1. How would you describe Whole Foods’ strategy?
2. How attractive is Whole Foods’ current market position? Is it sustainable?
3. What do the financial ratios in Exhibit 4 tell you about the past operating performance of Whole Foods? How informative are the historical ratios for Whole Foods’ prospective performance?
4. Examine Exhibit 7 in detail. How important are each of the underlying financial assumptions in the ROA forecast? What assumptions (i.e., margins, asset turnover, growth) play the biggest role in driving the anticipated improvements in ROA?
5. Do you agree with the existing financial assumptions in the Deutsche Bank forecast? If so, why? If not, what adjustments would you make to the model?