Finance Sector Analysis
Plagiarism will result in a grade of 0 on this entire assignment. Any direct quotations should be in quotes. Paraphrased items of substance should be cited. All sources used should be listed at the end of the report. Do not use the words and suggestions given by other financial analysts or web sources. This should be a report of your own thoughts and ideas supported by data from financial databases, financial statements, textbook content, and similar resources.
The assignment sheet gives you lots of information, but I will summarize and add more here:
This is a full report. That is why I think 7 – 10 pages would be needed to do a thorough job of covering all that has been asked in the original assignment. The items I put in parentheses are suggestions, not requirements. You may find some more interesting items that I have not even listed. That would be great.
(1) I ask for sections – this means paragraphs of information, not short lists or sentences.
Section 1 – Describe the sector (You could indicate key competitors; this could be a table with your companies listed first and any key competitors you did not have in your portfolio highlighted. You might point out the best and worst companies you found in the sector — even if they are not in your portfolio) and point out recent news (For recent news, I would accept anything happening from 2015 to now as recent enough to consider. I do not want a boring list of news items, but you could highlight major legislation, regulations, lawsuits, or corporate events that stand out.)
Section 2 – Compare three companies which include your 2 assigned + any other you choose that was in your portfolio (You could plot their stock prices over time or any other performance measure you want; you could describe how they are similar or how they differ, you could examine their capital structures using the WACC command from Bloomberg and compare or many other functions that Bloomberg has) and how they fared within the sector
Section 3 – Discuss the international company from your sector (You could indicate what might be different between US laws, regulations, investors, etc. and those in the home country of that company. You could look at the risk profile of that country and the US using sources like the World Bank website or some others that tell you more country specific details. You might also use the Economic Indicators section of Bloomberg. Important international news affecting the sector might be noted.)
Section 4 – More detailed company analysis (consider financial ratios or governance indicators)
Section 5 – Sector comparison (choose any other sector you want and discuss how it is similar and/or how it is different from your assigned sector (You could tell how the current economic conditions favors your sector or the other sector more and why; Maybe your sector faces greater hurdles in terms of borrowing, attracting equity investors, regulations, etc. Give examples.)
Conclusion: Give a statement (perhaps a paragraph) indicating whether the outlook overall is positive or negative for your sector, as well as for some of the specific stocks in your portfolio. (For example, which stocks should be bought and why; which should be sold and why)
Be sure to note the high quality report guidelines on the assignment page from the syllabus.
You might consider headings. You can name them whatever is appropriate, but one example might be: For e.g., for healthcare
Cover page
I. Introduction to the Healthcare Sector
II. Key Companies in the Sector
III. An International Healthcare Company
IV. Financial Analysis of Selected Healthcare Companies
V. A Comparison of the Healthcare Sector to _________ Sector
VI. Conclusion
List of sources used to complete this report
I WILL GIVE YOU THE COMPANIES NAMES AFTER YOU ACCEPT THE REQUEST