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A Guide to Entrepreneurship and Innovation

Company Financials

  • Best Bet!McMaster Users OnlyMergent Online 
    • 15 years/quarters of financial data
    • active and inactive, publicly traded companies worldwide
    • find companies by name, ticker, industry code (SIC, NAICS), index, exchange, country
    • view company profile and click on Company Financials tab
    • find analyst reports on companies (& industries) by selecting the Investext tab
       
  • McMaster Users OnlyWRDS (Wharton Research Data Services) 
    • Compustat North America, 20 years, 48 quarters
    • Compustat Global, 12 years
      • publicly traded companies worldwide
      • both datasets contain active and inactive companies
      • find companies by name, industry codes (SIC or NAICS), and hundreds of other variables
    • LSEG ESG (formerly Refinitiv):
      • dataset includes ESG (environmental, social and governance) data and scores for 10,000 global companies since 2002.
      • the same ESG dataset is also available via LSEG Workspace
      • current ESG company scores are also available atopen accessLSEG ESG  website, along with their methodology
  • McMaster Users OnlyFactiva 
    • approximately 5 years of financial data for active, publicly traded companies worldwide
    • select Companies/Markets link and click on Company from the menu to search by name
    • when viewing the company profile/snapshot, select Financial Results ​
      ​
  • McMaster Users OnlyHoover's Company Records 
    • public (and some private) company profiles can include recent annual & quarterly financials; international in scope, but with an emphasis on U.S. companies
       
  • McMaster Users OnlyNexis Uni 
    • sections within the database provide current financial data for public and private companies worldwide 
    • on the Home page, select Find a Company below the search box to connect to Nexis Dossier
      OR
      select Companies from the toolbar and search other company sources, such as SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission).
    • find companies by name, ticker, company type (private, public), industry code (SIC or NAICS), geography (country, city) and more

  • McMaster Users OnlyCanadian Business Database 
    • contains brief profiles of public and private businesses in Canada.
    • entries often include a sales estimate  for the current year
    • find companies by name, industry codes (SIC or NAICS), geography (city, street or postal code), employee size, sales volume, and more. 

Sources of Company Annual Reports
Geographic Coverage
Source
Date Coverage
File Format
Access / Help
Global Best Bet!open accessAnnualReports.com 1990s to current PDF or HTML Free. No registration required.
Global Company websites Usually current year PDF or HTML Search for a company using your favourite search engine (e.g., Google). On the company home page, look for a link labelled Investor or Corporate Relations.
Global Best Bet!McMaster Users OnlyMergent Archives 1840s to current PDF Click Begin Your Search button > select Annual Reports link (top left). Search by company name, year, document type, country, state or city. 
Global Best Bet!McMaster Users OnlyMergent Online
 		 1990s to current PDF Search for a company, view its profile and then select the Reports tab.
Global open accessThe Public Register Online 2000s to current PDF or HTML Free. Registration required.
Search by ticker symbol, or browse alphabetically by company name, state or industry. To view Canadian companies only, select Canada Search.
Global McMaster Users Only Reportal via ProQuest [1934 to current] PDF Search for a company name or browse years and search for a specific company.
Africa open accessAfricanFinancials.com 1997 to current HTML or PDF Free. No registration required.
Canada open accessCanadian Corporate Annual Reports (University of Alberta) via Internet Archive 1940s to 2000 PDF Free. No registration required.
Focus is on Western Canadian companies, but other Canadian corporations are included.
Canada open accessCanadian Corporate Reports via McGill Digital Archive [1800s to 1997] PDF Free. No registration required.
Canada CanCorp 1970s-1990's Microfiche No access restrictions.
Located at MILLS Library (3rd floor).
Canada open accessSEDAR+ (System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval) 1997 to current PDF Free. No registration required.
U.K. open accessCompanies House 1980s to current PDF Free. No registration required. More info.
U.S. open accessEDGAR (Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval) 1990s to current HTML Free. No registration required.
Guides:  Using EDGAR to Research Investments​ 
NOTE: Simplified EDGAR searches available via Mergent Online (click on the Government Filings tab) and via Nexis Uni (select Companies in toolbar > select All SEC Filings – Full-Text and Abstracts)
U.S. open accessHistorical Annual Reports via Penn Libraries Colenda Digital Repository [1800 to 1955] PDF Free. No registration required.
U.S. McMaster Users OnlyNexis Uni
 		 1990s to current HTML

From the Nexis Uni Home page ...

  1. Select option below search box labelled Find a Company - Find in depth company information on Dossier.
  2. At the Nexis Dossier screen, search by company name, ticker, company type, regions/countries and more. 
  3. Click Search 
  4. Select a company in the results list
  5. Select SEC Filings in the left column of the company report or profile.
  6. Select Latest 10-K Filings (Form 10-K) to view the company's most recent annual reports

OR

From the Nexis Uni Home page ...

  1. Select Companies from the toolbar.
  2. On the Companies screen, below the search box, select All SEC Filings – Full-Text and Abstracts 
  3. On the All SEC Filings page, scroll to the Form Type category and select Annual Reports (10-K)
  4. Enter a company name and other criteria (e.g., Date) in the search boxes and then select the Search button (magnifying glass)
  5. Select a company from the results list to view its annual report.
U.S. McMaster Users OnlyProQuest Annual Reports Collection [1916 to 2008] PDF Browse by Company Name, by Industry or by Date. 
U.S.
(New York City)		 open accessColumbia Historical Corporate Reports Online Collection 1850s to 1960s PDF Free. No registration required.
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