Library Guides: International Management and Marketing Resources: Company Research

Company Research

These are some databases to use when conducting company research.

Be sure to use article databases like ABI/Inform Collection or Business Source Complete, located under the "Databases for Articles" category of this guide, to find out if anything has been written about these companies in magazines, trade periodicals, or newspapers.

Orbis
Public and private company information from around the world. Includes industry and company reports from Marketline.
Mergent Intellect
Provides histories, financial information, and profiles of worldwide public & private companies.

If you have determined that a company is publicly traded, you will be able to find many sources that provide financial summaries, investment analyst reports (such as those provided via Standard & Poor's NetAdvantage), as well as their 10-Ks or 20-Fs. The sources in this section will help you find this type of information.

10-Ks are the annual reports that U.S. public companies must submit to the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC). 20-Fs are the annual reports that foreign companies trading in the U.S. file to the SEC. Another good source for the 10-Ks or other annual reports is the company's website. These reports are usually located in the "Investor Relations" section of a company's website.

After Market Reports
To access After Market Reports in NetAdvantage: click the Research tab. To access the last 12 months of reports in our subscription, go to all contributors and then under Product Type, Select Aftermarket Research – Standard and then click on the Search button. When you retrieve the results, you can click on the PDF icon for a report you want, and then you’ll see an option to Download. When you click on that, you will get the report.

Value Line Research Center
Covers general investing principles, portfolio-building tips, and ways to maximize the benefits of Value Line's vast resources.
SEC EDGAR Database
Grants access to corporate electronic filings submitted by U.S. public companies directly to the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission.

These sources will help you identify competitors. They will also help you determine whether the competitor is public, private, or a subsidiary.

Mergent Intellect
Provides histories, financial information, and profiles of worldwide public & private companies.
Orbis
Public and private company information from around the world. Includes industry and company reports from Marketline.

Companies that incorporate in different countries are required to follow their regulations. Companies that are incorporating in the United Kingom, whether listed (publicly traded) or unlisted (private) must file with Companies House. They also have to submit financials. Other European countries have their own requirements. This section identifies sources whereby a researcher can find and purchase official company documents, including financials.

Companies House
Find businesses that are incorporated in the U.K. ( England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland), whether listed or not. Individuals can set up accounts and purchase reports as needed.
European Business Registry Association
Use this system to identify official information distributors of company information for several European countries.
INPI
Institut National de la Propriété Industrielle (INPI) serves as a central repository for official company documents for France.
Unternhmens-register
A German register for company data. An individual can search using German, English, French, Italian, and Spanish. The documents are in German.

Alibaba
This directory identifies producers worldwide, the majority of them in China. Search by products, suppliers, and buyers, limit to a specific company or regions; or seach in over 40 categories.
Thomas (Thomas Register Online)
Comprehensive online resource for finding companies and products manufactured in North America.
Find Buyers and Partners
The International Trade administration "helps businesses find buyers and partners in international markets."

SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.

The database in this section provides company reports with SWOTS for selected public and private companies. If your company is not in the database, or if a report doesn't have a SWOT analysis, you should use articles, annual reports (if it is a public company), and/or the company's website to find information.

MarketLine Company Profiles Authority
Offers profiles of the largest companies in the world. Uncover the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats facing the biggest corporations and public companies.

Statista
Features data on over 60,000 topics from over 18,000 sources, including market research reports, trade publications, scientific journals, and government databases.
Note: For University of Denver faculty, students and staff only. Users of the Statista websites and subpages are granted a nonexclusive, non-transferable, limited right to access and use for research purposes the Online Service and Materials made available. Commercial use is strictly prohibited. No library walk-ins are allowed to use this database.

When doing company research one should determine whether a company is public, privately held, or a subsidiary. The databases below can help you determine this.

Mergent Intellect
Provides histories, financial information, and profiles of worldwide public & private companies.
Standard & Poor's NetAdvantage (S&P)
Provides company information and industry surveys on 52 major U.S. industries, and After Market Reports (AMR) (formerly available via Thomson One).
To access After Market Reports, click the Research tab. To access the last 12 months of reports in our subscription, go to all contributors and then under Product Type, Select Aftermarket Research – Standard and then click on the Search button. When you retrieve the results, you can click on the PDF icon for a report you want, and then you’ll see an option to Download. When you click on that, you will get the report.

In general you will not be able to find detailed financials for the majority of subsidiaries or private companies that exist in the U.S. Here are some tips for private company and subsidiaries research (databases are linked below):

For U.S. companies, search PrivCo (link is provided below).
For U.S. companies, use a database like Reference Solutions, which will provide estimated sales figures for these types of companies.
MarketLine Company Profiles Authority has selected company reports that include large, privately-held companies.
Most companies have websites, so examine them for information.
If the company is a subsidiary, identify the parent. Then determine whether the parent is publicly traded or not. If the parent is trading publicly, information about the subsidiary may be provided in the 10-K, including revenue figures for two or three years.
Use databases like ABI/Inform Collection, Factiva, Nexis Uni, or others that are identified in the "Databases for Articles" tab of this guide to find out if anything has been written about these companies in magazines, trade periodicals, or newspapers.
Another strategy would be to look at credit reports for these types of companies. Brief Experian credit reports are available in Nexis Uni.
Information about a private company or subsidiary may be included in market research or industry reports, so be alert when looking at these types of sources. In addition, an annual report for a publicly-traded company may provide some information about privately-held competitors.
If your company is incorporated in Europe, regardless of whether it is public, private, or subsidiary, use Orbis.

PrivCo
Provides financial information for approximately 400,000 privately-held U.S. companies.
Note: Be sure to create an account with your "DU.EDU" email address before using this database.
Reference Solutions (ReferenceUSA)
A directory of about 44 million U.S. private and public companies. Provides addresses, contact names, estimates sales and employee figures. Users can search by SIC, yellow page heading, state, city, and down to the zip code level.
Also found as Reference USA
MarketLine Company Profiles Authority
Offers profiles of the largest companies in the world. Uncover the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats facing the biggest corporations and public companies.

University of Denver

University Libraries

Research Guides

International Management and Marketing Resources

Company Research