Companies

While analyzing a company's business strategy, you will want to think about how the company is structured and operated, how its resources are invested (for producing goods and services), and how its operations are financed (i.e., what is its mix of debt and equity).

1. The first place to look is at the company’s website. The website will give you a lot of information, whether implicit or otherwise. (Keep in mind that you are likely not the intended audience of the website.)

a. You may find the company’s Investor Relations page to be particularly useful. This page will allow you to read about the company’s financials, listen to archived investor calls, and download quarterly and annual corporate reports (filed with the SEC). In short, the Investor Relations page is important for learning about both the financials of a company and its own view of the future.


2. Business Researchers often pay close attention to a (public) company’s corporate reports, which are filed with the SEC. The most important report is a company’s 10-K, which is a detailed annual report divided into two sections. The financial section includes a statistical summary of operations for the last five years, financial statements for each line of business, legal proceedings, and a list of diagram of parents and subsidiaries. The supporting data in the second section includes a list of principal stockholders, security holdings of management, and a list of directors with terms-of-office information.

a. U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) allows you to find, among other things, quarterly and annual filings.

b. LexisNexis provides easy (searchable) access to corporate reports.


3. Finally, you may want to look at equity analyst reports on a specific company. These reports provide information on companies (or industries) with the goal of offering investment advice; they are considered to be objective for general information, though some of the conclusions may be guided by investment banking conflicts.

a. For the best access to analyst reports, visit the Harvard Business School library, where you can access further proprietary databases, like Investext and S&P NetAdvantage.

b. Bloomberg also provides some access to equity reports. A Bloomberg terminal is made available to law students by the fourth-floor Reference Desk. Here is a quick Guide to Bloomberg. In addition, students may be provided with an individual account; contact Lisa Junghahn: Ljunghahn@law.harvard.edu.