Financial Management

This document provides a comprehensive analysis of financial management and investment performance of Walmart Inc. The analysis includes macro-economic factors, interest rate, inflation rate, business cycle, and financial ratios. Suitable for students studying finance and business management.

Running head: FINANCIAL MANAGMENT
Financial Management
Name of Student
Name of University
Author’s Note

1FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT
Table of Contents
Part A.........................................................................................................................................2
Overview....................................................................................................................................2
Macro-economic Analysis.........................................................................................................2
Interest Rate...............................................................................................................................2
Inflation Rate..............................................................................................................................3
Business Cycle...........................................................................................................................4
Investment Performance/Stock Performance.............................................................................4
Suitability of Investment............................................................................................................5
Part B..........................................................................................................................................5
Client Profile..............................................................................................................................5
Stock Selection Suitability.........................................................................................................5
Financial Ratios..........................................................................................................................6
Liquidity Ratio...........................................................................................................................7
Profitability Ratio.......................................................................................................................7
Activity Ratio.............................................................................................................................7
Leverage Ratio...........................................................................................................................8
Financial Review........................................................................................................................9
Conclusion and Recommendations............................................................................................9
Reference..................................................................................................................................11

2FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

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Part A
Overview
As per stated in this report the selected stock for the purpose of financial analysis and
investment purpose is Walmart Inc. Walmart Inc. is an American Multinational Retail
Corporation. It operates in the areas of chain of hypermarkets, discounted departmental stores
and grocery stores. Walmart Inc. are headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas. As per the
investment recommendation is concerned the stock will be assessed on the basis of risk and
return. The stocks will be analyzed on various grounds which includes macro, business and
other financial factors which are directly associated with the performance and the operations
of the company. In macro-economic analysis various factors will be taken into consideration
like interest rate, inflation rate and business cycle.
Macro-economic Analysis
The factors like inflation rate, interest rate and business cycle determine the macro-
economic analysis of the stock of any company for investment purpose (Ying et al., 2019).
The variability of these factors leads to change in the financial performance of the company.
Interest Rate
The prevailing interest rate can be analyzed better with the help of the prevailing US
Fed Fund Rate that is prevailing in the economy. This affect are being stated in the below
mentioned graph, where it can be observed that interest rate in last one year has increased
considerably (Hermuningsih, Kirana & Kusumawardhani, 2018). The increase interest rate
will affect the borrowing cost of the company and also the profitability of the company. As
per the analysis it can be observed that the company is having an adequate debt to equity ratio
which can be observed to be 50%, in order to get benefit of tax-deductible interest expenses
and also the low cost financing. The changes in the interest rate pattern are provided below:

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(United States Fed Funds Rate | 2019 | Data | Chart | Calendar | Forecast, 2019):
Figure 1: Interest Rate Movement in United States of America
Inflation Rate
Inflation rate is one of the key factors which determines the business operations of the
company. The company get benefitted by low inflation which effects the lower cost of goods
sold that are associated with the company. As the period analyzed it can be observed that
there a sustainable fall in the inflation rate which proves to beneficial for the company. When
the inflation falls for a considerable period of time it can be observed that profitability of the
company also increases as the cost of the company gets lower.

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Figure 2: Inflation Rate in the United States of America
Business Cycle
As per the analysis it can be seen that US economy is in the expansion phase of the
business cycle. After the financial crisis of 2008, the economy of US has started to expand for
a considerable amount. The long-term approaches and sustainable approaches are some of the
key approaches which the economy was focused on and hence this approach become the
factor for the expansion (February 2019 business cycle update: US, global cycles – Fidelity,
2019). The expansion phase of US economy leads the companies increase the business
operations and activities which are carried out in a single financial year (Ying et al., 2019).

