Recently, Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF) has been implementing a turnaround strategy since its sales had been falling for the past few years (11% decrease in 2014, 8% in 2015, and just 3% in 2016.) One part of Abercrombie’s new strategy has been to abandon its logo-adorned merchandise, replacing it with a subtler look. Abercrombie […]
Continue readingHow did a cash dividend impact Lowe’s financial position?
November 3, 2016 
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On November 2, 2016, Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE: LOW) paid a cash dividend of $0.35 per share to shareholders of record as of October 19, 2016. The Lowe’s Board of Directors declared this dividend on August 19, 2016. As of the end of Lowe’s 2015 year (January 29, 2016), Lowe’s had 910 million shares of […]
Continue readingWhat are the fiscal year ends of Amazon, Target, Apple, Walt Disney, and others?
October 25, 2016 10 Comments
A calendar year runs from January 1 to December 31 each year. Companies are allowed to select a fiscal year that is different from the calendar year, which means not all companies’ financial statements are as of December 31. Here is a list of a variety of companies and their fiscal years: Amazon.com: Fiscal year […]
Continue readingWhat managerial accounting tools could be used by Giant Eagle to evaluate whether it should put refrigerator doors in its dairy section?
October 18, 2016 0 Comments
Giant Eagle is a grocery store chain with stores located in Indiana, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Recently, it installed refrigerator doors on the dairy section in many of its stores. Previously, the dairy section was refrigerated but had no doors. The refrigerator doors will reportedly use 78% less energy than the amount of […]
Continue readingWhat does Huntington’s Form 10-K disclose about its loans and leases (aka “receivables”) and the related allowance accounts?
October 13, 2016 0 Comments
Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) recently acquired the Ohio-based FirstMerit Corp., further increasing Huntington’s market share across eight states in the Midwest: Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Illinois. It is now the 33rd largest bank holding company in the United States, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as of the […]
Continue readingHow could the different inventory costing methods used by Best Buy, Amazon, and Target impact their respective income statements and balance sheets?
October 11, 2016 0 Comments
Three retailing giants, Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE: BBY), Amazon.com, Inc., (NASDAQ: AMZN), and Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT) each use a different inventory costing method. Best Buy uses weighted-average cost, Amazon uses FIFO, and Target uses LIFO. Here is a hypothetical example that highlights the potential differences in income statements and balance sheets that could […]
Continue readingHow do Facebook and Twitter’s current and debt ratios compare?
October 6, 2016 0 Comments
Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ: FB), and Twitter, Inc. (NYSE: TWTR), are two of the most popular publicly-held social media companies. Both are relatively young companies; Facebook was founded in 2004, while Twitter was started in 2006. To follow are adapted and condensed balance sheets for both Facebook and Twitter as of December 31, 2015. Please note: […]
Continue readingWhat does Best Buy’s Form 10-K disclose about its receivables?
October 4, 2016 2 Comments
Best Buy Co., Inc. (BBY), the consumer electronics company, has a fiscal year ending on the Saturday nearest the end of each January. Since Best Buy is publicly-held, it files a Form 10-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission each year. To follow are Best Buy’s condensed and adapted balance sheets for the most recent […]
Continue readingWhat closing entries would Facebook make for fiscal year 2015?
September 27, 2016 0 Comments
Facebook, Inc., is a publicly held corporation and issued its financial statements for 2015 in mid-2016. To follow is a condensed and adapted trial balance as of December 31, 2015, that was constructed from those financial statements. Please note that the accounts have been adapted and condensed for educational use and should not be used […]
Continue readingHow would replacing a tattoo artist with a robot change the cost structure at a tattoo studio?
September 22, 2016 0 Comments
French artists Pierre Emm and Johan da Silveira have developed a prototype of a tattoo robot during an Autodesk-sponsored Pier 9 residency in San Francisco. There are several steps involved in the tattooing process when performed by a robot. First, a 3D scan of the targeted body part has to first be made. The tattoo […]
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