Capstone Project Rough Draft Submission :E.L.F Beauty Inc vs. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc.

( refer to attached guidelines to follow) The course project consists of a comparative financial statement analysis using all of thetools, methodologies and concepts mastered during the FSA course using two publiclytraded companies (large cap and/or midcap stocks) competing in the same industry.Examples are Home Depot and Lowes, ExxonMobil and Chevron, Pfizer and Merck,Target and Wal-Mart, American Airlines and United Airlines, Intel and Advanced MicroDevices, Apple and Microsoft, etc. Each project must be preapproved by the Professorno later than the third week of the course. No project may be duplicated, i.e., once twocompanies are declared they are removed from the universe. You must submit a draft ofyour paper by the twelfth week of the course for a preliminary review with comments andsuggestions. The final project paper must be well organized, coherent, with a cover sheet,abstract, table of contents, an introductory statement, statement of objective, descriptionof companies, business models, strategy and relevant industry, quantitative andqualitative analysis, an appendix with exhibits, charts, footnotes and bibliography.The project is both historical and forward looking and should at a minimum address thefollowing questions: 1) who has been and who is the superior competitor? Why? 2) Arethe companies presently valued properly and why or why not? 3) What are the growthprospects for the companies and which company is a better investment to add to aninvestment portfolio and why? 4) Which company has superior qualitative andquantitative accounting metrics? Why? 5) What non-accounting factors influence yourprediction and decision? Why? 6) Which company exhibits superior corporategovernance metrics and corporate social responsibility and how did this influence yourdecision? 7) What recent activities did the companies undertake, e.g. M&A activity thatinfluenced your decision?