days payables outstanding has increased.

On 2/16/10 Burger King, the second largest U.S. hamburger chain after McDonald 's, said it would serve Starbuck’s “Seattle 's Best” coffee in about 7,250 U.S. outlets by September making it a direct challenge to McDonald’s strong sales of its new coffee items. On the other hand, TheStreet.com Ratings Investment Analyst Jake Lynch recently reported McDonald’s to be a top dividend-paying stock to buy because its fourth-quarter net income increased 23% to $1.2 billion, revenue jumped 7.3% to $6 billion, and its stock has increased 15% in the past year.

On the other hand, buyers were more increasingly focusing on value and healthy foods. This condition can force McDonald and its competitor to offer product innovation that can attract the buyers and match with the buyers' requirements.