For the analysis of Statement of Cash Flows: we put “firms” into tableau column, and “
average number of cash flows” into row and got three graphs for each kind of cash flow
activity. And we pick up 1995-2015 as the report date, we believe this period of time is
long enough to show the summarized historical data effectively.
For Graph 1: (Operating Activity)
All these ten firms have positive cash flow from operating activities which is good because
investors tend to prefer companies that produce a net positive cash flow from operating
activities. Particularly, Macy, Kohl’s, JCPenney and May department store have relatively
bigger cash flows from operating activities compared to other firms.
In 2015, we can see all these ten firms’ cash flows from operating activity become smaller
or even has a negative number. Especially for Bon-Ton and Sears, one has a very small
positive number for operating activity, and the other one has a negative cash flow from
operating activity. The reason for this is because Bon-Ton Stores announced it closed its
Elder-Beerman stores in the Huntington Mall in Huntington, West Virginia and the Lima
mall in Lima, Ohio.
As for Sears, it reported its 11th quarter of net losses and comparable sales continued to
slide. To some degree, this shows us right now how the department store industry is in a
falling period. That’s why we keep hearing big department store companies such as
Macy’s and JC Penny have closed multiple stores recently. Our main company is Kohl’s,
and we found out that Kohl’s had $19,023 million net sale in year 2015 which is pretty
