Create a run chart for company revenue

Create a run chart for company revenue

Problem Statement

The following data represents Apple's quarterly revenue and earnings per share (EPS) from 2007 to 2014. Construct a time series plot of Apple's revenue by quarter. Create a run chart for the revenue over time and determine if the process has any trends, clusters, mixtures, or oscillations. The data for this analysis is in the attachment.

How to perform analysis

Step 1: Open Sigma Magic
  1. Click on the Sigma Magic button on the Excel toolbar.
  2. Click on the New button to create a new project.
Step 2: Data Preparation
  1. Open the Run Chart.xlsx attachment
  2. Select the data and convert it to table format by clicking Ctrl-T.


Step 3: Add analysis template
  1. Click on the Tool Wizard to add the analysis template.
  2. Click on Graph and then Run Chart.


Step 4: Specify the analysis options
A new Run Chart worksheet will be added to your workbook, and the following dialog box will be opened. Click on the Setup tab on the right. Accept the default values and specify the analysis options.


Next, click on the Data tab and specify the data. Drag and drop the Table1 Revenue to the to the Response Variables.



If you need to change the charts, specify the optional settings in the Charts tab.

 Labels:

  • Add a title for the chart.
  • Label the X-axis and Y-axis appropriately.

Appearance:

  • Adjust colors, font sizes, or other visual elements as needed.
  • Enable/disable gridlines or background shading.
Finally, click the Verify tab to ensure all the inputs are okay and shown in a green checkmark.



Step5: Generate analysis results
Click on the OK button to generate analysis results. The following figure shows an example output screen.


Interpretation of results

The following conclusion can be drawn from this analysis.
    1. Strong revenue-EPS correlation (0.81)
    2. Significant growth with a 35.6% average YoY increase, peaking at 82.7%
    3. Q2 has the highest average revenue at $31.2B but also the highest variability
    4. High volatility in both metrics - Revenue CV: 69.6%, EPS CV: 74.5%
    The run chart shows the existence of clusters but no mixtures, trends, or oscillations.

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