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Figure 3: Business Cycle
Investment Performance/Stock Performance
The financial performance of the company can be analyzed by the investment return
that was invested by the company in the financial period. As per the analysis is concerned it
can be observed that the stock has returned 18.02% which are need to considered well align
with the high return that is backed by minimum risk of 19.37% (Gu, 2016)..
Suitability of Investment
In terms of the suitability of the investment in the stock of the company is concerned
it can be stated that the investment must be done after analyzing the risk and return of the
company. The idealistic situation for investment is low risk and high return. The investment
which is relatively risk adverse due to the time period is not preferred. It is advisable that the
company which are selected for the investment purpose must be defensive stock which must
also contain macro and business factor that does not extent the financial performance of the
company in the long run.
Part B
Client Profile
The Client is considerably is a Government Employed Executive who is at the age
group 45 years and the employee is an salaried person who is moderately dependent on the
monthly salary received. In terms of the investment is concerned the client’s wealth includes
a condominium and has hard cash of $ 500,000. The client wants to invest this wealth for the
return in retirement period. On the other hand, the salary received by the employee is self-
sufficient for covering all the expenses in family and also the investment activities. As per the

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return is concerned the client expected to get 12-15% on the basis of investment which is also
associated with the risk.
Stock Selection Suitability
As per the observation made in the stock exchange market of US, Wqalmart Inc. is
the company which can provide a very good return in the long run, if the investment is done
on them. Walmart Inc. was chosen due to its financial performance and due its sustainability.
Walmart Inc. operates mainly in retail grocery market. The grocery industry will not be
affected with the change in the macro economic factors. The company also operates the stock
as the defensive stock due to the classification made under which the company operates
(United States Inflation Rate | 2019 | Data | Chart | Calendar | Forecast, 2019). The stock
has given an investment return of 18.02% which can be considered to be considerably well
align with the high return objective that is followed by a minimum risk possible which was
around 19.37%. As per the analysis made one-year time period it can be observed that the
stock has returned well to its shareholders of the company. The graphical representation of
the stock performance are provided below: \
9/1/2018
9/16/2018
10/1/2018
10/16/2018
10/31/2018
11/15/2018
11/30/2018
12/15/2018
12/30/2018
1/14/2019
1/29/2019
2/13/2019
2/28/2019
3/15/2019
3/30/2019
4/14/2019
4/29/2019
5/14/2019
5/29/2019
6/13/2019
6/28/2019
7/13/2019
7/28/2019
8/12/2019
-0.06
-0.04
-0.02
0
0.02
0.04
0.06
0.08
0.1
Walmart Share Price

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Figure 4: Walmart Stock Performance
Financial Ratios
The financial ratios is one of the tool which help to understand the financial
performance of the company. Financial ratios of the company also help to analyze the
financial position of the company in the market. In this analysis the trend period which is
considered is 2018-2019. The ratios which are conducted for the analysis of the financial
performance of the company are Liquidity ratio, profitability ratio and activity ratio of the
company (Walmart Annual Report, 2019).
Liquidity Ratio
Liquidity ratio helps to understand the company’s overall current assets over current
liabilities. As per the analysis is made the current ratio of the company in the year 2018 is
0.76 times which is increased to 0.80 times in the year 2019. However, it is well important
that the amount of ratio should be 2 times allowing the company better manage and cover up
the current liabilities of the company In case of the quick ratio company was around 0.23
times in the year 2019 and was around 0.44 times it is well important that the company
should focus on maintain an adequate liquidity ratio for getting uninterrupted business
services (Williams & Dobelman, 2017).
Profitability Ratio
The profitability ratio of the company also plays a important role which help to
analyze the profit that are generated from everyday operation of the company. . The operating
profit margin for the company was around 4.30% in the trend period 2019 analyzed for the
company whereby the same was around 4.12% in the year 2018 (DeFusco et al., 2015). The
profit before tax margin for the company was around 3.75% that was also slightly higher than
the last year profitability of 3.68%.

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Activity Ratio
The activity ratio helps to analyse the turnover of the company. The inventory
turnover ratio which was around 8.70 times in the year 2019 that has increased from the year
2018, which was around 8.53 times. The time taken by the company in converting the
inventory to sales also reduced for the company from around 43 days of time period to
around 42 days of time period.
Leverage Ratio
The leverage ratio states the company’s debt and the equity balance of the company.
The debt to equity ratio for the company which was around 37% in the year 2018 and the
same has increased considerably in the year 2019 to around 55%. The increase in the debt
finance could help the company take advantage of tax deductible interest expenses and lower
cost financing for the purpose of investment.
Ratio Analysis
Particulars
2
019
2
018
R
atio Company
Name: Walmart Inc. Formula
A
bsolute
A
bsolute
C
ategory
$
Values
$
Values
Li
quidity
Current ratio
Current assets 6
1,897
5
9,664
Current liabilities 7
7,477
7
8,521
R
atio
R
atio
0
.80
0
.76
Quick ratio
Highly liquid current assets 1
7,628
3
4,738
Current liabilities 7
7,477
7
8,521
(EXCLUDES INVENTORY
AND PREPAID ASSETS)
R
atio
R
atio
0
.23
0
.44
A
ctivity
Inventory
turnover
Cost of sales 3
85,301
3
73,396

