Business

Locate key business information resources for academic research.

Annual Reports to Shareholders

Major corporations use these attractive, annual, public relations documents to communicate directly with their shareholders.

Reports offer insight on their mission, lines of business, products, growth, productivity, stability, performance, strengths, corporate structure, management, intellectual property and relationships with other businesses. Company filings and annual reports are often the only sources of unique, valuable information on a specific business and concisely capture a company’s situation at a given point in time.
 

Sources for Obtaining Annual Reports to Shareholders
  • Mergent Intellect
    Access these shareholder reports under the Annual Report section within a company's profile.
  • Mergent Online by FTSE Russell
    Provides the most recently available annual reports for international and U.S. companies in full-image online. Search by company and select the Reports tab for annual reports.
     
  • Mergent Archives
    Supplementing the recent company filings and annual reports in Mergent Online, Mergent Archives provides a full-image collection of over 500,000 historical, global company filings and annual reports (in color) as far back as the late 1800s, depending on the company.  The collection is updated daily. Documents are fully searchable.  
     
  • Individual companies
    Check a company's website (under Investor Relations links) or request a copy. Often a company will provide one for free.
     
  • PRARS (Public Register's Annual Report Service)
    free reports mailed within one business day

Financials

Company Filings

Businesses within other countries may or may not be required by those countries to file or publish financial reports within a specific country. The most recently available information could vary by business or country.

All U.S. and foreign companies are required to submit filings to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

EDGAR
Freely access Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings from companies listed on any American stock exchange, dating back to 1993.

SEDAR
Use Canada's site for public company filings, which began in January 1997.


Older Filings and Annual Reports

Selected, older annual reports or filings exist on microfiche, under the SEC files and Q files in Catalyst. Check the accompanying print index for coverage, beginning with the 1980s.  Allow time for delivery of film from the Libraries Service Center.

SEC files and Q files
Micro-fiche C no. 296


Company Profiles with Filings and Financials

Mergent Online by FTSE Russell
Retrieve recent and historical financials, ratios, SEC filings, annual reports, news, industry reports, and customized reports for U.S. public and large international companies.

LSEG Workspace
Register for an account. Use the search bar to retrieve company profiles or try the screening tools to customize your research. Browse the menus within profiles for filings, reports, financial data, market activity, deals, news, ESG data, investors, and executives and board members.  

S & P Netadvantage
Search on a company. Click on the links on the left of the profile for additional information and in-depth analysis. Perform customized searches in other sections of the database.

Bloomberg Professional Service
Refer to this Bloomberg guide for general information on accessing and using the Bloomberg terminals onsite to locate company profiles, economic data, commodity prices, financials, real-time news, and security-specific or broad market data. Current JHU faculty, staff, and students are eligible for a Bloomberg account; using their JHED credentials and JHU e-mail address.

Hoover's Online
Retrieve profiles on U.S. or international public and private companies.


Additional Financial Datasets

Compustat
Use this S & P Market Intelligence database to extract historical, financial data on U.S. and international companies, based on annual reports. Compustat is available to current JHU faculty, staff, and graduate students who have been approved for a Wharton Research Data Service (WRDS) account.

 

Directories: Basic Facts

Mergent Intellect
Find company and industry information for U.S. and international businesses based on your desired criteria. Useful for identifying privately held businesses abroad.

Uniworld Online
Locate American firms operating in foreign countries or foreign firms operating in the United States.

International Directory of Company Histories
Search on this title in Catalyst. Within the record for a volume, click on the link, then simultaneously search across all volumes in the set for main entries and updates on your company, and other related content.

Encyclopedia of Associations: International Organizations (in Gale Directory Library)
Click on "advanced search" on the Gale Directory Library home page and select this title to identify international organizations of interest.

Business Rankings Annual (in Gale Directory Library)
Click on "advanced search" on the Gale Directory Library home page and select this title to limit your search to this compilation of business and industry rankings.

Market Share Reporter (in Gale Directory Library)
Click on "advanced search" on the Gale Directory Library home page and select this title to limit your search to this collection of market share rankings for companies, industries, products and brands.

Industry Reports and Statistics

IBISWorld
Analyze the competitive landscape for U.S., global, Chinese and Canadian industries and companies through IBISWorld's industry reports.

Mintel
Gather information and analysis on companies, products, brands and consumers through Mintel's reports on consumer goods and services. Coverage is mainly U.S. focused, but content may mention other geographies.

Passport GMID
Explore Euromonitor's database for industry, consumer, country, economic, and company information and analysis. Scope is national, global, or country-specific. Market share rankings are listed by company and brand.