Available 9 a.m.–10 p.m.

Additional Options

Company Research

The library provides access to a wide variety of sources, but the amount of information available varies by type of company:

  • Publicly-traded companies are the easiest to research. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission requires them to provide detailed information on a quarterly and annual basis.
  • Subsidiaries of public companies can be difficult to research because the parent company is not required to report on each of them individually.
    • Use the database Data Axle Reference Solutions listed below to search by company name or ticker symbol.
      • You can find the Corporate Family and Ultimate Parent by looking at the far right hand column, Corp. Tree, and clicking on the symbol in that column. This will list the company name, relationship, location, number of employees, and sales volume.
  • Private companies are not required to release any information about themselves and are therefore more challenging to research.
    • The databases Business Source Complete, Nexis Uni, Data Axle Reference Solutions, and PitchBook listed below contain private company information, but there is often a limited amount of information available and sales figures are often estimates.
    • Financial ratios and industry averages are useful for comparing a company with its industry for benchmarking purposes.
    • Trade journals, magazines, and newspapers are excellent sources for the latest business news and trends, and can sometimes be the only source for private company information.
  • Nonprofit information can be found in the databases Charity Navigator, and GuideStar listed below.

Best Bets

Data Axle Reference Solutions
Formerly known as ReferenceUSA, Data Axle Reference Solutions contains directory information on U.S. and Canadian business, health care, and residential listings. Search by company name, geographic area, business type, SIC code, yellow page listing, revenue, location, number of employees or any combination of the above. In addition to address and phone number, each entry includes officer names and titles, corporate affiliation, business type and size of yellow page advertising. Toll free and fax numbers are given for some companies.
Access: Available to anyone on-campus. Available off campus for UW-Madison students, faculty and staff only.

S&P Capital IQ 
The S&P Capital IQ platform combines deep global company information, credit ratings and research, and market research with powerful tools for risk assessments. The web and Excel-based platform provides easy access to both real-time and historical information on companies, markets, transactions, and people worldwide.
Content: See our S&P Capital IQ page for full content and data description.
Access: Available to anyone on-campus. Available off campus for UW-Madison students, faculty and staff only.

MarketLine
Provides company profiles, industry reports, financial deal reports and,country reports. Also contains case studies. Industry profiles include Porter’s Five Forces.
Access: Available to anyone on-campus. Available off campus for UW-Madison students, faculty and staff only.

Also Helpful

Business Premium Collection (ProQuest)
The most comprehensive business offering, comprising all content from: ABI/INFORM Collection; Accounting, Tax and Banking Collection; Asian and European Business Collection; Business Market Research Collection; and Entrepreneurship Database. With global coverage in business and economics, the collection features thousands of full-text journals, dissertations, and working papers, as well as trade publications, market research reports, and key periodicals such as the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, and Economist.
Access: Available to anyone on-campus. Available off campus for UW-Madison students, faculty and staff only.

Business Source Complete (EBSCO)
Scholarly, trade, and popular business publications covering all business disciplines. Includes market research reports, industry reports, country reports, company profiles and SWOT analyses. (Updated daily)
Access: Available to anyone on-campus. Available off campus for UW-Madison students, faculty and staff only. This resource is also available for use by all Wisconsin residents through BadgerLink.

Calcbench
Calcbench is a financial data platform for data-intensive analysts and investors looking to go a level deeper. Created by former investment professionals to bring usability to the detailed, hard-to-get information in financial filings.
Access: Available to anyone on-campus. Available off campus for UW-Madison students, faculty and staff only. First time users will have to register with name and wisc mail address and agree to terms.

Charity Navigator
Charity Navigator is a 501 (c) (3) public charity that provides performance metrics, income statements, compensation of leaders, and more. Free registration is required to view expanded features such as organization history and IRS Forms 990.
Access: Available to everyone.

EDGAR (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission)
All companies, foreign and domestic, are required to file registration statements, periodic reports, and other forms electronically through EDGAR (Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis and Retrieval). Anyone can access and download this information for free.
Access: Available to everyone.

Factiva (Dow Jones)
Newspapers, trade and scholarly journals, TV and radio transcripts, and news wires from more than 200 countries in 26 languages. Information on publicly traded companies, industry ratios, trade associations, and relevant news articles is under the Companies/Markets tab. (Updated daily, dates vary by title)
Access: Available to anyone on-campus. Available off campus for UW-Madison students, faculty and staff only. Licensed for 3 simultaneous users.

GuideStar
GuideStar is a 501 (c) (3) public charity that gathers and disseminates information about every single IRS-registered nonprofit organization. Free account creation is required to view IRS Forms 990, Board Chair, and Board of Directors.
Access: Available to everyone.

J.P. Morgan Research (ProQuest)
The database features thousands of analyst reports covering over 3,000 global companies and all industries. Derived from Morgan Markets – which is J.P. Morgan’s exclusive information for key clients and investors – these reports are made available to academic users for education and research purposes. Coverage is 2011 to current with a one week embargo. Lengthy reports cover equities and company performance, global and regional economics and financial strategy, foreign exchange, commodities, liquidity, and emerging markets.
Access: Available to anyone on-campus. Available off campus for UW-Madison students, faculty and staff only.

Nexis Uni (LexisNexis)
Nexis Uni (formerly LexisNexis Academic) offers access to more than 17,000 news, legal and business sources, including print and online journals; television and radio broadcasts; newswires and blogs; local, regional, national and international newspapers with deep archives; extensive legal sources for federal and state cases and statutes, including U.S. Supreme Court decisions since 1790; and business information on more than 80 million U.S. and international companies and more than 75 million executives. (Updated daily)
Access: Available to anyone on-campus. Available off campus for UW-Madison students, faculty and staff only.

PitchBook
Pitchbook features real time data to research and analyze private and public companies, startup trends, private equity & venture capital financing deals, VC and PE investment funds, investors, and service providers across the entire private investment lifecycle.
Downloading Limits: Individual accounts under the university subscription allow for 10 daily and 25 monthly rows of data downloads.
Access: Available to anyone on-campus. Available off campus for UW-Madison students, faculty and staff only. See Instruction Page for access information.