At Applebee’s, Presto tablets by E la Carte are being installed at every table. In total, Applebee’s will be purchasing 100,000 tablets. Customers will be able to pay their food bill and order appetizers and desserts using the tablets. In addition to the initial purchase price of the tablet hardware and various other costs, Applebee’s […]
Continue readingHow would Crocs recognize the preferred stock issued to Blackstone Group?
At the end of December 2013, Crocs Inc. announced that Blackstone Group is investing $200 million into the footwear company in the form of a preferred stock purchase. In three years, the preferred stock shares owned by Blackstone Group will convert into common shares if the Crocs common stock market price rises to a certain […]
Continue readingHow does the SEC allege that Diamond Foods fraudulently increased earnings?
Diamond Foods produces and markets Emerald snack nuts, PopSecret popcorn, and several other snack brands. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently charged Diamond and two of the company’s former executives (the CEO and the CFO) with misleading investors by fraudulently manipulating income (see “Diamond Foods to Pay $5 Million to Settle SEC Fraud Charges,” […]
Continue readingWhat is the balance sheet impact of Crocs’ repurchase of its own shares of stock?
At the end of December 2013, Crocs Inc. announced that Blackstone Group is investing $200 million into the footwear company in the form of a preferred stock purchase. Crocs plans to use the $200 million plus another $150 million of cash it already has on hand to repurchase its own common shares during the first […]
Continue readingHow is the term “depreciation” used in a news story about the resale value of electric cars?
A recent news story in USA Today was entitled “Depreciation hits electric cars hard.” According to USA Today, a Ford Focus Electric automobile will be worth about 20% of its initial $35,995 list price after five years, while a conventional Ford Focus (gas-engine) will be worth about 36% of its initial value. The 2013 Nissan […]
Continue readingHow much does Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida pay to redeem one share of its preferred stock?
The following is from a press release from Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida, the holding company for Seacoast National Bank, dated November 29, 2013: “…Seacoast National Bank…announced it has issued a notice to redeem, subject to regulatory approval, all of its 2,000 shares of Fixed Rate Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock, Series A… for an aggregate […]
Continue readingHow does a stock buyback impact AutoZone’s balance sheet?
In December 2013, the Board of Directors of AutoZone Inc., an auto parts retailer, approved an increase of $750 million in its stock buyback program. Since 1998, AutoZone’s board of directors has approved $14.2 billion in buybacks. Questions On the date of the announcement that AutoZone has authorized the increase in its share buyback program, […]
Continue readingHow does Starbucks account for gift card sales?
In December 2013, Starbucks was predicting it would have record gift card sales for the year. Last year (2012), Starbucks sold more than 2 million gift cards on the Thursday before Christmas, which was a rate of more than 1,500 gift cards per minute. In 2013, Starbucks expects to top that figure. For the entire […]
Continue readingWhen does Ford Credit recognize bad debt expense associated with a new car loan?
Every individual has a credit score, which is an approximate measure of the risk of loan default to potential lenders. Credit scores range from about 300 – 850, with 850 being the best credit score possible. This credit score is a combination of several categories of history about the individual, including length of credit history, […]
Continue reading

March 10, 2014 