Over at Wal-Mart Space, Bobby Gerry is doing something I should have done long ago: making all of Wal-Mart's public data -- finances, number of stores, square footage, etc -- available on the net in one easy-to-download location.
I think this is a great public service, and hope that Wal-Mart and its opponents realize that this type of openness -- putting all the cards on the table -- is what I've been looking for all along from them.
Currently available:
1) U.S. Store Count
2) International Store Count
3) Balance Sheet
4) Cash Flow
5) Income Statement
Posted by Kevin on October, 3 2005 at 12:57 PM
Bobby wrote:Hi Kevin,
To be perfectly fair, Wal-Mart actually provides quite a bit of openness in its filings. All of my data for example came from straight out of Wal-Mart's filings. These filings include 10Ks and 10Qs at the SEC.
Mainly no one can be bothered to read all the filings, though, and so you get this belief out there that somehow Wal-Mart isn't being open. ..Reading all the filings is perhaps akin to reading a dense technical manual... If you want it, the information is available. I'm just one of those geeks who likes reading the filings! (I think I've read the most recent annual report five or six times now.)
So, again, to be fair, the data is out there and it's exactly where it should be.. right in Wal-Mart's public filings.
Best, Bobby
-- October 3, 2005 03:17 PM ∞
Kevin Brancato wrote:Oh, yes, all these data were public.
I've read some of those filings too, but it's not terribly useful to me, overall. I have the stomach to get through that kind of stuff only when I get paid for it.
Thanks again for putting all the data in one place; it's a major improvement on the previous state of affairs.
-- October 3, 2005 04:19 PM ∞
Bobby wrote:lol!
That's funny!-----------
Let me quickly re-visit the issue of Wal-Mart's disclosures in its public filings. I have no substantive complaints about the level of public disclosure in Wal-Mart's filings and in fact I think Wal-Mart does a good job.
If I were to complain...
Wal-Mart, perhaps for simplicity, jams all of its operating expenses into one line on its income statements (the "Operating, selling, general and administrative expenses" line). What this means is that outside obervers cannot see how those expenses break down. If you go to the cash flow statement you can see the depreciation and amortization expense, and that's really the only operating expense that can be broken out.
Most companies simplify their income statement this way. Usually it's just one line for SG&A and then one line for depreciation. So Wal-Mart is not doing anything unusual in this regard.
If I was forced to complain though, I would ask for more insight into how the expenses break down. ..For example, I'm kind of curious to know how much Wal-Mart spends on electricity every year. Things like that.
Bobby
-- October 3, 2005 04:56 PM ∞
Bobby wrote:Oh, one more thing.
I am not doing anything with my website that could not be done by anyone else using everyday math and accounting skills. What I mean is, I have no special resources or special access to data. (Sometimes people ask me about that.) Everything I have done on my site comes from public data. All anyone has to do to get this information is have the desire and the will to go through all the public filings to glean out the information. I do this for my work with many other companies and funnily enough I actually like doing this kind of work. (Ridiculous!)
Wal-Mart is purely a hobby for me. I am fascinated by the company and absolutely love reading their financial statements.
Wal-Mart's CIK number with the SEC is 104169.
The CIK number is the Central Index Key and it is the number that the SEC uses to identify all filings related to Wal-Mart.The link below will take anyone to all of the most recent Wal-Mart filings at the SEC.
http://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?CIK=0000104169&action=getcompany
Form 10-K = annual financial statements
Form 10-Q = quarterly financial statements
Form Def 14A = the proxy statementYou can get everything from those three types of forms.
For some additional information, consult the company's official annual report, available here.Best,
Bobby-- October 3, 2005 07:53 PM ∞
