What are the best resources for finding key facts or a quick profile on a company?
These resources are ideal starting points when you are trying to find a quick snapshot of a company. The basic facts include address and phone number, annual sales, number of employees, type of business, chief executives, and year founded.
How do I quickly find a company's address and phone number?
Many resources can be used to find a company’s address and phone number, including most of those mentioned elsewhere in this guide. Use any resources that are convenient for you. The resources listed here are chosen for their comprehensiveness.
Company's Website: For active businesses, the most current and reliable information is likely on their own website. There may be various locations and contact methods depending on purpose.
Websites: Numerous websites are useful for finding companies including the White Pages at https://www.whitepages.com, and SuperPages at http://www.superpages.com. Search engines such as Google, Bing, and Wikipedia may also be helpful.
Telephone Books: Often overlooked when thinking of “business” resources.
Open Access Resources
- Google FinanceOffers an easy way to search for stocks, mutual funds, and public and private companies. Includes stock screener, interactive charting tools, relevant news and discussion groups.
- Morningstar Mutual FundsThis popular source is perhaps the most respected guide to mutual funds. Morningstar provides a detailed overview for nearly 2000 mutual funds selected from the top investment firms and company profiles. Some free content is available on their website.
- MSN MoneyContains company and industry ratios. Search by company name or ticker symbol. Based on stock data provided by Media General Financial Services.
- Yahoo! FinanceStock quotes, up to date news, company profiles, portfolio management resources, international market data, message boards, and mortgage rates ..
Subscription-Based Databases
Please note that the databases below are subscription-based databases. Many university and public libraries have access to these databases, so please check with your local libraries to see what is available.
- AtoZdatabasesReference and marketing database that provides details on every business and every household within the U.S.
- BloombergCompany profiles, stock and financial information. Also includes latest financial news. Limited information for free access.
- Hoover'sIncludes company overview, history, products/operations on more than 500 million public and private U.S. companies and international companies. Covers major industry trends, industry links, and IPO information.
- LSEG WorkspaceIt provides access to fundamental financial data on public companies, merger and acquisitions, financial market data and quotes, analyst reports, and private equity and venture capital. It features powerful screening and charting capabilities. This product was formerly known as Thomson ONE, Eikon, and Refinitiv Workspace.
- Mergent OnlineThis database provides a ton of broad company information, as well as financial statements access. Coverage areas include: Company Details, Executives, Ownership, Company Financials, Reports, Filings, News, Competitors and a Report Builder tool for exporting custom data sets.
- Million Dollar Directory (Dun & Bradstreet)Dating back to 1959, the Dun & Bradstreet Million Dollar
Directory (MDDI) provides a valuable source of information on privately held and public companies and their executives. MDDI features easy-to-use cross references, primary and secondary lines of business and the names and titles of company officers and directors. Available through Mergent Archives (print directory no longer produced). - Mint Global (Bureau van Dijk Electronic Publishing)Detailed financial statements for public and private companies worldwide. Users can build reports containing detailed standardized financial information or summary information, ownership details, graphics plus data from the other modules. Industry and company profiles from Datamonitor, SEC filings, comprehensive shareholder and subsidiary info, stock data, and more are also included.
- NexisUniNexisUni (previously called LexisNexis) also offers basic company profiles and list-building options for millions of U.S. companies.
- PrivCoPrivCo provides business and financial data on major, non-publicly traded corporations, including family owned, private equity owned, venture backed, and international unlisted companies
- Reference Solutions (Data Axle)Previously ReferenceUSA from Infogroup. Provides U.S. and Canadian business information, U.S. consumer and homeowner data, and more. Great for local company information and formulating lists of businesses or consumers.
- ThomasNetSearch over 500,000 North American manufacturers. A good resource for business-to-business information and information on subsidiaries, divisions, and small companies. Provides a catalog file of products manufactured by the companies listed and a means to trace a brand name back to its manufacturer.
- Ward's Business Directory of US Private & Public Companies (Gale)Covers 100,000+ U.S. companies, 90 percent of which are private. Intended for librarians, executives, students, analysts, marketers, and other professionals who require current company and industry profiles. Also available in print.
