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Business

Company research strategies

Starting points

Before using databases, gather basic details on the company with a general search engine like Google. Example: search results in Bing for the grocery store Sprouts. Try to gather the following:

  1. Company's full, official name: While the common name (e.g., Sprouts) might be enough, some databases require the company's official name (e.g., Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc.) to return correct results.
  2. Company type: public or private: Knowing whether a company is public or private can affect how you research that company. You'll want to know the stock ticker for public companies, and details on a comparable public competitor when researching a private company.
    • For public: stock ticker: Adding the words "stock ticker" to your basic search (e.g., Sprouts stock ticker) should bring it up immediately (e.g., SFM). (If you can't find the ticker, it's likely the company is private.) Most business databases let you use the ticker as a search term to increase the relevance of your results.
    • For private: public "proxy company": Identifying a similarly sized public company in the same industry to act as a "proxy" for a private company can help you estimate financial details that may be difficult or impossible to find on the private company.
  3. Headquarters location: Just as with the full name and ticker symbol, knowing where a company is headquartered will help you correctly identify the company in search results.

Private vs. Public

Certain data are less available on privately held US companies since they are not required to report their financials to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). You may need to find details on private companies from news articles, industry reports, and public competitors. Identifying a "proxy company" as mentioned above will also help.

Best databases for most company research

Find company news

In addition to the company's website, social media, and content in the databases above, try these resources:

Find financials, transactions, shares, and funding information

Most of the databases above also provide financials on public companies, but these resources specialize in certain financial data and transactions. Some cover nonprofit organizations and private companies, too.

Find more information on creating, finding, or analyzing financial statements on the Accounting research guide.

Find earnings call transcripts and corporate communications

Research local/regional businesses or retail locations

When you need details on local businesses or specific business locations (e.g., a specific Sprouts store) of a larger entity.

Research nonprofit organizations