One popular method of analysis compares a company’s ratios with industry averages. Industry averages are available from several sources, such as Standard σ Poor’s Industry Surveys or Reuters Investor. This comparison asks the question, “Is the company’s performance better than that of the industry as a whole?” Hershey and Tootsie Roll are in the sugar and confectionary products(SIC 2160) industry. The five-year average gross profit percentage for this industry in 2008 was 32.87 percent. The two companies’ results exceed this average for every year covered by this analysis.