Microsoft Turnitin : Task 1 : Current Company Profile

The dividend policy has grown over the years. This may be so that the company projects itself as a less risky share and thus also gaining investors faith. The investors buy its shares and thus increase its demand. This helps to gives positive signals to the investors signalling that the company is stable and can generate earnings steadily. This hypothesis is gains standing from the dividend hypothesis theory.

Microsoft has their dominance of the industry at stake. They could potentially come out on top if left to continue their current tactics. They are masterfully “marketing their products” and it is paying off for them (Love, 1997).

They have expand their business from only on computer software and hardware to online search engine, home gaming devices and smartphone, those business are the popular business in the world, Microsoft is trying to adapt the new market.

Microsoft is in an industry that makes it more difficult to apply DuPont analysis averages to determine its financial health. Microsoft obviously operates

The stock that I have analyzed is Apple (AAPPL), which it falls under the technology sector and trades under the NASDAQ. This sector holds the biggest companies around the world. A lot of these companies are well known such as: Amazon, Google, LinkedIn, and etc. The technology sector is an undeniably investment opportunity for every investor around the world. Lets face it technology keeps improving and we have only seen the beginning of it. These companies, such as Apple, are associated with constant innovation and invention. Our modern economy relies upon the technology sector to improve quality, productivity, and profitability.

In practice, dividend policy will be affected by taxes as tax rates for different categories of investors will differ. Also, a firm’s dividend policy is perceived by the financial markets to be a signaling mechanism. A cut back in dividends may signify that the firm perceives tough

Just over a few decades with Steve Ballmer, Microsoft has a new corporate leader at the helm. As Satya Nadella takes over the position that Mr. Ballmer once endured, his spirit took off with great confidence concerning his new role at the company (Microsoft, 2014). The next decade is likely to reveal the level of success his abilities bring to the future of the company and his own status as leader.

The Software & Programming industry saw Revenue decrease just by -4.84%, Microsoft announced -5.14% year on year sales decline in the forth quarter, to $ 22.18 billions, and underperformed the 1.54% Revenue growth in the Technology sector. Above average sales gains in Technology and Software & Programming industry, helped to elevate overall market growth to -6.77%. Comparing company’s Revenue to the third quarter results, sales were higher by 2.08%. On the yearly basis, average annual sales growth for Microsoft is 8.41%, while S & P 500 's including only Businesses with the forth quarter 2015 earnings, average annual sales growth is 3.94% over the past five years. Indeed, the Microsoft Corporation is profitable and leads not only the rivals, but also S&P 500.

Which company is performing better based on profitability ratios? Based on a comparison of the profitability ratios between Apple Incorporated and Microsoft Corporation, Microsoft is performing better than Apple. Microsoft’s profit margin is higher than Apple’s and did not experience the decrease that apple did. While Microsoft does have lower returns on assets and equity than Apple, Microsoft was more stable between 2012 and 2014, and did not suffer the same decreases in these ratios that Apple did. Since Microsoft increased their profit margin and was a more stable company, I would argue that it is the better company.

Attached is an Income Statement from 2005 to 2007 (Microsoft Corporation Annual Report, 2008). As you can see, revenues and net income have continued to increase over the years. Earnings per share have increased as well. This shows that Microsoft is in a good financial standing. This means they are able to pay their shareholders and increase what they

Many analysts would note that based on the consensus of the world population, the company’s equity is of the highest value as they are currently ranked as industry leader in market capitalization (source: Yahoo Finance) which conveniently brings me to my next evaluation.

In March 1995, Fred Aldrich, a summer trainee with the First Investments, Inc., was called into the office of the head of investment analysis section of the trust department. The following conversation took place: Fred, here are the 1994, 1993, and 1985 Basic Industries Company’s financials (Exhibit 1) and a 10-year summary (Exhibit 2 ). Our trust department has owned this stock since the early 1980s. As you know, our portfolio people place a lot of emphasis on the quality of a company’s earnings and the return on owners’ equity in making stock selections. Well, they are worried. The 1994 Basic Industries annual report

Looking at the sizable market share Microsoft has come to enjoy over the years, a new competitor would face a number of entry barriers before entering this market. Customers are very loyal to the Microsoft brand and would expect any competitor to offer at the very least the same features that Microsoft already has.

The three statements that were provided in this section provide possible investors, competitors, and even those within the company with useful information to make important decisions that could affect their livelihood or the livelihood of Microsoft. Keep in mind that even though financial statements are a solid indicator of how a company is performing, one key principle about must be known when viewing them to make decisions. They do not always provide all of the information that you may need. There are usually underlying topics that could affect the company that are not necessarily showing up on their financial statements. These topics are discussed in other sections of this report on Microsoft.

Utiliscan is a smaller company with only 240 employees. In being a smaller company, you to not only recruit the best talent possible, but you have to also be very proactive in keeping employees happy and the turnover rate as low as possible. With small companies, there cannot be much turnover because it is costly, and it loads more work onto other employees when it is likely they do not have room to take on extra work. The majority of this responsibility falls onto human resources, which in this case is Paul. Paul is responsible for acknowledging the inefficiencies of the company, along with finding a solution to these issues. Paul is also responsible for growth opportunities for employees, benefit plans, and policies all while staying within a budget. Lastly, Paul is responsible for leading the company and the company’s leaders in ways to improve the attractiveness of the company to attract the best possible employees, and retain them long-term.