Читать книгу Entrepreneurial Finance - Robert D. Hisrich - Страница 58

There are some important limitations to using financial ratios. First, some firms operate in very unusual, different industries. For these companies, it is difficult to find a meaningful set of industry-average ratios when performing cross-sectional analysis. Second, macroeconomic events such as inflation or recessions can distort a company's financial statements during these disruptive periods. A time-series ratio analysis that covers a disruptive period of time must be interpreted carefully using both skill and judgment. Similarly, seasonal factors can distort ratio analysis. Understanding seasonal factors that affect a business can reduce the chance of misinterpretation. For example, a retailer's inventory may be high in the summer in preparation for the back-to-school season. As a result, the company's days of inventory will be high and its ROA low in summer before the back-to-school sales period. In general, ratio analysis conducted in a mechanical, unthinking manner does not provide good, useful information. On the other hand, if used intelligently, ratio analysis can provide insightful information.