Guide for Kickstart Weekend: Competitor Research
Company Profiles
Recommended
- Business Insights: Global
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Provides company and industry profiles, including SWOT reports, market share reports, investment reports, articles, financials, and case studies. - Mergent Online
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Provides detailed information on US and international public companies. - Business Source Premier
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Provides full text and citations to articles in various business publications; also includes company profiles, industry profiles, and country information.
Others
- PrivCo
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Business and financial information on US-based private companies. Searchable by companies, investors, funding, and M&A deals.
PSU faculty/staff/students please create a personal account using your PDX email - Reference Solutions (formerly ReferenceUSA)
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Provides profiles of U.S. companies, health care providers, nonprofit organizations, and government agencies. - Investext (via Mergent Online)
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Provides reports written by analysts at investment banks, brokerage houses, and consulting firms. Reports cover financials and analysis on companies and select industries. - Passport (by Euromonitor)
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Provides profiles on select (mostly large) companies. - Statista
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Provides statistics from over 18,000 free and proprietary sources on a wide range of topics such as business, media, and demographics.
Annual Report & 10-K
While the term "annual report" is often used to describe either a Form 10-K or an Annual Report to Shareholders (or ARS), there is a difference.
A public company's 10-K (or 20-F for certain foreign companies) is an excellent source of information on its business, strategies, risks, financials, and more. It presents the company's point of view on its current condition and future direction. Other SEC filings reveal important information as well. ** Private companies or subsidiaries are not required to release detailed financials, and therefore don't need to file 10-K (annual report), 10-Q (quarterly report), etc.
- How to read a 10-KSections of the 10-K, differences between 10-K and Annual Report to Shareholders.
- Company WebsitesRecent and some historical annual reports are usually available on a company's website, usually in a section called Investors or Investor Relations. Or, google company name investor (e.g., Best Buy investor) to get to the Investor section.
- SEC EDGAR: company filingsCompany filings (including 10-Ks) from 1994 to present. ** Useful guide on researching public companies through EDGAR
Key Resources for Private Company Research
Company Profiles:
- PrivCo
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Business and financial information on US-based private companies. Searchable by companies, investors, funding, and M&A deals.
PSU faculty/staff/students please create a personal account using your PDX email - Reference Solutions (formerly ReferenceUSA)
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For BIG to SMALL private companies. Sales and business expenditures data are estimates.
- Hoover's In-Depth Company ReportsFor BIG private companies. Search by company name. Accessed via Nexis Uni.
- Portland Business Journal
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Provides access to Portland Business Journal (and other city business journals) and Book of Lists. You must create an individual account to access.
PSU faculty/staff/students please create an account using your PDX email - Investext (via Mergent Online)
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Covers select private firms. Use the Keyword search field (instead of the default Company search field) in the dropdown menu.
Industry Benchmarks:
- RMA Statement Studies
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Provides financial ratio benchmarks data (norms and ratios) and industry default probablity data. This is the online version of the RMA annual statement studies.
Non-PSU Resources:
- Crunchbase (limited free data)Company directory that covers startups and other private companies. Also offers free or discounted access to their full data through their Academic Research Access Program (faculty and graduate students only).
- Mergent IntellectAvailable from the Multnomah County Library with a free library card. Basic information on public and private companies with "as reported" financials (if available).
- OwlerCrowdsourced company data and news alerts.