Resource Guides: Business: Company and industry research

Company Profiles

Top databases for company profile info.:

Hoover's Company Profiles
Several-page profiles for thousands of companies. Each Profile includes brief history and overview of company operations, plus key executives (including their compensation), competitors, selected financial information, and key products.
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Database also includes about 30,000 "Hoover's Company Records", with much briefer info. - primarily "directory" type info., for smaller companies
Business Source Complete
In-depth; up to approx. 30 pages. Source is MarketLine. Select "Company Profiles" from right frame.
PrivCo
For large private companies in the U.S. Has much on M&A and private equity deals.
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Can create an individual account. There are monthly limits on the number of profiles exported and viewed
S&P Global NetAdvantage
Select the "tearsheet" report; a few pages.
Value Line
1-page overviews of large US public corporations.

Company Financials

Top databases for company financials:

Mergent Online
Superb coverage of financials of public corporations, plus listings of subsidiaries, and links to SEC filings. Also has brief biographical info. of key executives (with compensation). Best choice for downloading.
S&P Global NetAdvantage
For US public corporations - key financial information can be downloaded. Also contains biographical information for many key executives.
Morningstar Investment Research Center
Updated daily. Morningstar analyst reports for US public corporations. Includes stock prices (select "show full chart") for many years. Includes stock and fund screening tools, and portfolio diagnostics. Includes 10 year historical performance data. Please select "end session" when finished, as there is a limit of 3 simultaneous users.

Database for independent analyst reports:

Mergent Investext
On the Mergent Online platform (select "Investext" tab)

Company Directories

For address, contact information, and industry codes of companies - top sources:

Mergent Intellect
Worldwide; millions of companies. Includes DUNS numbers.
Reference USA (Data Axle)
For the U.S. and for Canada; almost 80 millions companies. Includes radius feature.
Library also subscribes to the U.S. Historical Businesses, 1997-

Industry profiles

Top databases for industry profiles:

IBISWorld
Reports for all NAICS industries in the US, plus a few global industries. Key companies listed. Much info. is in chart form that can be downloaded.
S&P Industry Surveys
Within S&P Global NetAdvantage platform. In-depth reports (typically more than 40 pages) for approx. 100 industries. Select "view all" (the default list is of about 55 industries).
Business Source Complete
In-depth; up to approx. 30 pages. Source is MarketLine. Select "Industry Profiles" from right frame.
First Research
Brief background information, along with useful "call prep" questions. Focus is on niche industries.
Passport
For 9 consumer (and related) industries, in-depth statistics (often by brandname) and analysis. Each industry is divided into 3-4 sub-categories. Worldwide coverage.

Key periodical databases

After profiles - next steps, searching for periodical articles on your target company or industry. You'll know some competitor names, and key issues or products.

Consider searching some of those concepts when searching in these key databases: