Research Guides: Industry Analysis: An Overview: Competitors

What does the Company Say?

Companies often describe the competitive environment and list their top competitors in their 10-K report to the SEC. Read "Item 1. Business" or search the text of the report for the words competition or competitor.

SEC's EDGAR
The official home of EDGAR at the SEC. Companies began filing electronically with the SEC in 1994. Search full text of all filings issued since 2000.

Use Company Profiles

Many databases offer profiles of public companies that include lists of the company's top competitors. Using one of these profiles is an easy way to find the companies that are active in a particular industry.

S&P NetAdvantage
Enter company name and then choose "Peer Analysis" for a display of key competitors with their financial data, trading multiples and operating statistics. Choose "Research" for S&P Equity Research Reports and analysts' reports (if available).
Mergent Online
Open the "Competitors" tab for a list of public U.S. companies or Public global companies with the same NAICS code. Competitors can be ranked by financial variables including revenues, net income, EBITDA and others,

Find Market Share or Market Size Data

Passport (Euromonitor)
Market research reports include tables with market share for both companies and brands.
Mintel Market Sizes
(Baruch & CUNY SPS users only)Mintel provides global industry information and country economic data. Industry data includes market size, market segmentation, market share, and Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR)
Gale Business: Insights
Search by company name or ticker, then click on "Rankings."
Bloomberg Professional
Access Bloomberg's industries with the command BI . Choose an industry and then "Market Share" from the menu on the left.

Screen for Competitors

If you want to build your own list of competitors based on variables like location or number of employees, use one of these databases:

Nexis Uni
Select "Company Dossier" from the menu on the top left of the screen. Select "Create a company list." Screen by NAICS, sales, employees, and location.
Reference Solutions
Select the U.S. Businesses database. Click on the Custom Search tab. Screen by NAICS or industry name, location, size and ownership. Use this database to screen for private companies.