Cranfield Libraries: Company information and analysis: Top recommended resources

Top recommended resources

Please note that the following resource links will open in a new tab.

Factiva This link opens in a new window Dow Jones service covering over 10,000 global press sources including over 2,000 newspapers and 4,000 trade publications. Also an excellent source of company information and financials. Full text: variable, up to 30 years archive - current. Please note: as part of our licence terms no text and data mining is permitted within Factiva and downloading is restricted to what you can physically read at one time.
Business Source Complete (EBSCO) This link opens in a new window Thousands of scholarly business publications including 1,000+ peer-reviewed journals. Also includes book content, conference proceedings, country, industry and market reports. Mobile app available. Full text: variable, 1922 - current.
Passport This link opens in a new window Global market research service and international consumer lifestyles. A source of in-depth statistics for 205 countries, including historical data and future forecasting. International business intelligence on countries, consumers and industries. Includes market research reports, country profiles, company market share and brand share rankings published by Euromonitor. Coverage: 1977 - current (+ forecasts).
ProQuest One Business (includes ABI/INFORM) This link opens in a new window Includes access to ABI/INFORM Collection; Accounting, Tax and Banking Collection; Asian and European Business Collection; Business Market Research Collection; and Entrepreneurship Database. Full text: 1971 - current (with some embargoes). One Business also includes access to scholarly and popular periodicals, newspapers, company reports, industry reports, dissertations, books, and videos.
Bloomberg - contact library@cranfield.ac.uk for information Bloomberg includes information on Equities, mergers and acquisitions, stock indices, commodities, currencies, economic data and statistics, government bonds, hedge funds, futures, credit default swaps, shipping and news. It also has company profiles, financial statements, analysts’ forecasts, industry sector information and stock ticker data for the last 3 months. Please contact library@cranfield.ac.uk for more information about this resource (available only in SOM Library) and off-site alternatives.

The essentials: Sourcing company information

A wide variety of sources exist for company research. Choose from the following:

Company profiles

Check Factiva for companies worldwide. Profiles tend to include information on company history and structure, major markets, products and services and a SWOT analysis or similar. Profiles are also available in EBSCO Business Source Complete and ProQuest One Business. Short sector-specific profiles can be sourced via Passport.

News and analysis

For up to date information on any company it is also wise to check for press coverage. Use Factiva to search both national and international press. Other useful publications include brokers' reports via Capital IQ or Bloomberg which provide analysis of company performance.

Competitor analysis

Valuable insights can be gained through comparing a company to its peers - using a set of financial variables and ratios. Capital IQ, Factiva and Bloomberg all provide both pre-defined and customisable peer comparisons for listed companies. For public and private firms in the UK and Ireland, use Fame.

Company financials

Company accounting data can also be useful. Track financial variables over time or against an industry group. For financial data, use our Financial resources page.

Any questions?

Come and talk to us so we can advise you on the best source.