How to Do 
  Company Research
  Guide

This guide was created to help students and others develop a strategy for doing company research and to suggest some selected resources available at Conant Library and/or on the World Wide Web.

In a number of instances, you may discover a certain amount of duplication of information from one resource to another. Choosing which one to use depends a great deal on your particular information need: consider whether one offers some unique content, ease of use, how recent is the data, the ability to manipulate the data, is a fee or subscription for access required for the "good stuff," etc.

Public or Private?
Publicly held companies are much easier to research because (generally) there is a wealth of print and electronic information available on them. Publicly held companies are required by law to disclose certain financial information (and by providing information they also hope to attract investors).

To find out whether your company is publicly or privately held, check one of the business directories mentioned in this guide. Also, if a ticker symbol is listed for the company on a stock exchange, your company is a public company. This guide deals with the researching of public companies. If you are researching a private company, please see the Reference Librarian for assistance.

Research Strategy
In order to do a thorough analysis of a company you will want to:

1. Identify the Company:
Where is a company located, who runs it, what is its mission and corporate history, its major product(s), etc.

2. Examine Financial and Market Information:
What are this year's sales figures and net income? (You will probably want to know not only this year's figures but figures for the last 3-5 years as well so you can chart a trend analysis.) What share of the market does the company hold? What is the company's marketing strategy?

3. Locate Investment Reports:
What do specialists in the field think of this company's earning potential?

4. Survey the Industry and Competition:
What is the forecast for this company's industry as a whole? Who are its major competitors?

5. Locate Current News and In-Depth Articles:
Articles in leading business magazines and trade journals often provide valuable insights into a company's operations, strategy, and competition.

Identify the Company

NOTE: Part of 'identifying a company' when working with online databases is to choose the appropriate search terms. In some databases searching for IBM will result in fewer or no results compared to searching for International Business Machines.

Good starting places for basic information about companies---their officers, products, location, etc. include:

• Business Source Elite
  Click on 'Company Profiles' tab at top of the screen, then 'Datamonitor Report'. [Reports are in PDF format, requiring Adobe Acrobat Reader.]
• LexisNexis
  Click on business' tab at the to of the search screen, then the 'Company Profile' link on the left side nav. Enter company name and from the 'Source' drop down menu, choose "Hoover's Company Records -In-Depth' report.
• General Business File ASAP
  At the bottom of the search screen click on the 'Company ProFliles' link. Search by company name.
• Yahoo! Finance Research Center [http://biz.yahoo.com/r/]

 

Mission statements are often found in a company's annual report (see below).

For company histories:

• Business Source Elite
  See 'Company Profiles' tab near top of screen. [Profiles are in PDF format, requiring Adobe Acrobat Reader.]
• LexisNexis
  Click on 'business' tab on top of search screen, then the 'Company Profile' link on the left side nav. Enter company name and choose from the 'Source' drop down menu; "Hoover's Company Records -In-Depth' report is often an excellent resource.

Other sources include:

• Hoover's Handbook of Private Companies [REF HG 4057 .A28616]
• Hoover's Handbook of Emerging Companies [REF HG 4057 .A2862]
• Hoover's Handbook of World Business: Profiles of Major Global Enterprises [REF HG 4057 .A2863]

 

 

Generally only the better known or larger companies, such as Disney, IBM, etc. have histories written about them. To see if there are any books on your company search:

• Conant Library catalog
• Worldcat Catalog of books and other materials in academic and other libraries worldwide, including Nichols.
• major online booksellers, such as Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble.

If Conant Library does not own the book(s) you want, ask the Reference Librarian to get them for you via interlibrary loan (usually takes 1-2 weeks).

Top

Examine the Company's Financial and Market Information

a. Annual Reports
One of the best initial sources for a company's financial information is its Annual Report. Annual reports are published to shareholders to let them know how the company did over the past year. (Keep in mind the source of the report is the company and is also a public relations tool, but you will obtain financial figures, and learn about the mission of the company, its strategy for the future, and new and/or high-performing products.)

Most companies that provide copies of their annual reports online provide a link from the company homepage. If you do not see a link to "Annual Report" or "Financial Information" look for 'Investors Services', 'Investor Relations', or some similarly named link. Because companies want to be easily found on the Web, it is often possible to be able to "guess" a company's homepage by simply entering www._________.com, with the company's name or initials in the blank and come up with the right Web address, e.g. www.gm.com for General Motors or www.dell.com for Dell Corporation.

