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How to Get
a Copy of a Company's Balance Sheet
Since you can't do your analysis without a
balance sheet, you're going to have to get your hands on one. How do you
get a company's financial statements? Generally, you should look in one of
three places.
1.) The Annual Report:
The annual report is a document released by
companies at the end of their fiscal year which includes almost everything an
investor needs to know about the business. It generally contains pictures
of facilities, branch offices, employees, and products [all of which are
completely unimportant to making your investing decision.] They are
normally followed by a letter from the CEO and other senior management which
discusses the past as well as upcoming year. Tucked away in the back of most annual reports
is a collection of financial documents. Most of the time you can go onto a
company's website and find the Investor Relations link. From there, you
should be able to either download the annual report in PDF form or find
information on how to contact shareholder services and request a copy in the
mail.
2.) The 10K:
This is a document filed with the SEC which contains a detailed explanation of a
business. It is reported annually and contains the same financial
statements the annual report does, in a more detailed form. The benefit of
the 10K is that it allows you to find out additional information such as the
amount of stock options awarded to executives at the company, as well as a more
in-depth discussion of the nature of the business and marketplace.
Sometimes you will find that a company has no financial statements in the 10K,
but instead has written, "incorporated herein by reference" This means
that the financial statements can be found elsewhere [such as in the annual
report or another publication]. Even if this is the case,
it is still worth it to get a copy. You can find this by contacting the
company, visiting their website, or going to FreeEdgar (freeedgar.com) or SEC.gov.
3.) The 10q:
The is similar to the 10k, but is filed quarterly [four times a year - normally
the end of January, June, September, and December]. If the company is
planning on changing its dividend policy, or something equally as important,
they may bury it in the 10q. These documents are critical and can be
obtained in the same way as the annual report and 10k.
You will want to get a copy
of all three documents for the past year or two from the company you are
interested in investing in. Most of them can be found at
http://finance.yahoo.com - type in the
ticker symbol of the company you want to research and then click the
"financials" link. This will bring up a copy of the latest quarterly
financial statements. (For all good purposes, I would recommend you first
analyze the annual balance sheet, which can be found by clicking "annual data"
in the upper right hand corner.) Another excellent source of financial
statements is The Street. As
always, it is best to get the information directly from the company.
Next page > What is a
Balance Sheet? > 1, 2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7,
more >>
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