Accounting Resources: Public Info on Companies

This research guide provides high quality resources for Masters of Accounting program and others studying accounting at UC San Diego

What public sources of information are available on my companies?

Basic company history and chronology

Gale Business Insights
- This link opens in a new window
Great for quick histories on public and private companies. When you see a profile, look for Company Histories section listed under "company information."
Mergent Online
Once you look up your public company, open the record and look under the "Company Details" tab, then choose History

Refnitiv Workspace
Lots of detail, especially for public companies, but it takes some navigation. When viewing a company profile, the Overview has a brief history,. Path: News & Research > Significant Developments provides history of IPO, restructure, and accounting issues/SEC inquiries. Shortcut code SIGD. Also see path: Event > Capital Changes covers stock splits, dividend payouts, events and deals. Shortcut code: CAPO. (First time users sign up using this link).

Summaries of products, customers, competitors

Hoover's Company Profiles in Nexis Uni
Nexis Uni yields a number of useful results, including our online access to Hoover's Company Profiles, which contain background on companies and their operations, plus lists their key executives, product lines and key competitors..

LSEG Refinitiv Workspace (competitors, segments)
when looking at a company profile, use path: Overview > Business Info (shortcut BUS) to get to summary of geographical and business segment operations. Path: Financials > Segments provides ecen more detail (shortcut SEG), as does the tab Peers & Valuation (shortcut PEERS). (First time users sign up using this link).

IBISWorld Industry Intelligence
If your company is one of the major ones in its industry, you can try searching here, even though IBISWorld focuses on industry overviews more than it does individual companies.
Factiva
Factiva is good for company background, business news and academic articles, and specializes in local and international news in English and many other languages. See the special News Pages tab for browsing.
Scroll down on the landing page to the Newsstand: US section for the latest content of Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Barron's & more.
Wall Street Journal (ProQuest)
This ProQuest site includes coverage of WSJ Eastern Edition, 1984-present; WSJ Online, 2010-present; and WSJ: The Magazine, 2011-present. This PQ version has a powerful and precise search engine for finding specific items or topics.

What material is there for SWOT analyses?

What information is there on top management?

Hoover's Company Profiles in Nexis Uni
Nexis Uni yields a number of useful results, including our online access to Hoover's Company Profiles, which contain background on companies and their operations, plus lists their key executives, product lines and key competitors..

Refnitiv Workspace
Lots of information for public company executives. In a company profile, path: Overview > Summary > Offiders & Directory (shortcut OFF). Click on any linked name to get a biography, education, affiliations

Where can I get 10-year trends in a company’s stock price?

Mergent Online
Equity Pricing tab; also under Company Details - History tab there are easy to find summaries on LTD, changes in business & property holdings, capital stock actions

Refnitiv Workspace
For public companies: When you view a company profile, click the Financials tab. For private companies there may be little to no information.

Where can I get the previous ytd market news on a company’s stock?

Refnitiv Workspace
When you are on a company's profile, choose the tab Price & Charts.