Library Guide
Company Information
It is much easier to find information about public companies (those that sell stock to shareholders) than about private companies (those that are privately owned by an individual or group). Public companies in the United States are required to file documents, including 10K (annual) and 10Q (quarterly) reports, with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In addition, public companies issue an annual report to shareholders with financial information, as well as indications of the company’s priorities and strategies for the future.
When looking for information about a company, consider information from that company about itself (e.g., the company Web page, SEC filings, press releases, etc.), as well as information about that company written by others (e.g., newspaper articles, analyst reports, etc.).
To find information about a company:
- Get an overview of the company. Determine if it is public or private.
- Find the company web page and see what information is available (look for links labeled “Corporate Information”, “Investor Relations” or “Press”.)
- If the company is public, find relevant 10K, 10Q and annual reports.
- Look for magazine and newspaper articles. In the case of public companies, look for analyst reports.
- Identify competitors.
Company Overviews
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GuideStar
Provides information about nonprofit organizations, including mission, programs, finances, and recent IRS filings.
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http://www.guidestar.org |
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Hoover’s Online
Capsule summaries and financials freely available.
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http://www.hoovers.com |
| Industry Research Desk
This website brings together an extensive set of online tools for researching industries, markets, companies, and manufacturing processes.
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http://www.virtualpet.com/industry |
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Yahoo Finance
Covers both public and private companies. Provides company profiles with descriptions and summary financial information, including SEC filings for public companies.
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http://finance.yahoo.com/search |
Current Financial Information (10K, 10Q, Annual Reports)
Public companies file annual 10 K reports and quarterly 10Q reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Since 1994, many of these reports have been filed electronically and are available on the Web. Annual 10K reports include a detailed description of the business, management’s discussion of how well the company has done, and detailed financial information presented according to accepted accounting standards. Public companies also publish annual reports to stockholders: these give much of the same information as in the SEC filings, but tend to be more forward thinking. Sometimes the annual report to stockholders includes the 10K report.
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AnnualReports.com
Links to 10K, 10Q and annual reports published on the internet (typically on company websites).
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http://www.annualreports.com |
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SEC EDGAR
Provides access to Security and Exchange Commission filings, including 10K and 10Q reports, amendments and other filings. See “Descriptions of SEC Forms” for an explanation of filing forms and their uses.
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http://www.sec.gov/edgarhp.htm |
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U.S. Economic Census
Provides a detailed portrait of the Nation’s economy once every five years. This is a great source to find statistics of various communities.
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http://www.census.gov/econ/census02 |
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ProQuest Direct
Full-text articles from over 5,000 magazines and journals.
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http://www.marymountpv.edu/find-articles
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Articles and Analyst Reports
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Business Source Elite
Full-text articles from over 1,100 scholarly business journals (1985-present) as well as company profiles from DataMonitor, a business information company. To search for information about specific companies, choose “Company Profiles” from the drop-down menu labeled "more" in the top navigation bar.
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http://www.marymountpv.edu/find-articles |
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Zacks.com
Excellent resource for public companies, including profiles, financial information, news articles and analyst reports.
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http://www.zacks.com |
This guide is based on information provided by the Crocker Business Library, University of Southern California (D. Holmes-Wong and J. Kwan, authors)
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