The Battle for Value, 2004: Fedex Corp vs Ups

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THE BATTLE FOR VALUE, 2004: FEDEX CORP. VS. UNITED PARCEL SERVICE, INC. Question Accuracy Points Comments 1. Describe the competition in the overnight package delivery industry, and the strategies by which those two firms are meeting the competition. What are the enabling and inhibiting factors facing the two firms as they pursue their goals? Do you think that either firm can attain a sustainable competitive advantage in this business? 5 2. Why did FedEx’s stock price outstrip UPS’s during the initiation of talks over liberalized air cargo routes between the U.S. and China? Assuming a perfectly efficient stock market, how might one interpret a 14% increase in FedEx’s market value of equity? 5 3. Why didn’t UPS create overnight delivery? How did FedEx get away with successfully entering this market? 5 4. What is going on in this industry? How are the two firms competing? What are the competitive prospects for the foreseeable future? 5 5. How have FedEx and UPS performed financially since the early 1990s? Which firm is doing better? Discuss the insights you derived from the two firms’ financial statements, financial ratios, stock-price performance, and economic profit (economic value added or EVA). 30 Be sure to provide a comparative analysis of ratios and EVA 6. How is EVA calculated? What does the stock-price performance tell you? Describe how EVA is estimated, and its strengths and weaknesses as a measure of performance. What does it reveal? Does stock price track the historical EVA? 5 7. This is a pretty depressing picture for FedEx: tough industry fundamentals and big negative EVA Why hasn’t its stock price fallen in absolute terms? How can we rationalize the expectation that FedEx will preserve the value that it currently has? 5 8. If you had to vote for one of these two firms to enter the pantheon of excellent companies, which one would you

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