If you are researching a company for a class project or as a potential employer when job hunting, the source to use is Mergent Online. This database contains information about companies, industries and products, and includes current information on over 14,000 public companies in the U.S. and over 27,000 non-U.S. companies as well as having a module focused on private companies that includes listings of over 34 million companies.
For the public companies, Mergent Online includes company highlights, stock and shareholder information, annual reports, equity price reports, earnings estimates, insider and institutional holdings, executive biographies and equity research reports and much more. In addition to exploring basic information about companies, researchers can link companies with their brands, suppliers, competitors and examine financial performance measures across product and industry sectors. There are numerous investment reports, and users can create customized reports and analyses of multiple companies or across industries.
The private company data is less extensive, but can be particularly useful in determining what types of companies are located in certain regions and includes addresses, executives, sales information, and a brief description of its operations and activities. This can be a great tool for targeting potential future employers!