Library Guides: Management 3280; MBA 4620; Business Plan: 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 "Sources for Articles" category of this guide, to find out if anything has been written about these companies in magazines, trade periodicals, or newspapers.

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.
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
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.
Orbis
Public and private company information from around the world. Includes industry and company reports from Marketline.

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. If you are doing research on a local level where there are many small businesses, use a database like Reference Solutions to ascertain 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.
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

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.

Yahoo! Finance
Provides quotes for current companies(current and historical), financial news, and a wide array of other information needed for doing security analysis.

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

Reference Solutions is a strong source for identifying competitors on a local level as well as helping you to determine the type of company.

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
Mergent Intellect
Provides histories, financial information, and profiles of worldwide public & private companies.

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.

Book of Lists
This source from the Denver Business Journal identifies top companies in the Denver metro area, by different categories. Also in print for the Denver area.
Current edition at the Reserve Desk. Older editions in Reference Stacks HF1 .T66 and Hampden.

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):

Search PrivCo (link is provided below).
Use a database like Reference Solutions, which will provide estimated sales figures for these types of companies.
The Book of Lists is a good source when looking for top companies for an industry in the Denver metro area.
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 "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.
Use industry financial benchmarks, which can be found in a subscription database called Bizminer. This source is under the Industry - Industry Analysis / Financial Benchmarks" section of this guide.
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.

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Research Guides

Management 3280; MBA 4620; Business Plan

Company Research