Keywords: Predictive Analysis, Forecasting, Time Series

Decision$-$Making Context: There are many reasons to forecast a company$$s future performance. For example, it may need to predict sales to determine needed manufacturing capacity, or it may be predicting cash flows to determine if it will need a loan or have sufficient cash on hand without taking a loan. In addition, an investor might be forecasting a company$$s earnings to determine whether the company$$s stock will be a good investment.

The goal of this lab is to forecast sales and earnings for IBM using Tableau.

Access the text alternative for Lab $8-6$ Tableau. Will open in a new tab or window. Internet connection required.

$-0$:$06$

$1\mathrm{.}25$x

Required:

Using Tableau$$s forecasting options, forecast future sales for IBM.

Using Tableau$$s forecasting options, forecast future income before extraordinary items for IBM.

Data: Lab $8\mathrm{.}6$ Data.xlsx

Specify the Question: What will IBM$$s quarterly sales and earnings be for $2022,2023,$ and $2024,$ given time series $($past quarterly sales and earnings from $2010$ to $2021)?$

Obtain the Data:

The Lab $8\mathrm{.}6$ data file contains IBM$$s quarterly sales and earnings.

Open Tableau and connect to Excel file Lab $8\mathrm{.}6$ Data.xlsx$.$

Analyze the Data: Refer to lab $8\mathrm{.}6$ in your text for additional instructions and steps.