Marketing and Industry, Company, and Market Analysis Research Guide

Industry Research and Analysis: look at the general industry environment in which businesses are competing. Industry research is also important in the process of creating business and strategic plans and deciding which market to enter.

Company Research and Analysis: Company research and analysis looks at specific companies. This information can help with investments, help companies make business make decisions, and looks at the strengths and weaknesses of competitors.

Company Research Cites

EDGAR (SEC)

All companies, foreign and domestic, are required to file registration statements, periodic reports, and other forms with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) electronically through EDGAR, the Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval system.

Industry Research Cites

• U.S. Census Bureau:

Animal Survey of Manufactures (ASM)

Provides statistics on employment, payroll, supplemental labor costs, cost of materials consumed, operating expenses, value of shipments, value added by manufacturing, detailed capital expenditures, fuels and electric energy used, and inventories.

• Note: The Annual Survey of Manufactures (ASM) transitioned to the Annual Integrated Economic Survey (AIES).  The data formerly collected for the ASM will now be collected as part of the AIES, which began data collection in March 2024.

Annual Integrated Economic Survey (AIES)

The Annual Integrated Economic Survey (AIES) is a re-engineered survey designed to integrate and replace seven existing annual business surveys into a streamlined single survey. It is designed to be easier for businesses to complete, result in better and more timely data, and allow the Census Bureau to operate more efficiently.

Quarterly Services Surveys (QSS)

The Quarterly Services Survey (QSS) is the only source of service industry indicator performance providing timely estimates of revenue and expenses for selected service industries. The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) uses QSS data in its estimates of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Economic Census Data

Access formatted tables by NAICS industry or island area using data.census.gov. Users can modify tables, download, and view notes.

Monthly Retail Trade

The Advance Monthly and Monthly Retail Trade Surveys (MARTS and MRTS), the Annual Retail Trade Survey (ARTS), and the Quarterly E-Commerce Report work together to produce the most comprehensive data available on retail economic activity in the United States. More detailed descriptions of these programs can be found by choosing one of the links to the left or by visiting the ARTS page.

Monthly Wholesale Trade

The Monthly Wholesale Trade report provides national estimates of monthly sales, inventories, and inventories-to-sales ratios by kind of business for wholesale firms located in the United States (excluding manufacturers’ sales branches and offices). Data from this survey provide business leaders and policymakers with an up-to-date picture of the nation’s economic condition, and are a key element in estimating the quarterly Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics:

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Occupational Outlook Handbook

A career resource from the Bureau of Labor Statistics that provides information on occupations in the United States. The OOH provides information on duties, education, training, pay, etc.