Report Gallery [http://www.reportgallery.com]
Provides direct links to 2,200 annual reports. Uses an A to Z listing for searching.

b. 10K Filings
These contain extensive financial information the U.S. government requires publicly owned companies to make available to the public. The business overview in the 10K (See "Item 1. Business") provides a detailed discussion of the company's strategy, products and services, operations, marketing, distribution, international business, suppliers and government regulation as well as competetive conditions in the industry. For IPOs, look for the Registration Statements, S-1s, and their amendments in 424s.

• Mergent Online
  SEC filings for both U.S. and international companies. Financials can be downloaded into Excel format. (Note: This resource requires free registration and is made available by the Boston Public Library.)
• LexisNexis
  From LexisNexis homepage, click on 'Business' tab near top of search screen, then click on 'SEC Filings' link on right side. If you do not get a result, change the 'date' from one year to two.
• Look for links from company's homepages on the Web (See Annual Reports above)
• Free Edgar [http://www.freeedgar.com] or EDGAR [http://www.sec.gov/edgarhp.htm] provide access from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

 

c. Financial Ratios
By comparing a company's financial ratios with those of the industry gives an idea of how well or poorly a company is performing in reference to the industry standard or average. (For a good introduction to ratios, what it is, how they are computed and used, see Sheldon Gates' book 101 Business Ratios [REF HF 5657.4 .G38]. For an explanation of how 14 key ratios are calculated, as well as industry norms and key business ratios see Industry Norms & Key Business Ratios [REF HF 5681 .R25 I52].

• Ratios (Yahoo!Finance/Reuters)
  Great source for wide range of ratios; click on 'Ratios' button on left side of screen. Enter company name or symbol involved in an industry.
• Yahoo! Finance [http://biz.yahoo.com/r/]
  Under 'Analyst Research' click on 'Sector/Industry Analysis'.
• LexisNexis
  Choose 'Business' tab at top of search screen, then enter company name in search box and select Disclosure (R) Online Database-US Public Company Database from 'Select Sources' menu.
• Almanac of Business & Industrial Financial Ratios. [REF HF 5681 .R25 A45]
  50 performance indicators for 192 industries. Provides competetive norms in actual dollar amounts, average operating costs in percent of net sales, and ratios (including quick and current)on an industry-wide basis. Also provides trends for each industry over a 10-year period. (Accompanying CD-ROM is available at Circulation Desk.)
• Industry Norms and Key Business Ratios [REF HF 5681 .R25 I521]
  Arranged by SIC code, this reports 14 ratios for more than 800 SIC categories. Includes balance sheets and income statement ratios based on a sample of Dun & Bradstreet credit reports. Coverage includes previous year.

 

d. Market Share/Rankings

• Market Share Reporter [REF HF 5410 .M35]
  Collects market share data published in journals, magazines and newspapers. Find your industry by either SIC code or the 'Table of Topics' in front of each volume, or by company, brand, or products using the indexes at the back of each volume.

 

Other sources include:

• Business Source Elite
  Citation, abstract and full text coverage of scholarly business, management, marketing and economics journals. Also company profiles (including SWOT analysis). [Profiles are in PDF format, requiring Adobe Acrobat Reader.]
• General Business File ASAP
  Try a keyword search for "market share" with the product, service, brand, or company name. Most of the articles are available in full text.

 

e. Market Strategy
For market strategies, a search of business journals for articles can prove useful.

• Business Source Elite
  Citation, abstract and full text coverage of scholarly business, management, marketing and economics journals. Also company profiles (including SWOT analysis). [Profiles are in PDF format, requiring Adobe Acrobat Reader.]
• General Business File ASAP
  Change default search screen from 'keyword' to 'subject'. Enter company name. From result page click on 'Sales & Marketing,' 'Management' and 'Investment Reports'. You can also search for items by doing a 'keyword' search: enter company name and 'market strategy' in "To entries containing the words" box. Searching different categories and different ways will often retrieve differing results, so try different searches.
• Take another look at your company's 10K and Annual Report. Often there is some discussion of strategy in the "Item 1: Business" section.

A reference book which may be helpful for exploring your company's marketing strategies is the Encyclopedia of Consumer Brands [REF HF 5415.3 E527]. This resource has entries for leading consumer brands and discusses how products are marketed.

Top

Locate Investment Research Reports

There are investment analysts who earn a great deal of money following particular industries and the companies within them. Although you will need to make a final analysis based on your own research, it never hurts to review what the "other" experts have to say.

