ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the financial performance of a public company. Shares of Coca-Cola are traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Many business reporters are surprised to learn that thousands of private companies, such as banks and insurance companies, are required to file documents disclosing their financial performance with state and federal regulators. Management at private companies, often run by owners that have no interest in making the company public, may actually lower earnings for a year or two and use that money to build a new plant or add a new corporate headquarters building. Private companies also disclose financial information, although it may be tougher to obtain. Many of them provide results to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which surprises many reporters. The cash-flow statement is another table of financial information that every company discloses in its SEC filings, along with its income statement and its balance sheet.
