LibGuides: Companies: Start

This Guide

will show where to research companies for coursework, investing, job searches, etc.

News Sources and Research Articles

Articles in newspapers, magazines, and trade journals are rich in data, up-to-the-minute. Scholarly research provides an analytic view.

Business Source Premier This link opens in a new window
academic and trade journals and magazines in all business disciplines; also industry reports, company profiles, and country economic reports. Includes the Harvard Business Review.
ABI/INFORM Collection This link opens in a new window
Articles from industry and scholarly sources, periodicals, reports and dissertations, on business, management, corporate strategy, and the competitive landscape. Database Guide
Nexis Uni This link opens in a new window
An interdisciplinary, full-text database of over 18,000 sources including newspapers, journals, wire services, newsletters, company reports and SEC filings, case law, government documents, transcripts of broadcasts, and selected reference works.

A book on your company!

Be deeply informed and read something substantial. Our catalog will lead you to books on major companies. Examples:

Company Basics

Mergent Online This link opens in a new window
US and foreign companies, active and inactive. 15 years of financial data, mergers & acquisitions, SEC filings, institutional holdings, earnings estimates, joint ventures, long-term debt, bond ratings, capital stock, insider trading, historical stock prices. Also industry and equity reports, and annual reports from 1997.
MarketLine (previously Datamonitor) This link opens in a new window
has detailed reports on public and private companies, internationally, including background, analysis and forecasts, and featuring SWOT analyses.
ReferenceUSA (now Data Axle) This link opens in a new window
Various modules: US and Canadian company directories, new business filings, consumer lifestyles, and more, with data visualization and mapping. Good for both public and private company info.
D&B Hoovers (formerly OneSource) This link opens in a new window
Covers over 188 million global, public and private firms, with company and industry overviews, SWOT, financials, analyst reports, and more - gets a lot of information quickly. NOTE: Limits on downloads per year.

NOTE: This database will be down for system maintenance on March 26 from 9:00AM US Eastern Time until 9:00PM US Eastern Time. Access should be restored and operational afterwards.
Statista This link opens in a new window
Quick access to key statistics on major international companies and their position within their industry. Search for your company and click on "dossier" at the left.

LexisNexis Academic's Company Dossier
many kinds of company data from various sources: quick snapshots, corporate hierarchy, financials, legal cases, executives, company structure, etc. Each section can be expanded for more information.

Private Companies/Startups

PrivCo This link opens in a new window
US private company financials, information on private M&A deals, valuations, venture capital, private equity, etc. Over 800,000 US private companies profiled. Good for locating investors and competitive intelligence. NOTE: You must create an account using your CMU email. Use of this database is for academic purposes only.
CB Insights This link opens in a new window
A comprehensive global database of private companies and investors activities. Contains advanced searches for private companies, investors, and deals information (especially private equity and venture capital). Also great for news on emerging markets. An excellent resource for startups and entrepreneurship research. (NOTE: You must create an account using your CMU email).

Company Directories

Get addresses, executives, sales, # of employees. Also lists of companies with similar characteristics: geography, revenue, etc.

D&B Hoovers (formerly OneSource) This link opens in a new window
Covers over 188 million global, public and private firms, with company and industry overviews, SWOT, financials, analyst reports, and more - gets a lot of information quickly. NOTE: Limits on downloads per year.

NOTE: This database will be down for system maintenance on March 26 from 9:00AM US Eastern Time until 9:00PM US Eastern Time. Access should be restored and operational afterwards.
ReferenceUSA (now Data Axle) This link opens in a new window
various modules: Use US Businesses for list generation and small business information. Use the OneSource module - then Global Express for international coverage. Other modules: Canadian companies; new business filings; healthcare businesses; homeowners, etc. Has data visualization and mapping applications.
LexisNexis Corporate Affiliations (now incorporated into Nexis Dossier) This link opens in a new window
best for seeing corporate hierarchies and linkages - can create lists of US firms with operations in another country; also foreign firms operating in the US (use Advanced Search)

Thomas Register
for many years the standard American directory of manufacturers, encompassing all types of manufacturing companies and products.

Case Studies

SAGE Business Cases This link opens in a new window
Provides access to over 3,000 business cases spanning a wide range of business disciplines from leadership to entrepreneurship, to family business and social impact. The platform provides select access to cases (click "content available to me"), a user-friendly platform, and downloading cases. SAGE has partnered with 20 business case producers, including Kellogg School of Management (Northwestern), Berkeley Haas (California), and the School of Management (Yale).

The Case Centre
Aggregator of case studies from multiple sources, including Harvard and Stanford. For purchase - about $6 apiece.

Company Analysis

Mergent Online Analyst Reports This link opens in a new window
Important reports on companies and industries from Wall Street analysts and many major investment banks. Use the drop down menu to search different fields and use the "add to criteria" button to search more than one field at a time.
S&P Capital IQ This link opens in a new window
In-depth financial/valuation data resource, including information on equities, credit ratings, transactions, and more. Use hundreds of data points to generate lists of companies, markets, executives. Includes an Excel plug-in for data analysis. Create an account using your CMU email address by following these directions.
ReferenceUSA (now Data Axle) This link opens in a new window
also provides selected analyst research reports. Choose OneSource module, then select "Global Business Browser" - find your company, and then click on "Analysts' Reports" in the left column.)
Value Line Investment Survey This link opens in a new window
stock reports with financial performance data, analysis, projections, rankings, beta, key ratios for 3500+ public companies.

Company Financials

Mergent Online This link opens in a new window
financial data and segments thereof (last 15 years) can be displayed and downloaded conveniently. Covers international companies. Also SEC filings (use EDGAR tab) and print annual reports for last 10 years (use Annual Reports tab) from company profile.

SEC database
all US public companies and some foreign ones must file their financial reports here; this is the most direct source.
Company Website
look for the "investor relations" section.

Historical data on companies

International Directory of Company Histories
Extensive written histories of thousands of major companies worldwide. Use search box on right.

Mergent Archives This link opens in a new window
Moody's (later Mergent) Corporate Manuals and Municipal & Government Manuals, 1909 to the present. Data for significant public companies worldwide: financial statements, histories, properties, mergers and acquisitions, operations, subsidiaries, officers and directors, stocks and bonds.
ProQuest Historical Annual Reports This link opens in a new window
Printed annual reports for many US companies, from 1844 to now; financial data and narrative and pictorial snapshots of companies through time.
Value Line Investment Survey This link opens in a new window
historical stock reports back to 1997
Compustat This link opens in a new window
From Standard & Poor’s, an extensive database of business financial data, covering over 80,000 global firms dating back to the 1950s. On WRDS platform. When off-campus, connect to Full VPN access. NOTE: Requires CMU email to access. After entering your CMU email address, a an email will be sent to you from WRDS with a link to access WRDS content.
Mergent Online Analyst Reports This link opens in a new window
Starting in 1982, reports on companies and industries from Wall Street analysts and many major investment banks. Use the drop down menu to search different fields and use the "add to criteria" button to search more than one field at a time.