Industry and Financial Analysis

The first step in your industry analysis is to identify the appropriate NAICS and SIC codes.

Look up company, industry and exchange information.

Here are the steps for finding ratios using Mergent Online

1. Search for a public company within the industry.  
2. Open the profile for this company 
3. Select the Report Builder tab.
4. Select Comparison Report.
5. Choose a pre-defined list of industry participants using SIC, NAICS or MIC (Mergent's own industrial classification).  Use NAICS codes to start with.  
   • Custom Group: If you would prefer to create your own list of competitors, look up each company individually and add each to your Company Analysis List with the link adjacent to the company name in the company profile. 
   • The companies you choose will appear as comparison choices within the Compare Company Against Custom Group page that appears within the Report Builder-->Comparison Report menu.
6. Select the Comparison Report Type you would like.  
7. Select whether you'd like the report to be organized by item reported or by company.
8. Click on Ratios.
9. Select and move each ratio you want reported into the Report Items box.
10. Check the Include Average box if you'd like the industry average to be included in your report.
11. Select the years you'd like to have reported.  Ctrl-click to include multiple years.
12. Select the format of your report.  
13. Click Create Report.

Industry overviews usually contain a brief history of that industry, factors that affect industry growth, government regulations and leading businesses in that industry.