When doing your research, you need to know if the company is a public or private company.
Public companies
Public companies have stocks that are sold to the public. They are required by law to file financial reports with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (see the Company Financials section of the guide).
Private companies
Privately held companies do not sell stocks to the general public, and they are not under the same legal obligations to disclose financial information as public companies. They can provide information to the public at their own discretion (usually through a website), so they are more challenging to research. Typically, the smaller the company or business, the less information there will be available.
Researching private companies can be challenging as they are not required to provide information to the public.
To investigate a company, you'll want to search for three areas of business information:
Company
Industries & Markets
Business News
Finding information about public companies is easier than for private companies. Many nationally known public companies will have a profile in the Library's business databases.
Getting Stuck?
If you need ideas for a search strategy or have hit a roadblock, that's the time to reach out to Sue Gray, the business librarian, at sagray@stkate.edu
Public company profiles from MarketLine are available in Business Source Premier. Note that only large, high-profile Minnesota public companies will have a profile.
Make certain that you know the official name of the company; this will make it easier to identify it (do a quick internet search, if necessary). Is the company you're researching a subsidiary (owned by a parent company)? For example, Häagen-Dazs is a subsidiary of General Mills. You won't find a company profile for it, but you will for General Mills as the parent company. Subsidiary companies may have their own website or you may find information on the parent company's website.
Use the Library's databases to search for newspaper, magazine or trade journal articles about the company and its leadership. The Library subscribes to most of the major business publications such as Fortune, Forbes, Harvard Business Review, and more.
Full text access via ProQuest Newspapers
Provides full-text regional business publications for the United States and Canadian provinces.
Unlimited access to the startribune.com, including the eEdition replica of the daily print newspaper.
To register an individual account (needed for access to mobile and tablet apps), use the group subscription activation link and sign up using your stkate.edu email. address.
A comprehensive collection of reliable international news sources covering a wide array of topics and issues.
These mostly free websites provide financial information about individual companies, the economy and markets. Search companies by name or ticker symbol.
The EDGAR database provides free public access to business information, allowing you to research a public company’s financial information and operations by reviewing the filings the company makes with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. A 10-K report is more detailed than the annual report provided to shareholders, and includes information such as risk factors, legal proceedings, financial statements, governance, executive compensation, and more. Typically, a 10-K is used by investors and analysts to evaluate the company.
©2024 St. Catherine University Library, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
