Fundamentals of Financial Analysis teaches cadets: 1) the principles of financial statements from the standpoint of a user of financial statements (as opposed to a preparer of financial statements); 2) the tools of interpreting financial statements including ratio analysis, competitive analysis, and economic analysis; and how to apply the fundamentals of analysis in a wide range of complex, real-world business cases. To accomplish this, cadets first learn how to analyze a company by exploring the principles of financial reporting and its complexities in order to be able to assess a company's measurement of its performance. Cadets then learn how to analyze an industry including common capital structures, performance ratios, and integrating relevant data points to understand the company?s current health and future outlook. Cadets then continue to learn to conduct financial analysis by learning about analyzing a company in the context of strategy and the economic environment. This allows cadets to dissect the direction of the company via its financial statements and the implications for future revenues and profits based on the larger market and economic environment. The course culminates with a capstone project involving analysis of a 10K financial statement filing of a major U.S. corporation that enables a team of two cadets to make a real-world assessment about a company. This course is the first of a four-course financial economics sequence which culminates with SS463 ? Investment Theory.
