Research Guides: Business Information Guide: Company Research

Company Research Overview

Recommendations for Researching Companies

Research your company in more than one company research database:

When researching a company and attempting to identify strengths and weaknesses, a good starting point would be to search for the company in the company databases listed below. Each database presents information from different sources or in a different manner. You may find a great SWOT analysis in one, a comprehensive focus on financials in another, in-depth executive profiles in yet another database, and so on.

Find current news and in-depth studies on your company in article databases:

While many of the company research databases feature articles and current news about a company (Nexis Uni and Business Insights: Essentials are especially strong in this area), you should also research your company in business article and multidisciplinary article databases to increase your understanding of the company and awareness of news about the company.

Use the Advanced Search feature in company databases to create lists of companies:

Company databases Mergent Intellect, Data Axle Reference Solutions (formerly ReferenceUSA), and Nexis Uni are a few of the databases that can be used to create lists of companies by industry code (such as NAICS code) and other criteria, including geography, sales, number of employees, and more.

For a demonstration of how to search some of the company databases, refer to the Company Research Video Tutorials.

Recommended Databases for Company Research

Top Three Database Recommendations for Company Research

Business Insights: Essentials
Includes company profiles, financials, and SWOT analyses, industry reports and associations, market share reports, business publications, and more.
Mergent Intellect
Information about U.S. and international public and private companies, company news, and key business ratios. Searchable by company, person, or industry. Includes content in D & B Million Dollar Database and offers FirstResearch industry profiles, Nielsen demographics, and residential and consumer lifestyle directories.
Data Axle Reference Solutions
Formerly ReferenceUSA or Reference USA.
Includes profiles on United States and Canadian companies (including smaller private companies), a U.S. New Businesses search (with new businesses added weekly), a U.S. Consumers/Lifestyles database (where consumers can be identified with criteria such as income level and area of interest/hobbies), and directories of U.S. and Canadian residents.

Additional Recommended Databases for Company Research:

EDGAR
The SEC’s EDGAR database provides free public access to U.S. public company information, enabling research on a company’s financial information and operations by reviewing registration statements, prospectuses and periodic reports filed on Forms 10-K and 10-Q. You also can find information about recent corporate events reported on Form 8-K that a company does not have to disclose to investors. Information and data (including full reports) from EDGAR may also be found in the Libraries' subscription databases that cover public companies.

COMPUSTAT
For a “daypass” URL to be automatically emailed to you, you must enter a valid syr.edu email address. For remote or longer term access, Register at Wharton Research Data Services if you do not already have a WRDS account.
Financial information, including income statements, stock prices, balance sheets, and data about publicly held companies, including some historic data.
Dun and Bradstreet Private Company
Users are required to register and will be asked to login each time. User registration enables saving searches and email notifications.
Historic U.S. private company information from D&B’s historical Duns Marketing Information (DMI) files. Download data from specific years or a range of years from 1969 up to two years from the current year (with the exception of 1981 and 1984, which are unavailable).
Factiva
Five simultaneous users.
Newspapers, trade publications, business news, investment and market research reports, company profiles and more.
GuideStar Pro
Information about U.S. nonprofit organizations from Internal Revenue Service Form 990 financial statements and the organizations themselves.
Hoover's Company Profiles
Features company profiles on thousands of public and private businesses.
MarketLine This link opens in a new window
Offers in-depth company, industry and product intelligence. Provides international coverage.
Mergent Archives
Moody's/Mergent Corporate and Municipal Manuals, D&B Key Business Ratios, and the Mergent Historical SEC Collection.
Mergent Online
Financial information and detailed profiles on public U.S. companies, as well as in-depth profiles on international companies. Search Hint: Use the "Advanced" search to obtain comparative company data.
Nexis Uni This link opens in a new window
News, business, and legal sources from LexisNexis— including U.S. Supreme Court decisions, together with extensive current and historical U.S. state and federal statutes, published court decisions and regulations. Registering for a free ID and password is recommended for features such as alerts and saved searches. Search Hint: Once you are in Nexis Uni, for company profiles, click on "Company Dossier," under the dropdown Menu, in the upper left side of the screen. For additional business content, click on "Business," under "Discover topics."
PrivCo
Users are required to register with their syr.edu email address and will be asked to login each time.

Company profiles on private (non-publicly traded) companies. Includes financials, venture capital and private equity funding, and mergers and acquisitions (M&A).
ProQuest Historical Annual Reports
Annual reports on U.S. companies.
Value Line Research Center
Investment information covering the stock market, and public companies.
Westlaw Campus Research
Provides access to law and regulatory resources, such as the U.S. Code Annotated, federal and state cases, the Code of Federal Regulations, and more, plus business, company, news and global resources. Search Hint: Once you are in Westlaw, click on "Company Investigator" (under "All Content") to explore company profiles and to create lists of companies.

Company Research
Stephanie McReynolds, business, management, and entrepreneurship librarian at Syracuse University Libraries, provides guidance on how to search by company name to find company profiles and how to create lists of companies using North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes in company databases. (19 minutes 54 seconds)

Since this video covers a lot of material, it has been subdivided into shorter chapters, which can be reached by using the chapter navigation feature in the upper left corner of the video player. An outline of the video chapters is also listed below, for your convenience.

Video Chapters for Company Research:

Introduction: Intro and overview of searching by company name to find company profiles and using NAICS codes (already identified) to create lists of companies in company databases. (1 minute 48 seconds)
Business Insights: Essentials for Company Research: How to find company profiles, company hierarchy, market share reports, financial information, investment reports, and SWOT reports. (4 minutes 25 seconds)
Mergent Intellect for Company Research: How to find company profiles using a basic company search and how to create lists of companies using NAICS codes on the advanced search page of Mergent Intellect. (5 minutes 12 seconds)
ReferenceUSA for Company Research: How to find company profiles using a basic company search and how to create lists of companies using NAICS codes on the advanced search page of ReferenceUSA. (4 minutes 38 seconds)
PrivCo Overview (No Search Demo): Overview of PrivCo company database for information on fast growing private companies, including in-depth financial information, venture capital deals, as well as relevant mergers and acquisitions. (1 minute 10 seconds)
Westlaw Campus Research for Company Research: How to find a company profile in the Company Dossier module of Westlaw Campus Research, with an emphasis on the Company Family Tree part of the profile. (2 minutes 41 seconds)

Venture Capital Firms

Explore databases for identifying venture capital firms, investors, and (if available) information about the funding rounds and investments companies have received:

Venture Capital Firms and Investors
by Stephanie JH McReynolds Last Updated Sep 2, 2022 161 views this year

Business Information Guide