Walmart Target Report

Looking at the 2016 financial statements of the two retail giants Target and Walmart is extremely interesting. Outside of the financials of the reports, both statements include a title page that contains the company logo, as well as a letter from the CEO summarizing progress on past goals and vision for future goals. They each include a page that lists a Board of Directors and Management, shareholder information, stockholder information, and legal information. Visually, the Walmart report is more visually appealing, as it includes multiple images and graphics, various colors, and uses a blue font, versus the Target report, which primarily uses a black font, uses a red font for titles and has few images and graphics. With that said, the Target

Although both contain essentially the same information, they use different language and display the numbers in different forms. It is fairly easy on the Target report to identify how the Net Earnings/(Loss) are calculated and compare them to the previous four years. It is not easy to identify Net Earnings on the Walmart report, as it doesn’t distinctly state that line, and it includes numerous amounts as a percent of something else, versus a raw number. The Target report also includes percentages of something else, but those numbers are secluded to a dedicated chunk in the report. Both financial summaries also include the number of stores in operation, yet again, the Target report distinctly states “total number of stores,” whereas the Walmart report presents this information as “unit counts,” again exhibiting the difference in language. Each report goes into further detail by expressing the amount of stores and total square footage occupied in each state, however, Walmart also includes the number of stores internationally. Beyond the five-year summaries, both statements delve deeper into each aspect present on the summary, plus include additional