個案總覽

An analyst at Vaux Gibson Inc., a fund that managed a portfolio of North American equities, was tasked with reviewing the fund's holdings of Under Armour Inc. (Under Armour) and providing recommendations for the fund's prospective investment strategy with the company. Under Armour had experienced significant revenues and bottom-line growth over the past three years, but this growth slowed significantly in 2017 and the company reported a net loss, resulting in the significant depreciation of its stock price. The analyst wondered if it was time to exit the investment, providing investors with an above-market return, or if there was still room for Under Armour to recover and grow.

Student spreadsheet for case W17407.

In mid-2016, the chief executive officer of Tesla, a U.S. manufacturer of electric cars, was interested in acquiring SolarCity, a U.S. solar power manufacturer and distributor. Both Tesla and SolarCity operated in young, high-growth industries; however, despite their high growth rates, both companies were also losing money every year. Both companies had similar products and could be a strong strategic fit. The chief executive officer needed to convince Tesla's shareholders that SolarCity would be a good acquisition target and then determine a fair price to offer.

A newcomer to Canada has the opportunity to start a Chinese restaurant in a small Canadian city. The entrepreneur needs to decide whether to invest in the project, and if so, how to finance it: using debt or equity financing. She has to evaluate the impact of the financing options on the viability of the business, her investment returns, and the financial and business risks. The case provides an opportunity for a comprehensive FRICTO analysis of capital structure, and creates tension by putting the students in a small business owner's shoes.

In early January 2016, FinSAS Financial Research Inc. needed to recruit more programmers because of its rapid growth. However, the average annual salary for financial programmers had been increasing significantly. The financial research company decided that it needed advice from a "programming strategist" from the software engineering industry. The company contacted such a strategist to build a reusable module for use by all company programmers, to avoid coding the same functionality over and over. FinSAS provided access to some of its programs and asked the strategist to prepare a proposal for the project. Would the strategist's proposal meet the needs of FinSAS and its programmers?