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Business Research: Business and Industry Information

General research assistance for business related topics

Introduction to Company Research

When Researching a company, make sure to know whether it is public, private or a subsidiary of a larger company. 

​Public companies sell shares of the company (stocks) to the general public, and are required to submit financial information and annual reports to the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission. Public companies are usually easier to research.

 

Private companies ​do not sell publicly traded stocks and are not required to release as much information to the government or the general public. This can make them more challenging to research. 

 

Subsidiaries ​of public companies can be difficult to research because the parent company is not required to report on them individually. 

 

Where to Start with Company Research

SEC EDGAR Company Filings​ 

Provided by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission contains over 21 million public company filings in the United States.


Annual Reports.com

Provides a comprehensive listing of annual reports from over 65,000 companies. 


Forbes Largest Private Companies


Library of Congress Business Research

Site provided by the Library of Congress to provide access to free resources available on the web for business research. 

Industry Research

North American Industry Classification System

The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) is the standard used by Federal statistical agencies in classifying business establishments for the purpose of collecting, analyzing, and publishing statistical data related to the U.S. business economy.


Yahoo Finance

Provides industry, as well as company information.


CIA World Fact Book

Provides country analysis on the economy, history, and infrastructure. 


Bureau of Economic Analysis

Provides current economic data on the U.S. economy