Business Industry Guide: Theme Parks (as of Spring 2018): Company Research

Example: I need income statement, balance sheet and cash flow data for Six Flags.

• Type in either Six Flags or the ticker symbol (SIX) 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)
• 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 Six Flags.

• Type in either Six Flags or the ticker symbol (SIX) 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 Six Flags with some of its peers.

• Type Six Flags or Six into the search box and click Go
• Click the tab for Competitors at the top of the screen
• Remove any companies that you don't want in the list
• Click the link for "Click here to create a competitor report"
• 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/Annual reports for Six Flags.

• Type Six Flags or Six into the search box
• Click Go
• Click the link for Reports
• Search the document for terms such as competition, government, segment, etc.

Example: I need the bond rate for Six Flags.

• Type Six Flags into the search box and select Six Flags Entertainment Group
• On the left-hand column, scroll down to Fixed Income and select Securities Summary
• Use the yield for Current YTW
• Please note: not all companies issue bonds

If you don't locate a company's bond rate in S&P Net Advantage, check the 10-K reports for "Senior Notes."

Alternative method for obtaining bond yields:

Step One: I need bond rating information for Southwest Airlines.

• Type in either Southwest Airlines or the ticker symbol (LUV) into the box
• Click Go
• Select Southwest Airlines
• Click the link for Long-Term Debt
• Please note: Many companies do not issue bonds.
• Click the link for a recent bond- one that hasn't matured yet
• Look for the bond rating from Moody's
• This search indicates that Southwest has a bond rating of Baa2.

Step two: consult the average bond yield table:

After locating the corporate bond rating, the bond yield table from the Mergent Bond Record (See Below for the link to the table). These tables will give the average yields for bonds with a given rating. The source of this table is the following reference book: Mergent Bond Record. N.Y.: Moody’s Investor’s Services Payson (Ref. HG4905 .M78). . The “Corporate Bond Yield Averages” table only provides composite ratings for companies with a minimum rating of Baa.

This is a good resource for articles on your company and its industry.

Example: I want articles about Capital One and it's customers.

• Type capital one into the first box and select CO Company Entity with the pull-down menu
• Type customers or consumers into the second box and click search
• Click the link for Publication Date on the left-hand side to limit your results to more recent articles

Example: I want scholarly (peer-reviewed) articles on theme parks.

• Type theme parks or amusement parks into the first box
• Click search
• On the left-hand side, click the box for Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals

Example: I want articles on how General Motors is run.

• Type general motors into the first box and select CO Company Entity with the pull-down menu
• Type organizational or culture or management into the second box and click Search

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

• Type lululemon into the first box and select CO Company Entity with the pull-down menu 
• 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 General Motors value chain.

• Type general motors into the first box and select CO Company Entity with the pull-down menu  
• Type suppliers or supply chain into the second box and click search

Example: I need articles on Under Armour's value chain.

• Select Search and then click Search Builder
• Type value chain or supply chain or logistics or suppliers into the search box (the word "or" is a search command)
• Select Previous 2 years for the date
• Scroll down and click Company
• Type Netflix into the company box and click Netflix, Inc.
• Scroll down and click Subject
• Type supply chain into the subject box and select Supply Chain to highlight the term
• Click Search
• Sort the articles by relevance instead of by date with the pull-down menu

Example: I want a swot analysis for Six Flags.

• Click the button/link for "A Publication"
• Type Six Flags entertainment swot analysis into the "Search for something specific box"
• Type canadean into the Find Publication box and select Canadean-Company Profiles
• Click Search

Example: I want a Hoover’s company report for Six Flags.

• Click the button/link for "A Publication"
• Type Six Flags into the "Search for something specific box"
• Type "Hoover's Company Records - In-depth Records" into the "Find Publication" box
• Click Search

Example: I want some reviews of Capital One from the Consumer Reports magazine. This magazine is a good resource because their reviews are objective and they do not accept advertising.

• Click the button/link for "A Publication"
• Type capital one into the "Search for something specific box"
• Type consumer reports into the Find Publication box and select Consumer Reports
• Click Search
• Set the date range on the left-hand side e.g. 2012-2017

*Please Note: some companies might not have current reviews in Consumer Reports.

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.