Research Guides: ACC341 Intermediate Accounting I: Industry/Company/Demographics

Government Agencies

Internal Revenue Service
Pennsylvania Department of Revenue
U.S. Social Security Administration
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
U.S. Census Bureau
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Bureau of Economic Analysis
The White House
U.S. Small Business Administration
United States House of Representatives
United States Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service
ERS research and analysis covers a broad range of economic and policy topics including: agricultural economy; food and nutrition; food safety; global markets and trends; resources and environment; and rural economy.
Federal Reserve Economic Data
United States Senate

NAICS Search

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.

Company Information Resources

Value Line Library Elite This link opens in a new window
In-depth financial information, including market and financial data on U.S. companies, mutual funds and other securities, industry sectors, indices and economic variables, plus commentary and insights on companies, industries, markets and the economy.

Search for Company Information

Under the BROWSE RESEARCH tab, Enter the ticker, company, or industry name and click on the suggested name that populates
Click on PDF Reports and select a date to view a detailed report

Mergent Intellect This link opens in a new window
Worldwide business information including private and public U.S. and international business data, industry news, facts and figures, executive contact information, and the ability to access industry profiles.

Search for Company Information

Enter your company's name or ticker symbol and select the company from the drop down list
Browse the information under the Company Overview tab
Hover over the Company Overview tab and select
- Company Description
- Company History
- Product and Operation

Gale Business: Insights This link opens in a new window
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Source for international business intelligence to find case studies, in-depth statistical data coupled with deep research, and the ability to compare global economies, countries, and industries.

Search for Company Information

Enter your company name or ticker symbol or industry into the search box and choose either your company from the Company Profiles or your industry from the Industry Profiles drop-down menu
Browse through the Company Profile to view the Company History or Industry Profile to learn more

Business Market Research Collection This link opens in a new window
Conduct company, industry, economic and geopolitical market research with information from these sources: Hoover's Company Profiles, OxResearch, and Snapshots - market research overviews on 40+ industries and 40 countries.

Search for Company Information

Enter your company's name (not ticker symbol) in the search box and click Search
If your company report is found, click on the your company's name to open the report

Note: the most useful reports will be from Hoover's Company Records

ProQuest One Business This link opens in a new window
Full-text journals, dissertations, working papers, trade publications, market research reports, and key periodicals such as the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, and Economist.

To locate industry and company information:

Click into the database
Scroll down the homepage to the Company Overviews and Industry Overviews boxes
Find your company or industry and view the information listed there.

Google Finance
Business information, news and interactive charts
Investopedia
Investopedia offers an abundance of financial content, from articles, dictionary terms, tutorials and video, to frequently asked questions and exam prep quizzes.
Yahoo! Finance: Industry Center
A rich source of financial information with company profiles, SEC filings, annual reports, stock quotes, news, analysis, industry statistics and news, and information for investors. Historical quotes for stocks, bonds, and money markets are since 1970 and give daily, weekly, and monthly closing prices and dividends. Also see "Industry Browser" under "Tools" which allows you to browse industries by performance rankings, including ROE, P/E ratio, market cap, price change, price to book value, profit margin, price to book value, long term debt, and more. Enter your company symbol and click "View Industry".

Evaluate the Company (company comparisons and ratios included)

Investing Center This link opens in a new window
Data and independent analysis on investments, spanning mutual funds, stocks, exchange-traded funds, and closed-end funds.

Find Ratios

Enter your company's name or ticker symbol and select it from the list of suggested companies
Scroll down to Key Stats: Use Growth, Operating and Efficiency, Financial Health, Cash Flow, and Income Statement charts for the ratio information

Mergent Intellect This link opens in a new window
Worldwide business information including private and public U.S. and international business data, industry news, facts and figures, executive contact information, and the ability to access industry profiles.

Find the Key Ratios

Enter your company's name or ticker symbol and select the company from the drop down list
Under the Financial Details tab, click on the Ratios tab to view the Key Ratios

Zacks.com: Stock Research & Ratings
A leading investment research firm focusing on equities earnings estimates and stock analysis for the individual investor.

Find Ratios

Enter your company's ticker symbol and choose it from the suggested companies
Along the left-hand side menu, click on Financial Overview under the Financial heading

Note: It appears that only the last year is available.

Gale Business: Insights This link opens in a new window
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Source for international business intelligence to find case studies, in-depth statistical data coupled with deep research, and the ability to compare global economies, countries, and industries.

Find Ratios

Type in your company name or ticker symbol into the search box and choose your company from the Company Profiles' drop-down menu
From your company profile, scroll down and click on All Ratios in the Ratios box
From there, scroll down to view the Key Metrics, Growth, Profitability, Efficiency, Financial Strength, Income Statement, and Cash Flow ratios

Fortune Global 500
Annual ranking of the top 500 corporations worldwide as measured by revenue.
Forbes Global 2000
We compile our Global 2000 list by screening Interactive Data, Thomson Reuters Fundamentals and Worldscope databases via FactSet Research Systems FDS +1.48% for publicly traded companies. Using these databases as our primary sources of data, we screen for the biggest companies in four metrics; sales, profits, assets and market value. Our market value calculation is as of March 15 closing prices, including all common shares outstanding.

Compare your company to the industry as well as it's competitors using the resources on this page within this guide:

Industry & Company Comparison Resources

Journal, magazine, and newspaper articles are a great source of information on industries. They are current and contain news on specific companies as well as industries as a whole. Included on this page are a list of recommended databases you can use to find these types of articles. Use the following page within this guide to find these articles:

Industry Information from Articles

Industry/Company/Demographics Information

U.S. Census Bureau
Provides statistical resources for people and households, business and industry, and geography. Included are links to state and county QuickFacts and Statistical Abstract of the United States.
Pennsylvania QuickFacts
Quick links from the U.S. Census Bureau providing various Pennsylvania demographics.

ABI/INFORM Collection This link opens in a new window
Full-text journals, dissertations, working papers, key business and economics periodicals, country-and industry-focused reports, and downloadable data. A complete picture of companies and business trends internationally.

Company websites and annual reports

Yet another source of company information is a company's own website. There you may find all kinds of company information such as history, locations, products and services, executives and staffing, including links to annual reports, 10-K reports, market reports, research and development, etc.. Information from private companies, especially small private companies may be difficult to find since they are not required to disclose detailed financial information. Look for the Annual Report to Shareholders on the company web site which will provide basic financials and forecast future directions for the company.