Company Ratios Results and Management: Comparison of Walmart and Target.

Essay by elsamunozUniversity, Master'sA+, November 2005

download word file, 3 pages 4.7

Downloaded 237 times

Based on information taken from both the companies' financial statements, which can be located on their websites, a quick ratio was performed to measure the liquidity of both the companies. The quick ratio measures the liquidity of a company by performing a Wal-Mart the result showed 1.02 compared to targets 1.53 ("Walmart's Financial Center"). The quick ratio is used to measure the short term liquidity of a company. It is a measure in the ability of a company to pay its current liabilities based on available cash, short term investments, and receivables. The quick ratio showed higher in Target Stores even although Wal-Mart is a much larger and successful corporation ("Target Stores").

Recent reports show that Target beat Wal-Mart in September: its profit margin was 8.44 percent, versus Wal-Mart's 7.21 percent. Some of the difference can be attributed to Wal-Mart's larger sales of groceries, which typically have a significantly thinner profit margin than general merchandise.

In every Target department waste is a no-no and planning and evaluating are constants. These are tips picked up from Wal-Mart, where negotiations with suppliers are notoriously tough, though reduced profit margins are supposed to be made up with high volume.

Many analysts are cheering on this progress with Target. They see the operating profit margin gap between Target and Wal-Mart widening. One website currently recommends investors to buy both Target and Wal-Mart stock. But many other websites and analysts show great interest and recommendation to invest in both companies.

Based on information posted on Target's website, it shows that they monitor profits very well. Few retailers apart from Wal-Mart keep such tight control over their business, from selecting the inventory to ringing up a sale. Its pretty basic in what they believe. They firmly believe that customers first must be happy if...