Each of the Pokémon terms in the puzzle corresponds to a standard set of financial terms and ratios that can be used to perform calculations. As confirmation, each Pokémon starts with the same letter as the financial term it replaces, and contains the same number of syllables:
| Term | Replacement |
|---|---|
| Accounts | Arboks |
| Assets | Aggrons |
| Current | Cubone |
| Dividends | Dragonairs |
| Earnings | Eevee |
| Equity | Espeon |
| Expense | Ekans |
| Goods | Glooms |
| Goodwill | Gastly |
| Income | Inkay |
| Interest | Ivysaur |
| Inventory | Incineroar |
| Margin | Mareep |
| Operating | Oranguru |
| Payable | Porygon |
| Profit | Pyroar |
| Ratio | Rattata |
| Revenue | Rapidash |
| Share | Shinx |
| Tax | Throh |
| Total | Tauros |
| Turnover | Tornadus |
Using this glossary, the provided financial statements can be adjusted to use their proper terms, along with the ratios provided in the puzzle. However, some of the ratios have differing definitions depending on the source. Here are the definitions used for this puzzle, along with the correct values:
| Term | Formula | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Inventory Turnover | Cost of goods sold / Average Inventory | 1.4759220 |
| Dividends per Share | Dividends paid / Shares outstanding | 1.0465680 |
| Earnings per Share | (Net Income – Preferred Dividends) / Shares outstanding | 1.1171060 |
| Profit Margin | Net Income / Revenue | 0.0986770 |
| Gross Margin | Gross profit / Revenue | 0.7267280 |
| Asset Turnover | Revenue / Average Total Assets | 1.4248470 |
| R&D to Revenue | Research and development expense / Revenue | 0.0859610 |
| Interest Coverage Ratio | Operating profit / Interest expense | 1.6167070 |
| Payables Turnover | (Cost of goods sold + 2018 Inventory - 2017 Inventory) / Average Accounts payable | 1.0536500 |
| Debt to Equity | Total liabilities / Total equity | 1.1108050 |
| Quick Ratio | (Cash and equivalents + Accounts receivable) / Total current liabilities | 1.0141110 |
| Operating Margin | Operating profit / Revenue | 0.3145900 |
| Current Ratio | Total current assets / Total current liabilities | 1.3112410 |
| Cash Ratio | Cash and equivalents / Total current liabilities | 0.7327170 |
Each of these ratios has a 0 in the seventh decimal place, suggesting that only the first 6 digits matter. The term “Certified Internal Kantophile” from the flavor text suggests CIK numbers, which the SEC EDGAR website uses to identify companies. Each of the ratios is a valid CIK.
Finding the indicated companies and their ticker symbol (as suggested by the inclusion of a ticker symbol for Meowth Corp) produces a clue phrase:
| CIK | Company | Ticker |
|---|---|---|
| 1475922 | Primerica, Inc. | PRI |
| 1046568 | Career Education Corp. | CECO |
| 1117106 | NetSuite Inc | N |
| 0098677 | Tootsie Roll Industries, Inc. | TR |
| 0726728 | Realty Income Corp | O |
| 1424847 | Lorillard LLC | LO |
| 0085961 | Ryder System, Inc. | R |
| 1616707 | Wayfair Inc | W |
| 1053650 | Omega Protein Corporation | OME |
| 1110805 | NuStar Energy L.P. | NS |
| 1014111 | Glassbridge Enterprises Inc | GLA |
| 0314590 | Sasol Limited (ADR) | SSL |
| 1311241 | Intermolecular Inc | IMI |
| 0732717 | AT&T Inc. | T |
This yields the clue phrase PRICE CONTROL OR WOMENS GLASS
LIMIT, cluing the answer
CEILING.