Penn State University Libraries - Company Information

Public Company Profiles

• Hoover's

• S & P NetAdvantage

• EDGAR / U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC)

  • 10-K reports for domestic public companies
  • 20-K reports for foreign public companies trading on the U.S. exchanges

Private Company Profiles

• Hoover's

• Ward’s Business Directory

• See also NEWS (in this research guide)

Indexes and Rankings

• Fortune 500

• Forbes 2000

• Financial Times Global 500

• S&P 500

• Dow Jones Industrial Average (Dow 30)

• Russell 3000 Index

• NASDAQ 100 Index

Financial Reports

• Most reliable source for official financial statements:
  EDGAR Database/U.S. Securities and Exchange Commision (SEC)
  In results, look for:

  • 10-K report (U.S. domestic companies)
  • 20-F report (foreign-owned companies with public trading in the U.S.)
  • Also includes proxy statements and all other SEC-required filings

• Easiest to use source for financial statements
  Hoover's

  • Compare financials across time or across companies

• Mergent Online

Market Valuation and Investment Data

• Thomson ONE Banker

• Value Line

• Google Finance

• Yahoo! Finance

Historical Stock Quotes

• Yahoo! Finance

• Google Finance

• New York Times via (ProQuest) New York Times Historical

• Daily Stock Price Record / Standard & Poor’s
  3rd Floor Paterno Library, Call number: HG4915.I23
  set includes several exchanges:

  • New York Stock Exchange, 1961-2002
  • American Stock Exchange, 1962-
  • Over-the-Counter, 1968-1992
  • NASDAQ, 1993-2002

Industry Surveys and Market Share Information

• IBISWorld

• Market Share Reporter

• Standard & Poor's NetAdvantage (Industry Surveys)

• Plunkett’s

Trade Publications (industry-focused articles)

• Business Source Premier

• ProQuest (Using keyword search, then in results list, click the Trade Publications tab)

• LexisNexis Academic

Trade Associations (industry-focused organizations)

• Associations Unlimited

• Standard & Poor's NetAdvantage (Industry Surveys – see References)

Sources for Additional Data

• Statistical Abstract of the United States

• FedStats — portal to statistics compiled by various U.S. federal agencies

See also Statistics for Business and Economics (Schreyer Business Library)

Corporate Responsibility

• Rankings

  • 100 Best Corporate Citizens [PDF] / The Corporate Responsibility Officer

• Social Action Organizations (some examples)

  • CorpWatch

  • Greenpeace

  • PETA — People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals

  • Grassroots Global Justice - Please note the Members list of participating organizations

• Social Networking

  • You explore: What are people saying about the company on YouTube, Twitter, independent blogs, etc.? What are they saying about the industry?

Historical Company Information

• International directory of company histories
  Business Library, Reference: HD2721.D36

• Mergent Online

  • Find a company
  • Look for “History” tab (chronological ownership history: acquisitions, mergers, spin-offs, etc.)

• Annual Reports at Academic Business Libraries (online collections of historical reports)

• Corporation Annual Reports [microfiche 1940-1995]

  • This collection of annual reports, proxy statements, registration statements, etc. of corporations listed on the New York Stock Exchange, is on microfilm and housed in the Cato Park Annex facility. A finding aid is available in the Business Library. Contact a librarian for assistance

• EDGAR Database / U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
  In results, look for:

  • 10-K report (U.S. domestic companies)
  • 20-F report (foreign-owned companies with public trading in the U.S.)
  • Also includes proxy statements and all other SEC-required filings