Company analysis
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Choose a stock that you like- it can be any company in any industry. Then visit Yahoo Finance at http://finance.yahoo.com/?u . Once there, enter the ticker symbol for your stock in the space provided so that you can be taken to pages where you will see a comprehensive set financial information- including the latest price- related to your company of choice. If you don't know your stock's symbol, click on "Symbol Lookup" to get the ticker symbol for your company. Once you see the financial pages, scroll down the page and observe the available information there.
1. What type of key financial information are available at the page you entered? Write 1 to 2 paragraphs describing what information can be obtained under each "hot link". In your write-up, make sure to click on the following "hot links" and describe what you saw:
Chart, Financials, Historical Prices, Industry, Insider, Profile, Reports, Research, and SEC Filings.
2. Aside from the key financial information, you will also see a set of accounting data. What is the significance of such data, if any at all, to the price of your stock? In answering this question, make sure you build upon what you learned in this unit about stock valuation.
3. Go back to the stock price, and based on your answer to the above question, attempt to see if you can justify the company's prevailing stock price reported on that page. What is your company's P/E ratio? What is the P/E ratio for its industry?
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Solution Summary
This discusses the steps of analyzing a particular company for investment purposes
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Note: Page 1 to 10 is for your reference purpose
From page 11 onwards: Response of your queries
BUSINESS ANALYSIS OF
HARLEY DAVIDSON
BY-
ABSTRACT
It is a report on Harley Davidson, which is primarily in the business of recreational vehicle. This report involves exhaustive analysis which involve preparation of three sets of documents business analysis, combined income and cash flow statement, and trend analysis.
Harley-Davidson had a strong domestic market share in the American motorcycle industry. Built on tradition and name recognition, Harley's are a part of American culture. Unique products and loyal customer's are the foundation of Harley-Davidson Inc. The only major obstacle the company faces is greater demand for their product than availability. Production has increased and profits are very good. Harley-Davidson has many Japanese competitors that have yet to hurt the sales of the core super heavyweight motorcycles.
Harley-Davidson, Inc. is primarily in the business of recreational vehicle. Harley-Davidson was incorporated in 1981 and is based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
It is the parent company for the group of companies doing business as Harley-Davidson Motor Company (Motor Company), Buell Motorcycle Company (BMC) and Harley-Davidson Financial Services (HDFS). The Motor Company produces heavyweight motorcycles and offers a line of motorcycle parts, accessories, apparel and general merchandise. The Motor Company manufactures five families of motorcycles: Touring, Dyna Glide, Softail, VRSC and Sportster. BMC produces sport motorcycles, including five v-twin XB models and the single-cylinder Buell Blast. BMC also offers a line of motorcycle parts, accessories, apparel and general merchandise. HDFS provides wholesale and retail financing and insurance programs primarily to Harley-Davidson/Buell dealers and customers. The Company operates in two principal business segments: Motorcycles and Related Products (Motorcycles) and Financial Services. HDI is a manufacturer of motorcycles based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, making it one of the two remaining American mass-producer of motorcycles (along with Victory Motorcycles). The company emphasizes heavy bikes designed for cruising, bikes known for their distinctive exhaust noise.
The Motorcycles segment designs, manufactures, and sells primarily heavyweight, touring, custom, and performance motorcycles, as well as a line of motorcycle parts, accessories, clothing, and collectibles. It also offers police, fire, and rescue motorcycles. The Financial Services segment engages in financing and servicing wholesale inventory receivables and consumer retail loans primarily for the purchase of motorcycles in the United States, Canada, and Europe. It provides wholesale financial services to its dealers and retail financing to consumers. Its wholesale financial services include floorplan and open account financing of motorcycles, and motorcycle parts and accessories; real estate loans; computer loans; and showroom remodeling loans. Retail financial services include installment lending for its new and used motorcycles. The Financial Services segment also provides the brokerage of various motorcycle insurance policies and service warranty agreements.
Harley-Davidson also provides other services to its dealers, including service and business management training schools, customized dealer software packages, delivery of its motorcycles, a motorcycle rental program, and a rider training program. In addition, the company licenses the name 'Harley-Davidson' and other trademarks owned by it. Its licensed products include T-shirts, jewelry, small leather goods, and toys.
History
The company considers 1903 to be its year of founding, though the Harley-Davidson enterprise could be considered to have started in 1901 when William S. Harley, age 21, drew up plans for a small engine that displaced 7.07 cubic inches (116cc) and had four-inch flywheels. The engine was designed for use in a regular pedal-bicycle frame.
Over the next two years Harley and his boyhood pal Arthur Davidson labored on their little motor-bicycle using the northside machine shop of their friend Henry Melk. It was finished in 1903 with the help of Arthur's brother, Walter Davidson. Upon completion the boys found their little "power-cycle" unable to conquer Milwaukee's modest hills without pedal assistance. Bill Harley and the Davidsons quickly wrote off their first motor-bicycle as a valuable learning experiment.
Starting fresh, work was immediately begun on a new and much improved machine. This first "real" Harley-Davidson motorcycle would have a bigger engine of 24.74 cubic inches (405cc) with 9-3/4 inch flywheels weighing 28 pounds. The machine's advanced loop-frame was similar to the 1903 Milwaukee Merkel motorcycle. They also got help with their new engine from outboard motor pioneer Ole Evinrude. Elder brother William A. Davidson also lent a hand in the enterprise. The prototype of the new improved loop-frame model was assembled in a 10 by 15 foot (3 by 5 meter) shed in the Davidson family backyard. The machine was functional by 8 September 1904 when it was entered in a Milwaukee motorcycle race, the first known appearance of a Harley-Davidson motorcycle.
In January 1905, small advertisements were placed in the "Automobile and Cycle Trade Journal" that offered ...
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