• Value Line Investments Survey
  Available on Reserve at Conant Library at the Circulation Desk. Here you will find quarterly summaries of the business, financial, and market performance of public companies.
• S&P NetAdvantage
  See Stock Reports for company information, including investment reports
• General BusinessFile
  Click on the 'Investext' link at bottom of Advanced search page and search by company name. After you have found your company, click on the link 'Read About This Company'; there should be a link to 'Investment reports about this company'.

 

The World Wide Web offers a large number of sites with investment information, including:

• Wall Street Research Net [http://www.wsrn.com]
• Market Guide [http://www.marketguide.com]
• Microsoft Investor [http://investor.msn.com]
  You can search by company name for financial reports and analysis and by industry for analysis and market share information.
  If you are unfamiliar with financial reports, a good introduction is 'How to Read a Financial Report' (pdf format) from Merrill Lynch.

 

For more detailed information and further resources, see Conant Library's bibliography "Investment: A Guide to Resources".

Top

Survey the Industry and Competition

Companies do not operate in a vacuum; each is affected by conditions in its industry and the actions of its competitors.

• Encyclopedia of American Industries [REF HC 102 .E53 2005]
  Includes brief reports on virtually all industries within the SIC system--- manufacturing industries as well as service and non-manufacturing industries in the United States. Each report includes a brief snapshot of the industry (recent developments, key players, etc.), as well as details on the structure and history of the industry and a short list of references for further reading.
• Industry Reports, Economic Census from American Factfinder
  The Economic Census (from the U.S. Census Bureau) profiles American business every 5 years, from the national to the local level. Industry reports include: number of establishments sales, receipts, revenue, shipments, or business done, annual payroll, and number of employees. Reports are available in a form that can be manipulated from American Factfinder (Click on 'Data Sets' button on left side>>> select 1997 and 2002 Economic Census tab.)
• S&P NetAdvantage
  See Industry Surveys for basic analyses of 30-40 major industries with many subject breakdowns within each industry. Each survey is divided into 2 sections; statistics and discussions on the industry. Analysis includes prospects, trends, problems, statistics, tables and charts, and comparisons. Statistical information includes sales, profit margin, P/E ratios, and capital expenditures. Indexed by industry and company name. (See 'Industry Surveys' under Quick Links on right side of page.) To find competitors, select 'Company Profile' in Publication Search on right side of page, enter company name. When you have the company report look on left side for compeitors' link.
• ValueLine Investment Survey Available at Circulation Desk
  In the blue binder, see Part I, the weekly Index is used to locate the page number of industry reports. Part II, Ratings and Reports (red binders) examines companies by industry. The industry page that precedes reports on the stocks in that industry highlights current trends and offers forecasts. (Statistics in italics are estimates or forecasts.)
• Industry Center from Yahoo!Finance
  Use 'Locate Industry by Company' search box on top right. From company page scroll down to 'Industry Profile'.

 

Association websites often provide information relevant to a particular industry. The following links can help you find associations involved with your company's industry:

• Encyclopedia of Associations [REF HS 17 .G334 2004]
  Detailed information on thousands of associations and non-profit organizations organized in separate national (U.S.), international and regional/state/local volumes. Includes Web addresses when possible.

 

Print sources that may help you identify your company's major competitors are:

• Survey of Current Business [REF HC 101 .13] or [http://www.bea.doc.gov/bea/pubs.htm]
• ValueLine (at the Circulation Desk) organizes its individual company reports by industry and includes a quarterly review.
• Forbes Magazines' Annual Report on American Industries (January issue)

 

For more company rankings, there are various business publications, including Business Week, Forbes (December issue), Fortune 500 (April or May issue), and Inc..

More detailed information on these and other industry resources is available from Conant Library's bibliography "Industry: A Guide to Resources".

Top

Locate News and In-Depth Articles

To search for articles on current and recent news about your company, see

• Wall Street Journal 1984-present
  Full-text coverage of business and financial news and analysis, company news, editorials, regular columns and special reports.
• Business Source Elite
  Citation, abstract and full text coverage of scholarly business, management, marketing and economics journals.
• General Business File ASAP
  Use the 'Subject Guide' search feature and then search by company name. (If you have difficulty finding a company, try a 'keyword' search, bring up any article on the company, scroll to the bottom of the article and look for the link 'Profiles of companies in this article.'
• LexisNexis
  

There are also a number of excellent sites on the Web devoted to business news, including:

• Business.com [http://www.business.com]
• Financial Times (news.ft.com) [http://news.ft.com]
• CNN:Money [http://money.cnn.com]

 

Need Assistance?

For assistance, don't hesitate to contact a Reference Librarian.