Where to Find Reliable Company Information

Important factual claims should be traceable to supporting evidence.

If a claim cannot be connected to a document, dataset, or disclosure, it should be treated as an unverified assertion rather than a research finding.

Some sources provide original disclosures, some organize data, some analyze information, and others provide opinion or discussion.

Knowing what a source is designed to do is the first step in using it appropriately.

A useful way to organize sources:

1. Primary Sources↓
2. Secondary Sources↓
3. Commentary and Discussion

This is a research framework—not a claim that every primary source is automatically more useful or accurate than every secondary source.

Primary sources are original disclosures or documents directly connected to the company or the regulatory reporting process.

They are the closest available record of what the company itself reported.

The SEC's EDGAR system provides free public access to company filings, including:

• 10-K (annual report filing)
• 10-Q (quarterly filing)
• 8-K (current report of certain material events)
• DEF 14A (proxy statement)
• Forms 3, 4, and 5 (insider transaction filings)
• Registration statements where relevant

The 10-K is the company's annual regulatory filing and typically contains extensive information about the business, risks, financial statements, management discussion, and other disclosures.

Lesson 4 will cover the 10-K in depth.

The 10-Q provides quarterly financial and business updates for applicable reporting periods.

It can help identify changes since the annual filing.

An 8-K can disclose certain material events between periodic reports.

Not every company development necessarily appears in an 8-K, so the absence of an 8-K is not proof that nothing changed.

The proxy statement commonly includes information about:

• Directors
• Executive compensation
• Ownership
• Shareholder proposals
• Governance matters

Later management research may use this source.

Forms 3, 4, and 5 disclose certain insider ownership and transactions.

Disclosed insider transactions are facts, but the motivation behind a transaction should not automatically be assumed.

Investor-relations websites may contain:

• Financial results
• SEC filings
• Earnings releases
• Presentations
• Event information
• Governance materials

Earnings releases provide recent financial results and management commentary.

Distinguish GAAP results from company-defined non-GAAP measures, which are discussed further below.

Presentations can help explain:

• Business segments
• Strategy
• Markets
• Growth initiatives
• Selected financial measures

Presentations are company-created communications and should not replace regulatory filings.

Earnings calls typically include prepared management remarks followed by analyst questions and answers.

Management statements can provide useful context, but forward-looking statements remain uncertain.

Transcripts can be useful research tools, but they may contain transcription errors, omissions, or third-party formatting.

Where an official transcript or recording exists, distinguish it from third-party reproductions.

An annual report and Form 10-K may overlap substantially, but they are not always identical documents.

The detailed structure of the 10-K is covered in Lesson 4.

Company websites can help explain products, services, locations, leadership, customers, and markets.

Marketing language should not automatically be treated as independent evidence of competitive superiority.

Depending on the industry, useful primary or regulatory information may come from government agencies or regulators.

Examples may include healthcare, banking, insurance, utilities, transportation, or communications regulators. Relevance depends on the company being researched.

Some industries have specialized data sources for:

• Production
• Shipments
• Commodity data
• Healthcare approvals
• Housing
• Transportation
• Banking

The relevance of these sources depends on the company being researched.

Secondary sources organize, interpret, summarize, or analyze information originating elsewhere.

They can make research more efficient, but they are one step removed from the original disclosure.

Financial data providers are useful for quickly retrieving:

• Financial statements
• Ratios
• Historical prices
• Estimates
• Valuation measures

Important numbers should be checked when discrepancies matter.

Possible causes include:

• Different update times
• Different fiscal-period handling
• Different definitions
• Restatements
• Adjustments
• GAAP versus non-GAAP data
• Different share-count assumptions

Analyst reports may contain useful industry work, forecasts, models, and interpretations.

Analyst estimates and price targets are not facts about future results.

Reputable reporting can help identify:

• Events
• Industry developments
• Regulatory issues
• Interviews
• Competitor developments

Important claims should still be traced to original evidence when practical.

Trade publications, industry organizations, market research, and specialized datasets can provide valuable industry context.

Consider methodology, incentives, definitions, and publication date before relying on them.

Opinion can provide useful questions or alternative interpretations.

Opinion should be clearly distinguished from documented evidence.

These can surface:

• Questions
• Rumors
• Alternative interpretations
• Links to useful sources

Popularity, repetition, follower count, or confidence does not verify a claim.

When an important claim can reasonably be traced to its original source, follow it back to that source.

Example: A news article says the company lowered guidance. → Find the company's earnings release, filing, or official guidance statement.

If a research conclusion depends heavily on one number, verify:

• Definition
• Period
• Units
• Source
• Whether it has been restated

Distinguish among:

• Fiscal year
• Calendar year
• Quarter
• Trailing twelve months
• Point-in-time balance-sheet data

Numbers from different periods should not be casually compared.

A reliable source can still be outdated.

Record both the reporting period and the publication date for every important source.

Companies may present non-GAAP measures alongside GAAP results.

Researchers should understand:

• What was adjusted
• Why management says it was adjusted
• Whether the adjustment is recurring
• How the measure reconciles with GAAP

Do not automatically accept or reject non-GAAP measures; understand them.

Reported results and forecasts are different types of information and must not be treated as interchangeable.

Guidance comes from management, but it remains forward-looking and uncertain.

It is management's expectation, not a reported result.

When two credible sources disagree:

• Check dates
• Check definitions
• Check reporting periods
• Check whether one incorporates newer information
• Locate the original disclosure

Do not simply choose the number that supports the preferred conclusion.

A structured log of the sources used:

A source log improves reproducibility and makes later updates easier.

For important conclusions, trace the claim through its support:

1. Research Claim↓
2. Supporting Number or Statement↓
3. Document↓
4. Original Source↓
5. Reporting Period / Date

Not every observation requires this degree of documentation, but important conclusions should have traceable support.

A source can be useful for one purpose and weak for another.

Example: A company presentation may be excellent for understanding management's stated strategy, but it is not independent evidence that the strategy will succeed.

Reliable sources do not eliminate judgment. Researchers still must:

• Compare evidence
• Understand definitions
• Recognize uncertainty
• Distinguish facts from interpretations
• Identify missing information

Once the researcher knows where reliable information comes from, the next step is learning how to navigate one of the most important company research documents—the annual report and Form 10-K. That is the subject of Lesson 4.

Reliable research begins by knowing where information came from, what it actually says, what period it describes, and whether the conclusion being drawn is supported by the evidence.