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Ratio
Inventory 4
4,269
4
3,783
R
atio
R
atio
8
.70
8
.53
Average days
in inventory
365 3
65
3
65
Inventory turnover 8
.70
8
.53
R
atio
R
atio
4
2
4
3
5
10,329
4
95,761
Sales/Total Fixed Assets 1
57,398
1
44,858
Fixed Asset
Turnover
3
.24
3
.42
Total Asset
Turnover
5
10,329
4
95,761
2
19,295
2
04,522
Sales /Total Assets
2
33%
2
42%
Pr
ofitability
Ratio
Operating
Profit Margin
Operating Income 2
1,957
2
0,437
Sales 5
10,329
4
95,761
R
atio
R
atio
4
.30%
4
.12%
Profit Margin
Profit before tax and extra-
ordinary items
1
9,150
1
8,259
Total Sales 5
10,329
4
95,761
R
atio
R
atio
3
.75%
3
.68%

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Financial Review
Walmart Inc. is an American Multinational Retail Corporation. It operates in the areas
of chain of hypermarkets, discounted departmental stores and grocery stores. Walmart Inc.
are headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas. The key strategy, which can be implemented is
the diversification of stock and investing in the bulk of stock (Yahoo is now part of Oath,
2019. Investing into the retail grocery chain, which is having a decent stock performance
could also be one of the key additive advantage that the company can get from investment in
stocks and bonds. The risk which will be associated with the company, in the form of
business risks that would affect overall business operations of the company (Where Are We
in the Current Business Cycle, 2019). Macro-economic risks as analysed could not be of
much concern for the company as the operations of the volatile is almost defensive allowing
the operations of the company to be uninterrupted from the changing macro-economic
conditions.
Conclusion and Recommendations
The stock Walmart was analysed based on the basis of various aspects which includes
business factors, macro and financial factors that are directly associated with the performance
and the operations of the company. In terms of macro-economic analysis various factors like
the interest rate, inflation rate and business cycle were analyzed and taken into account for
the company. The stock has given an investment return of 18.02% which can be considered
to be considerably well align with the high return objective that is followed by a minimum
risk possible which was around 19.37%. The stock is well matching with the client’s
investment objective with a high return and a moderate risk in the trend period analysed for
the company.

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Reference
DeFusco, R. A., McLeavey, D. W., Pinto, J. E., Runkle, D. E., & Anson, M. J.
(2015). Quantitative investment analysis. John Wiley & Sons.
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economic-insights/business-cycle-update-feb-2019
Gu, L. (2016). Product market competition, R&D investment, and stock returns. Journal of
Financial Economics, 119(2), 441-455.
Hermuningsih, S., Kirana, K. C., & Kusumawardhani, R. (2018). INTENTION
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United States Fed Funds Rate | 2019 | Data | Chart | Calendar | Forecast .
(2019). Tradingeconomics.com. Retrieved 18 August 2019, from
https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/interest-rate
United States Inflation Rate | 2019 | Data | Chart | Calendar | Forecast .
(2019). Tradingeconomics.com. Retrieved 18 August 2019, from
https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/inflation-cpi#data

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Walmart Annual Report (2019). S2.q4cdn.com. Retrieved 18 August 2019, from
https://s2.q4cdn.com/056532643/files/doc_financials/2019/annual/Walmart-2019-AR-
Final.pdf
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period1=1534617000&period2=15661530
Ying, Q., Yousaf, T., Akhtar, Y., & Rasheed, M. S. (2019). Stock Investment and Excess
Returns: A Critical Review in the Light of the Efficient Market Hypothesis. Journal
of Risk and Financial Management, 12(2), 97.
Ying, Q., Yousaf, T., Akhtar, Y., & Rasheed, M. S. (2019). Stock Investment and Excess
Returns: A Critical Review in the Light of the Efficient Market Hypothesis. Journal
of Risk and Financial Management, 12(2), 97.