ENPR 497 (Postlethwaite)

This is a good resource for articles on your company.

Example: I need a SWOT analysis for McDonald's

• Type mcdonald's into the first box
• Type swot into the second box and click search
• Please note that premade SWOT analyses are very brief and generic

Example: I need articles that describe how McDonald's is run.

• Type mcdonald's into the first box 
• Type organizational or culture or employees or personnel management into the second box and click Search

Example: I need some articles on McDonald's strategies.    

• Type mcdonald's into the first box
• Type business planning or strateg* into the second box and select SU Subject with the pulldown menu and click Search    
• If you need to limit your search to newer articles, go to the publication date section on the left, enter the range you need and click Update

Example: I need articles on McDonald's and their customers.

• Type mcdonald's in the first box
• Type customers or consumers into the second box and click search

Example: I want some articles on lawsuits involving McDonald's .

• Type litigation or lawsuits or regulations into the first box
• Type mcdonald's into the second box and click search

Nation's Restaurant News is a trade magazine aimed at executives in the airlines industry. The articles are written by experts in this industry,.

• Use this link to browse recent articles from this publication. By browsing articles from this publication you can identify important industry trends.
• Go to this link if you want to search for a specific term in Nation's Restaurant News.

Example: I need income statement, balance sheet and cash flow data for McDonald's

• Type in either mcdonald's  or the ticker symbol (MCD) into the box
• Click Go
• Click Company Financials
• Use the pull-down menu to select the type of financial data (Balance Sheet, Income Statement or Cash Flow)
• Use the pull-down menu to select the number of years of financial data (3, 5, 7, 10 or 15)
• Use the pull-down menu for As Reported Currency to change the currency from Euros to US Dollars
• Click Refresh
• Click the link for Ratios. The ratios will include the effective tax rate which is needed for calculating the cost of capital.
• Select the Years you need with the pull-down menu
• Click Refresh

Example: I need ratio data for McDonald's.

• Type in either McDonald's or the ticker symbol (MCD) into the box
• Click Go
• Click the tab for Company Financials
• Click the link for Ratios
• Click the arrow icon by the ratios to obtain information about the ratios were calculated

Example: I want to compare McDonald's with some of its peers.

• Type mcdonald's or the ticker (MCD) into the search box and click Go
• Click the tab for Competitors
• Click the "X" for companies you want to remove
• Delete companies that are irrelevant
• Click  +To Company Analysis List at the top of the screen
• Click the link for "My Mergent Tools"
• Click the link for Company Comparison Report
• Select your companies by clicking >>
• Click the plus signs + for Financials and Ratios
• Click the types of financials and ratios that you need
• Click > to add the financials and ratios
• Click the box for Include Average
• Select the years you want
• Use the pull-down menu to select Microsoft Excel format
• Click Create Report

Example: I need a 10-K report for McDonald's.

• Type mcdonald's or the ticker symbol (MCD) into the search box
• Click Go
• Click the link for Reports
• The beginning section on risk factors will be helpful for the SWOT analysis. 
• Search the document for terms such as competition, suppliers, segment, etc.

Example: I need articles about McDonald's and lawsuits.

• Click the box for News
• Type mcdonald's lawsuits into the "Search in All News for" box
• Use the pull-down menu to change the date range to the last few years (e.g. September 23, 2020 to the present day)

Researching private companies is more challenging than publicly-traded companies since they are not required to report information to the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC). In most cases you will not be able to obtain financials statements such as income statements, balance sheets and cash flow statements for private companies.

One approach that students have used in the past when researching privately-held companies is to locate a similar public company and use their financials as an example or proxy.

Types of information available from Refinitiv:

• In-depth research reports from companies like Morningstar, UBS, Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan, Trefis, RBC, Barclay's, etc. Avoid the reports from BuySellsSignal Research and Minkabu.
• Environmental Social Governance (ESG) indicators
• SWOT Analyses
• Supply Chain (referred to as a "Value Chain"
• Peer Analysis (available for diversity & inclusion, profitability, fundamental ratios, peer comparison (data like P/E ratios, beta)

***If you are searching S&P Net Advantage with Google Chrome and receive an error message, try clearing your cache and possibly restarting your browser***

Example: I need balance sheet, income statement and cash flow statement data for McDonald's.

• Type either mcdonald's or the the ticker symbol (MCD ) into the search box and select McDonald's Corporation (NYSE:MCD)
• On the left-hand side, scroll to the Financials/Valuation section and select either income statement, balance sheet or cash flow statement
• Data can be downloaded into Excel

Example: I need ratio data for McDonald's.

• Type eithe McDonald's or the the ticker symbol (MCD) into the search box and select McDonald's Corporation (NYSE:MCD)
• On the left-hand side, scroll to the Financials/Valuation section and select "Ratios"

Example: I need SEC Filings for McDonald's

• Type either mcdonald's or the the ticker symbol (MCD) into the search box and select McDonald's Corporation (NYSE:MCD)
• Scroll down the left-hand side of the screen and click the link for SEC Filings
• Select the latest 10-K file. You can consult the 10-Q's for more updated information
• The "Risk Factors" section will be useful for your SWOT analysis
• Search the document for terms such as competition, suppliers, segment, etc.

Example: I need the bond rate for McDonald's.

• Type mcdonald's into the search box and select McDonald's Corporation (NYSE:MCD)
• On the left-hand column, scroll down to Fixed Income and select Securities Summary
• Go to the line titled Current YTW to obtain the current yield