02. Products/Services
2.1 What are the company’s primary NAICS/SIC codes?
2.2 Summarize the principal product or service.
2.3 Provide percentages in terms of various activities.
It is important to inventory the full range of products and services of the target firm. Your target company could be involved in much more than we may initially believe, especially with the trend towards constant mergers and acquisitions. To fully understand the nature of their operations it is important to ascertain their current areas of activity and which area is generating the most income for the firm.
The business world uses the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) that assigns a NAICS code to specific products and services. It replaced the older Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes. The Census Bureau provides a NAICS lookup. Also, most products like Yahoo Finance and MSN Money provide the primary NAICS codes for firms. The NAICS system has largely replaced the older Standard Industrial Code (SIC).
Information on products and services is located in Item 1 of the company’s SEC Form 10-K available from the SEC’s EDGAR database. It is also commonly available on the company’s website.
You should also consult the company web site and the company annual report (typically a glossy report for stockholders), which is distinct from their Form 10-K. Firms often provide detailed information about their products.
Information on registered brand names is available at the Thomas Register.
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Mergent Market Atlas is the best site for accessing SEC documents. You can download documents in a number of different formats or search them via a hypertext table of contents. They are also available on Mergent Intellect.