How I Read Financial Statements -Microsoft

When reading, not analyzing financial statements, I start from revenue, profit margins. From there I go to the balance sheet and check the cash account status, check working capital briefly compare debt to cash, and check the book value/ shareholder's equity composition then go to the cash flow statement. According to the industry, I'l briefly look at the cash from operations, but expand more on working capital lines if it's a product-based company. After here, I'll check cash from investing activities mainly capital expenditures and then finish of in financing activities. Note: In this context, reading is just random companies. To analyze, a company has to have been at a good below 15 times price to earnings ratio, good book value of less that 2 times, to warrant serious further investigation.