Nikola Fraud Update

Posted by & filed under Accounting Information Systems, Accounting Principles, Advanced Accounting, All Articles, Auditing, Behavioral and Social Issues Related to Accounting, Ethical Dilemma, Financial Accounting, Financial Reporting and Analysis, Financial Statement Analysis, Fraud Accounting, Intermediate Accounting, Managerial Accounting, Uncategorized, Video Updates.

Trevor Milton convicted of securities fraud after 6-year successful stock market run. His company and concept car was all a lie! Questions: Why do, as the article says, “corporate executives tend to portray activist short sellers as vigilantes?”  Related to the first question, what has Nathan Anderson’s firm done in the past several years? Why… Read more »

CEO with the “Crass”mas Spirit

Posted by & filed under Accounting Information Systems, Accounting Principles, Advanced Accounting, All Articles, Auditing, Behavioral and Social Issues Related to Accounting, Cost Accounting, Ethical Dilemma, Financial Accounting, Intermediate Accounting, Managerial Accounting, Uncategorized, Video Updates.

Last Wednesday, the CEO of Better.com, Vishal Garg, fired 900 employees during a 3-minute holiday Zoom presentation. Questions: Where did CEO Garg “bad-mouth” the laid off employees, accusing them of stealing time from the company? What percent of Better.com’s workforce is this? What industry is Better.com in? Explain all the factors that are wrong with… Read more »

What’s Next for Blue Apron?

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Back in 2016, the New York Times called Blue Apron, the meal-delivery service, “the Starbucks of the meal-kit business.”  Questions: What are some of the reasons why Blue Apron did not disrupt grocery shopping for overworked millennials? At one point, how many meals was Blue Apron selling per month? In 2017, what did Bloomberg call Blue… Read more »

Mattress Startup – Casper – filed to go public

Posted by & filed under Accounting Information Systems, Accounting Principles, Advanced Accounting, All Articles, Auditing, Cost Accounting, Intermediate Accounting, Managerial Accounting, Uncategorized.

Questions: What paperwork is filed with the SEC to go public? What are some of the eccentric nuggets in Casper’s paperwork? According to Casper, how does the mattress market interface with the sleep economy and the sleep arc and other sleep products and services? Source: Hartmans, A. (2020). The 6 most surprising and unusual takeaways… Read more »

Another IPO in Albertson’s future?

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After failing multiple times to go public, Albertsons’ grocery chain is launching an IPO valued at around $19 billion. Questions: When did Albertsons previously try to go public? Who is Albertsons’ private equity investor and how long have they been invested in Albertsons? How much is Albertsons’ net debt, excluding leases? Why didn’t Albertsons’ merger… Read more »

“You’re Fired” In A Posting for All to See!

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In November 2017, manager, Fox Lui, wanted everyone to know that an employee was leaving the Meitu company because he had fired her, so he blasted her for poor execution and not embracing the company’s “user-first” values in a posting for all to see. Questions: 1. What is Meitu’s main business? 2. What does the… Read more »

Mistaken Identity?

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Investors sent shares in a little known startup called SNAP Interactive Inc., ticker STVI, surging 164 percent in the four days since Snap Inc. filed for a $3 billion initial public offering. What is wrong with this? Questions: 1. What industry is SNAP in? 2. Why is it thought that this is a case of… Read more »

The Age of the Employee-less Company

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During most of the 20th century, companies bringing in the most money also employed the most people. This article looks at a new paper from the Brookings Institute about the new age of ghost companies. Questions: 1. The article mentions Walnart as one of the five largest companies in 2012 that had 100,000 people employed… Read more »

Maybe not such a good business plan.

Posted by & filed under Accounting Principles, All Articles, Auditing, Cost Accounting, Financial Accounting, Financial Reporting and Analysis, Financial Statement Analysis, Intermediate Accounting, Managerial Accounting.

In Crumbs Bake Shop’s most recent Form 10-Q filed with the SEC, the company disclosed that its auditors, Rothstein Kass, “expressed substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern.” Questions: 1. Since the IPO of Crumbs, how much has the stock dropped? 2. Explain the statement that Crumbs published in its 10-Q… Read more »

IPO Fever

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U.S. companies are on track to raise the most money through initial public offerings since before the financial crisis. It appears that this trend is driven by the same thirst for risk among investors that has pushed the stock market to new highs. Questions 1. Based on the information given in this article, what is… Read more »