"Researching Public Companies," recorded April 24, 2025, 4 minutes.
"Company Profiles in Business Source Elite," recorded April 24, 2025, 3 minutes.
A "public company" or "publicly traded company" is a company whose shares are traded on a stock exchange like the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the NASDAQ, or the Toronto Stock Exchanges (TSX). Individuals can buy and sell shares in a publicly traded company. Public companies are regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commision and must publish annual reports and other financial filings.
REMINDER: Many brands and companies are actually owned by larger publicly traded companies. For example, Calvin Klein is a subsidiary owned by PVH, a public company.
Ways to research a publicly traded company:
Most sizeable nonprofits make their financial Annual Reports available from their website.
To find them, you'll need to go beyond the user-facing options (for example, Buy tickets, Plan your Trip, Donate). A good place to start is with the ABOUT or ABOUT US link. Then look for terms like "Financial Reports" or "Annual Reports" or "Reports".
Another option is to search online for "IRS Form 990" and the name of the organization. Form 990 reports financial information for nonprofits.
See this video for advice on finding a nonprofit organization's financial reports:
"Nonprofit Organization Financial Reports," recorded September 2020, 4 minutes.
NON-PROFIT COMPANIES:
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Things to Know: