Like Indiana Jones, we are left to dig up our own
conclusions as to the real sub-goals of the company. There are often plenty of resources to
discover these little treasures. Here
are just a few:
•
Annual Reports.
Publically traded companies are required by law to publish an annual
report to all shareholders. Look under
“investor relations” on the company's main website to find a quick link. Just recall that annual reports are the purest
form of biased public relations a company produces. I once had a professor at Harvard Business
School exclaim that the goal of the company was to tell the best possible story
of the operating results and the goal of the outside analyst was to find all
the hidden lies.
•
10-K.
This is a Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) required filing. The “K” designates that this is the summary
annual filing. This is a gold mine. It is not a public relations document at
all. In fact, it is produced in one of
the most unfriendly and marketing agnostic formats you will ever see. It looks like (probably because it is) a
legal document. No pretty pictures here
– just the facts. They disclose
EVERYTHING the company has to disclose by law without the ability to dress it
up for the window shoppers that peruse the annual report.
•
10-Q.
This is the quarterly filing version of the 10-K. While not in as much detail as the 10-K it is
still a gold mine for quarterly performance.
•
Analysts Reports. All the enormous firms on Wall Street employ
thousands of the best and brightest minds available to decipher what companies
are reporting to the public. You would
think these would be unbiased and of great value. The problem lies in the natural conflict
between these large Wall Street firms’ banking operations and their
analysts. Bankers want the stock price
(and thus all the analysis) to be positive.
Analysts want to tell the truth – but are paid by the bankers. Guess who wins that standoff? While there are plenty of provisions for
barriers within each firm to ensure this banker-analyst conflict does not
occur, you would be foolish to believe there is any real separation of
influence. So read analysts reports with
a grain of salt – some of it might be really good – particularly if their
banking operations have absolutely no connection at all to the company they are
analyzing.
•
Google.
Crazy, but Google is another great source. Simply Google the company name, board member
names, senior management names, etc. and you will find all sorts of information
on what they have told the press about the company’s goals and the progress
they are making in achieving them. Here
you have to keep in mind that you get what you pay for. If the information is free, you have to
remain skeptical without real verification.
•
Company’s website. A company will often release vast amounts of
information on their own PR website.
Just remember the author (the company) has a real vested interest in
telling you the story they think puts them in the best light. No way are they going to voluntarily send out
a press release saying they have been dumping toxic waste into the local rivers
without some sort of outside mandate.
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