Download the quarterly reports for Caterpillar Inc. by completing the following: Go to the Investor Information?(Links

1. Download the quarterly reports for Caterpillar Inc. by completing the following:

• Go to the Investor Information (Links to an external site.) web page on the Caterpillar, Inc. website.
• Click the “Quarterly Financial Results” link under the “Investors” header at the very bottom of the page.
• Download both the “Caterpillar Inc. Results” file and the “Cat Financial Results” file for the appropriate quarter of the prior year. Use the information below to determine the specific quarter for which you should download:
  • If this course’s start date is in January through February, download last year’s Quarter 1 financial statements (e.g., 1QXX Caterpillar Inc. Results and 1QXX Cat Financial Results).
  • If this course’s start date is in March through June, download last year’s Quarter 2 financial statements (e.g., 2QXX Caterpillar Inc. Results and 2QXX Cat Financial Results).
  • If this course’s start date is in July – September, download last year’s Quarter 3 financial statements. (e.g., 3QXX Caterpillar Inc. Results and 4QXX Cat Financial Results).
  • If this course’s start date is in October – December, download last year’s Quarter 4 financial statements (e.g., 4QXX Caterpillar Inc. Results and 4QXX Cat Financial Results).

1. Download the annual reports for Caterpillar Inc. by completing the following:

• Go to the Investor Information (Links to an external site.) web page on the Caterpillar, Inc. website.
• Click the “Annual Report & Sustainability Report” link under the “Investors” header at the very bottom of the page.
• Click “View Archived Annual Reports” under the “Annual Report” header at the bottom of the page.
• Download the annual report from two years ago (e.g., 20xXX Year in Review).

Note: You should still have the reports for Deere & Company from the files you downloaded in Week 1.

One critical component of financial analysis involves comparing a firm’s financial statements with other firms in the industry. Through such a comparison, financial managers can reveal useful information about risks, investment opportunities, market indicators, and economic factors.

Throughout this course, you have been researching and analyzing various financial statements for Deere & Company. For this Final Paper, you will culminate your analysis with an in-depth comparison of Deere & Company and Caterpillar Inc.

In your project, you will complete the following items based on the files you downloaded above:

• Examine the four primary financial statements for each firm and address the following:
  • Statement of Cash Flows:
    • Compare the statement of cash flows for the two firms, noting the major inflows and outflows of cash.
  • Income Statement:
    • Compare the income statements for the two firms, noting the issues each one faces regarding sales projections.
  • Balance Sheet:
    • Compare the balance sheets for the two firms, noting any issues each firm may want to address regarding liability, and how each firm might be impacted by increasing interest rates.
  • Shareholder Equity:
    • Calculate the shareholder equity for each firm.
  • Calculate the following ratios and trend analyses on each company:
    • ROI analysis
    • Ratio analysis, to include the following ratios:
      • Profit Margin
      • Return on Assets
      • Return on equity
      • Receivable Turnover
      • Average Collection period
      • Inventory turnover
      • Current ratio
      • Working Capital
      • Debt to total assets
      • Debt to equity
      • Earnings per share
      • Price to Earnings ratio
    • Horizontal, vertical, and trend analysis of financial statements
  • Compare and contrast the two firms in the context of the global economy, noting which types of cultural differences might impact each firm as it does business in other countries.
    • Include examples to illustrate your point.
  • Compare and contrast each firm’s global strategic plan based on the information in the annual report from two years ago.
  • Propose which company would be better to invest in, based on the above comparisons. Your proposal should include the key metrics you used to make your decision.