Business

Locate key business information resources for academic research.

Basic Business Directories

These directories provide brief facts and limited financial data. For more in-depth company information, refer to the box at the bottom of this page. Additional directories are listed in Catalyst--the JHU Libraries catalog.

Consult more than one resource; coverage varies. Some sources provide exact figures; others provide estimates or ranges.

Nexis Dossier (formerly Corporate Affiliations)
Corporate hierarchies and linkages for all major public and private companies and their subsidiaries worldwide. Provides business descriptions, basic financials, detailed competitor listings, brands, and service firms. Creates lists of foreign firms operating in the US and vice versa, has historical data, tracks mergers and acquisitions, and provides executive and board member listings.

Gale Directory Library
Various types of organizational directories, including Ward's Business Directory, from Gale Cengage. Choose Advanced Search to search by publication.

Hoover's
Profiles for publicly traded and privately held companies. Public company profiles offer more financial depth and competitive analysis.

Mergent Archives
Supplement other Mergent databases with this scanned collection of Mergent manuals, formerly Moody's manuals, for a historical, annual snapshot of a company. Click on the Corporate or Municipal Manual tab.

  • Industrials 1909 - Present
  • Transportation 1909 - Present
  • Public Utilities 1914 - Present
  • Bank and Finance 1928 - Present
  • Municipal and Government 1918 - Present
  • International 1981 - Present
  • Over-the-Counter (O-T-C) Industrial 1970 - Present
  • Over-the-Counter (O-T-C) Unlisted 1986 - Present

Data Axle (formerly ReferenceUSA)
The business directory includes comprehensive coverage of U.S. public, private, nonprofit, and government organizations. Use Guided or Advanced search for customized lists by industry, type of business, location, and other criteria.

ArcGIS Business Analyst
Includes business location data with selected information on sales and number of employees. Contains over 20 categories of consumer spending data, aggregated down to the block group level. Provides five and ten year population projections.  Search by industry codes and geographic region and visually plot business locations using this mapping software. Updated annually. Accessible on workstations in GIS & Data Services.

Dun & Bradstreet's records in Mergent Intellect, Mergent Online by FTSE Russell and Hoover's.

UniWorld
Identifies which American firms have offices in other countries and which foreign firms have offices in the United States.

In-depth Company Profiles, Financials and Analysis

Use these resources for more in-depth profiles, analysis, or financial data.

International Directory of Company Histories
Type company name in "search within publication" box on the right. Choose "All volumes" to simultaneously search within the entire series for entries and updates.  Includes a detailed history of a company and insight into its strategy, mission, challenges, growth, and mergers and acquisitions.

Refinitiv Workspace (Registration and Access Steps)
Features in-depth information from Refinitiv (formerly Thomson Reuters) on global markets and companies.  Access market quotes, bond data, earnings estimates, current and historical financials and corporate filings, competitor analyses, ESG metrics, corporate governance information, press releases, deal data, company events, ownership profiles, and proprietary analyst research reports. Create customized reports using various templates.

Mergent Online by FTSE Russell
Profiles include recent and historical financials, equity prices, ratios, company filings, news and reports. Mergent also provides industry reports and analytical reporting tools.  Coverage includes U.S. public, private and international companies.

S & P Netadvantage
Choose Company search. Click on the links on the left of the profile for additional information and in-depth analysis by S & P Global Market Intelligence (formerly Standard and Poors). Industry Surveys include key players and their financials. Explore tabs at top of database for related information or templates for customized reports.

PrivCo
Set up an account with your JHU e-mail address to access information on major, non-publicly traded, U.S. corporations, including family owned, private equity owned, venture backed, and international unlisted companies. This unique database also includes details on mergers and acquisitions and financing arrangements.

Value Line Investment Survey (Standard edition)
Perform a company search. View both the screens and scanned reports for unique information and analysis.  Note: Downloading excluded for libraries. A limited number of simultaneous users can access at once; please log off when done.

Bloomberg Financial Service
Access is available to current faculty and students who set up a Bloomberg account with their JHU e-mail address. Read this guide for more information.

Compustat (via the Wharton Research Data Service)
Compustat, from S&P Capital IQ (S&P Global Market Intelligence), includes the North America, Global, and Bank databases. Content consists mainly of fundamentals for North American companies since 1950 or global companies since 1979.  They also provide stock prices and other market data going back to the 1980s, in addition to index prices and constituents. 

Access is available to current faculty, staff and students who have registered and been approved for a Wharton Research Data Service (WRDS) account.  Please allow 24-48 hours for the authentication, approval and notification process.