Accordingly, a financial analyst or corporate manager reviewing another firm must come to know the business he or she is covering. The analyst or manager must know the firm’s strategy, technology, products, services, competitors, market size, customer demands, etc. As an exercise to begin understanding this process, perform your own research (cite your sources) and answer the following questions regarding Kimberly-Clark (KMB) based on their annual report, MorningStar, Bloomberg, or other financial reporting services who cover KMB:
What is Kimberly-Clark’s core business? •What is Kimberly-Clark’s strategy for the future? •How does Kimberly-Clark intend to grow? Has it ever been involved in an acquisition? •What is Kimberly-Clark’s competitive environment … that is, who are its main competitors? •What are the main risks facing the firm? Are there any adverse trends as you analyze the trending of their ratios over the past five years (See MorningStar’s ratios for Kimberly-Clark). •Overall, do analysts think Kimberly-Clark’s shares are reasonably priced? •What trend do you see in the price of Kimberly-Clark’s shares over the past twelve (12) months?