Reports of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission requires all publicly traded American companies to disclose their financial information. Foreign companies listed in the United States must also submit annual reports containing the same content if they are listed on U.S. exchanges. You can access company reports through the SEC’s EDGAR database. You can find content about any company you are interested in through this database. Some other sites like SECFilings.com or Edgar Online offer alerts and additional features.
There are many reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The most common are:
- Form 10-K (Annual Report): This annual report provides an overview of the company’s fiscal year. It includes financial statements and a discussion of results by management in easy-to-understand language.
- Form 10-Q (Quarterly Report): This quarterly report provides information about the company’s financial quarter. The report includes financial data for the period and some discussions from management.
- Form 8-K (Current Report): This report covers current events affecting the company. These events range from basic press releases to new partnerships.
- Forms 3, 4, and 5 (Insider Trading): Insider trading reports notify you when company insiders buy or sell shares. When this happens, it can indicate whether it is being done outside of stock plans.
- Schedules 13D and 13G (Institutional Investment): Institutional investment reports provide notice when an entity (such as a hedge fund or mutual fund) acquires a significant stake.
Many foreign companies trade on U.S. exchanges as American Depositary Receipts (ADRs), which are securities that reflect the company’s share price in its home country.
Some foreign companies file reports with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Others may file reports that you may not have access to or may not include the facts you are looking for. Some foreign companies trading on exchanges outside the U.S. often only file reports with the financial regulator in their home country. These reports may be in the company’s native language, so you may not be able to analyze them.
Common foreign company reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission include:
- Form 20-F (Annual Report): These annual reports follow generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), which standardize reporting and help investors understand and compare companies.
- Form 6-K (Quarterly/Current Report): This is the foreign version of the 8-K reports and includes data on most American Depositary Receipts filings, similar to what is found in Form 10-Q.
Company Websites
Company websites can contain a wealth of information about the company. You can find financial data, annual reports, news, and press releases. Companies also publish financial presentations that you can view. It is much easier to find financial data on company websites than on government sites.
If you are looking for international information, you will benefit from these types of reports. These reports typically provide shareholders with information not covered by SEC filings.
Financial Statements
One type of financial statement, the balance sheet, summarizes the company’s assets, liabilities, and equity. The income statement is a report that displays revenues and expenses. The cash flow statement tells you how the company generates cash through operations, investing, and financing activities.
These statements may have other names depending on the country from which they originate. For example, many countries follow International Financial Reporting Standards, while others may have their own standards to adhere to.
Note:
The International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) provide information that can help you understand which countries follow accounting standards. They also work to standardize financial reporting globally.
Corporate Presentations
Corporate presentations can provide a good insight into past performance. They may also offer forecasts or projections for the upcoming quarters or year. Many companies upload their presentations to the investor relations section of their websites.
News / Press Releases
Corporate news and press releases can contain a wealth of information regarding operations, financial performance, or upcoming events.
Contact Information
Contacts for investors, such as investor relations officers, are good resources when you are looking for data that you can’t find.
Analyst Reports
Analyst reports on securities are also useful. Although analysts focusing on selling investments may sometimes be biased, they still provide some good content in one place. This makes researching a lot easier, especially if you’re investing internationally.
Note: While analyst reports are a good source of information, they should be used with caution. They are geared towards institutions and focus on their purposes, not the objectives of retail investors.
Analysts working on the buy side (those working for mutual funds or institutions that purchase investments) are a better source of facts as they are usually not biased. The only problem is that their research is not widely available.
You can find analyst reports on websites like Morningstar and Yahoo Finance. You can also check with your broker as they provide a lot of data on their sites, newsletters, and correspondences.
Source: https://www.thebalancemoney.com/top-best-sources-of-investor-information-1979207
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