Amazon.com, Inc.’s financial statements are presented in Appendix D. Financial statements of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. are presented in Appendix E. Instructions for accessing and using the complete annual reports of Amazon and Wal-Mart, including the notes to be financial statements, are also provided in Appendices D and E, respectively.

Instructions

(a) Based on the information contained in these financial statements, determine each of the following for each company.

(1) The percentage increase (decrease) in (i) net sales and (ii) net income from 2012 to 2013.

(2) The percentage increase in (i) total assets and (ii) total common stockholders’ (shareholders’) equity from 2012 to 2013.

(3) The basic earnings per share and price-earnings ratio for 2013. (For both Amazon and Wal-Mart, use the basic earnings per share.) Amazon’s common stock had a market price of $398.79 at the end of fiscal-year 2013, and Wal-Mart’s common stock had a market price of $74.68.

(b) What conclusions concerning the two companies can be drawn from these data?