Welcome back! I hope you all enjoyed your break.
This week, we begin looking into individual companies to understand some of the marketing and financial variables that contribute to a company’s economic success. Our first pick, Apple Inc.
Over the last decade, Apple has provided investors/owners with over a 700% return on their original investment. During the same time period, the Dow Jones Industrial Average reported 0% growth. (The Dow is an average used to measure the performance of 30 large US companies representing industries that determine economic performance in the United States). However, you needed to wait until 2005 to see the stock outperform the Dow and explode into a high growth stock. An amazing story and a great investment!
Let’s look into some of the factors that have contributed to Apple’s stock recent success. If you are in my Marketing class, find Apple’s target market and the bases and descriptors used to segment its market(s). Remember that it is possible for a company to market the same or different products to multiple segments.
If you are in my Intro to Business class, look into Apple’s Income Statement. Look for revenue and profit growth over the last ten years. Can you find any trends? Look into Apple’s Owner’s Equity account, how is the company financed? (Hint: Debt vs. Equity). Note: we will be covering “Understanding Financial Information and Accounting” in class over the next two weeks; therefore, don’t attempt to answer this blog post until March 30th.
Don’t forget to do research and cite your sources. Good luck!
