Amazon.com’s consolidated financial statements appear in Appendix A at the end of this book.
1. Refer to the Consolidated Balance Sheets and Note 8 (Stockholders Equity). Describe the classes of stock that Amazon.com, Inc., has authorized. How many shares of each class have been issued? How many are outstanding as of December 31, 2008?
2. Refer to the Consolidated Balance Sheets and the Consolidated Statements of Stockholders Equity. (Note: The Statement of Stockholders Equity is discussed in detail in Chapter 11, pages 667 through 675.) How many shares of treasury stock did the company purchase during the year ended December 31, 2008? How much did it pay for it in total? How much per share?
3. Examine Amazon.com’s consolidated statement of shareholders equity. Analyze the change that occurred in the company’s Retained Earnings account during the year ended December 31, 2008. Can you trace the change to any of its other financial statements? Is this a good thing or a bad thing? (Note: The Statement of Stockholders Equity is discussed in detail in Chapter 11, pages 667 through 675.)
4. Compute Amazon.com’s return on equity and return on assets for 2008. Which is larger? Is this a sign of financial strength or weakness? Explain.