Problem 5-3 Evaluation of inventory costing methods

Users of financial statements rely on the information available to them to decide whether to invest in a company or lend it money. As an investor, you are comparing three companies in the same industry. I he cost to purchase inventory is rising in the industry. Assume that all expenses incurred by the three companies arc the same except for cost of goods sold. The companies use the following methods to value ending inventory: The following highly condensed income statements and balance sheets. are available for Budget Stores for a two-year period. (All amounts are stated in thousands of dollars)