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Apple Company’s Financial Management Case Study

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Company Background

Apple Inc. is one of the leading electronic companies in the global market. The current chairman of this company is Arthur D. Levinson and the chief executive officer is Tim Cook. The company produces and sells several products which include Mac, iPhone, Apple Watch, iPod, Apple Television, iOS, iLife, watchOS, iWork, and tvOS (Everett, Johnson, and Madden 87). The company also offers several services which include Apple Play, iTunes Stores, Apple Store, Apple Music, iBook Store, Mac App Store, and iCloud among other services (Wood 62).

The last time Apple Inc. released its quarterly report was on July 26, 2016, posting revenue of USD 42.4 billion and a net income of USD 7.8 billion. The last time this company released a full financial report was on October 27, 2015. Ernst & Young LLP is the independent auditing company been responsible for the development of financial statements of Apple Inc. This giant electronic company is currently trading in the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ) Stock Market (Pratt 32).

Discussion Questions

Who is responsible for the preparation of the financial statements?

Preparation of Apple Inc’s financial statement is the responsibility of the company’s senior vice president and chief financial officer, Mr. Peter Oppenheimer (Dreyer and Greisler 44). However, the statements must be approved by the chief financial officer, Mr. Timothy D. Cook. This is confirmed by the declaration of these two senior officials at the end of the company’s audited financial documents. The independent auditor, which in this case is Ernst & Young LLP, must also approve the documents.

Which Big-Four accounting firm audited the company?

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Deloitte, Ernst & Young, and KPMG are the top four auditing firms in the global arena. Of these Big-Four accounting companies, it was Ernst & Young that audited Apple Inc. in the last financial year. Lashinsky says that Ernst & Young has been auditing this firm since 2009 (92).

The auditor’s report gives the impression that Apple Inc.’s performance is good. In their statement as seen in Wood, it read in part, “We consent to the Statements on Forms S-8 of Apple Inc. and the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting of Apple Inc., included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K” (88).

The report confirms the impressive financial reports provided by the chief financial officer. This is a strong indication that auditors can trust the financial health of this company as far as the independent auditors are concerned.

For the recent three years, list the amounts reported for Revenue, Operating Income (EBIT), Net Income, and Dividends

Analyzing the financial statements of this firm may be very important for an investor who is planning to buy shares of this company. In this section, the focus will be to analyze the company’s revenues, operating income, and net income.

Revenues

The company’s total revenue for the year ended September 9, 2013, was USD 170,910,000. This value increased to USD 182,795,000 on September 27, 2014. The revenues improved further a year later when the company received USD 233,715,000 on September 26, 2015 (Lashinsky 95).

Operating Income

Apple Inc. had an operating income of USD 48,999,000 as reported on September 9, 2013. In the subsequent year of 2014, the company had an operating income of USD 52,503,000. In 2015, the company had an operating income of 71,230,000 (Dreyer and Greisler 74).

Net Income and Dividends

The net income for Apple Inc. for the financial year ending September 9, 2013, was USD 37,037,000 and the dividend was 10,564,000. In the year 2014, the company had a net income of USD 39,510,000 and a dividend of 11,126,000. In the financial year that ended on September 26, 2015, the company registered a net income of USD 53,394,000 and a dividend of 11,561,000 (Wood 58).

Comments On the Documents

The three statements of the firm strongly suggest that Apple Inc. is moving in the right direction financially. The revenues of the firm have registered a consistent rise over the last three years. The operating income and net income have also been increasing over the same period. It is, therefore, possible to suggest that this company is expanding and shareholders can be sure of getting impressive returns on their investments. It is also clear that the company has been paying dividends to its shareholders over the last three years. The dividends have been increasing.

Is the balance sheet presented in a classified and comparative format?

The balance sheet of this company is presented in a comparative and classified manner. It is possible to compare the financial performance of this company over the last three years because of this classified and comparative format that has been used in the development balance sheet.

For the recent three years, list the amounts reported for “Current Assets”, “Long Term Assets”, “Intangibles”, “Current Liabilities”, “Long Term Debt” and “Stockholders’ Equity”

Current Assets

As shown in the balance sheet of Apple Inc., its total assets for the year ended September 9, 2013, was USD 73,286,000. There was a slight decline in 2014 when the total assets were USD 68,531,000. The value increased to USD 89,378,000 in the financial year ended on September 26, 2015.

Long Term Assets

In the financial statement of this firm for the year that ended September 9, 2013, this company’s long-term assets were valued at USD 133,714,000. In the financial year that ended September 27, 2014, the company’s long-term assets were valued at USD 163,308,000. In the financial year that ended September 26, 2015, the value of the long-term assets was USD 201,101,000.

Intangible Assets

The intangible assets were valued at USD 4,179,000 in 2013. The value decreased to USD 4,142,000 in 2014, and in 2015 it was USD 3,893,000.

Current Liabilities

The current liabilities for the firm were valued at USD 43,658,000 in 2013, in 2014 it was USD 63,448,000, and in 2015 it was USD 80,610,000.

Stockholder’s Equity

The stockholder’s equity for the year 2013 was USD 123,549,000. The value decreased in 2014 to USD 111,547,000 and in 2015 it was USD 119,355,000.

The accounting equation for the company within three years holds. The company is expanding.

Does the company use cash-base or accrual-base accounting?

Apple Inc. uses accrual basis accounting because the income statements show that revenues are reported when they are earned and expenses are reported when they occur. This is completely different from the principle used in cash-based accounting.

List the net cash flows from each of the three activities: operating, investing, and financing

Operating Activities

The operating cash flow from operating activities in 2013 was USD 53,666,000. In 2014, it increased to USD 59,713,000, and in 2015, this value increased to USD 81,266,000.

Investing Activities

Apple Inc.’s cash flow from investing activities in 2013 was USD -33,774,000. In 2014, the value was -22-579,000. The year ending on September 26, 2015, saw the value decrease to USD -56,274,000.

Financing Activities

Cash flow from the operating was USD -16,379,000 in the year 2013. It reduced to USD -37,549,000 in 2014. There was an improvement in 2015 when the value increased to USD -17,716,000.

Comments

The income statement of this company over the past three years shows that its income primarily comes from its operating activities. The values are shown in the investing activities and financing activities show that this firm is spending a lot to expand its operations.

For the recent three years, what are the Earnings per Share (EPS)?

Hussey defines Earnings per Share as “the portion of a company’s profit that is allocated to each outstanding share of common stock, serving as an indicator of the company’s profitability” (71). The formula for EPS is EPS= /Average Outstanding Shares. For Apple Inc., its earnings per share within the three years are as follows.

Year 2015

/345,000

=121.26

Year 2014

1,082,000

=26.23

Year 2013

/471,000

=56.21

Works Cited

Dreyer, Arek, and Ben Greisler. Os X Server Essentials 10.10: Using and Supporting Os X Server on Mountain Lion, Berkeley: Peachpit Press, 2015. Print.

Everett, Ronald, Donald Johnson, and Bernard Madden. Financial Accounting for School Administrators: Tools for Schools, Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Education, 2012. Print.

Hussey, Roger. Fundamentals of International Financial Accounting and Reporting, Singapore: World Scientific, 2010. Print.

Lashinsky, Adam. Inside Apple: How America’s Most Admired-and Secretive-Company Works, New York: Business Plus, 2012. Print.

Pratt, Jamie. Financial Accounting in an Economic Context, Hoboken: Wiley & Sons, 2011. Print.

Wood, Mark. Apple Pro Training Series: Pages, Numbers, and Keynote, New York: Cengage, 2015. Print.

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