Financial Management MBA

FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT
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Executive Summary
This paper will present a discussion of two competing companies with regards to historical and expected future performances. The first company identified is Wal-Mart, which is a giant retailer shop. COSTCO Wholesale Corporation (COST) is identified as its chief competitor. In this paper, the two companies are briefly introduced. Afterwards they are compared with regard to their financial statements for the years 2013 and 2014 where the ratios are analyzed and at the end of the paper a recommendation and a conclusion are given. This paper takes into account not only the quantitative aspects of the companies but the qualitative aspects as well.

Table of Contents
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Executive Summary  PAGEREF _Toc418592472 \h
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Background  PAGEREF _Toc418592473 \h
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Wal-mart  PAGEREF _Toc418592474 \h
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COSTCO Wholesale Corporation (COST)  PAGEREF _Toc418592475 \h
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Overview of The Impact of Global Factors  PAGEREF _Toc418592476 \h
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Industry Trends And Ability To Cope With Them  PAGEREF _Toc418592477 \h
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Financial Analysis  PAGEREF _Toc418592478 \h
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Recommendation  PAGEREF _Toc418592479 \h
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Conclusion  PAGEREF _Toc418592480 \h
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References  PAGEREF _Toc418592481 \h
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Background
Wal-mart
Wal-Mart Incorporation is the world’s largest retailer. Wal-Mart incorporated operates thousands of stores across United States of America, Mexico, Canada, Asia, Europe and Africa. It is a market leader in the retail business with more than 5000 stores across these different regions while employing more than two million people. Wal-Mart has experienced a steady financial growth in the recent past with a turnover of more than 470 billion dollars in the year 2014. Its consistent expansion and ability to attract more customers has seen it see growth year in year out.
COSTCO Wholesale Corporation (COST)
Costco is also a giant retailer business. This incorporation is a close competitor to Wal-Mart bearing in mind that the firm is currently operating more than 600 membership warehouse stores which span across several continents. COSTCO Wholesale Corporation is a major wholesale and retail business in the United States, Mexico, Australia, Canada, Japan, Taiwan, and in the United Kingdom as well. The company makes sales through bulk packaging at most times while dealing with close to four thousand products ranging from alcoholic drinks, fresh produce, pharmaceutical products and electrical appliances too. The organization currently serves more than seventy million customers and it has seen at tremendous financial growth in the recent years too. In fact in the year ended 2014, the company announced a record sales of more than 110 Billion dollars that translated to a net income of more than 2 bi...