Dr. Philip Tew, PhD / JD

Conference Day Overview

Students will arrive to the A-State campus on the day of the Small Business Leadership Challenge and take over the 3rd floor of our Student Union.

Students will have the opportunity to practice their presentation and present to our judges in the morning.

In the afternoon, students can visit with Neil Griffin College of Business faculty and staff and tour the A-State campus. Lunch options are available in the Acansa Dining Hall – our buffet-style cafeteria at a group rate of $8 per student – or any food court location.

Registration Instructions

For this conference, there will be two separate registration links.

Teacher Registration – This will be for each teacher to submit their information as well as total student headcounts. We will need one for each school (so if you are bringing students from multiple schools, we will need multiple forms).

Competing Team Registration – This form will register the competing students as well as submit their materials. All materials will need to be accessible/public through whatever platform you are using (Google Drive, Canva, YouTube, etc.). There will also be space to register up to 3 students in a team. A form will need to be completed for each team.

Competition Rules

Students may work individually or in groups up to 3 students to create a stock pitch for a company within any industry as long as the company is publicly traded as long as the company is publicly traded on a U.S. exchange, has a stock price greater than $5/share, and has a market capitalization greater than $1 billion. The top 8 teams will be invited to present live the day of the conference in front of our experts.

Requirements

Teams will analyze a publicly traded company traded on a U.S. exchange with a stock price of greater than $5 per share and a total market capitalization of at least $1 billion. Teams will recommend either “Buy” or “Sell” for the stock, and then explain and defend their decision.

The presentation should include the following information at a minimum: 

• Overview of the Company
  • When were they founded?
  • What does the company do?
  • Where are they located?
• Analysis of the industry 
  • Who are their competitors? 
  • What makes them different from their competitors? 
  • What are the major threats to their industry’s long-term viability? 
  • What are the major opportunities for their industry? 
• Porter’s Five Forces 
  • What is the bargaining power of their customers? 
  • How intense is their competitive rivalry? 
  • What is the bargaining power of their suppliers? 
  • What are the threats of substitutes for the company? 
  • What are the barriers to entry for competitors to enter into the market? 
• What are the drivers of the Company’s revenue? 
• Provide a financial analysis of the Company. 
  • Profitability?
  • Growth? 
  • Liquidity? 
  • Leverage? 
• Primary risks facing the Company and their continued existence? 
• Valuation of Company 

General Presentation Information

For preliminary round: 

• The presentation should be uploaded to YouTube or Vimeo with the privacy set to public or unlisted. 
• The presentation should not exceed ten (10) minutes. 
• The presenters may use a presentation software (for example – PowerPoint) if they desire.  
• All members of the team should participate in the presentation. 
• All analysis should be done completely by the team members, and not by any individuals who are not students in grades 9 – 12. 

For final round:

• Teams may change their presentation from the preliminary round to the final round with no penalty but may not change the company nor the recommendation. 
• Presentations will be done live in front of judges in an auditorium. In addition, final presentations will be recorded. 
• The presenters may use a presentation software (for example – PowerPoint) if they desire.  
• Presentations will be stopped at the 10-minute mark, and teams will not be allowed to continue past the 10-minute mark. 
• Judges will be allotted 7-10 minutes to ask questions to the teams. 
• All members of the team should participate in the presentation.