Where to Find Financial Statements#

Now that you understand what financial statements are, where do you actually find them? The good news: all public company financials are free and publicly available.

Public companies in the United States are required by law to publish their financial statements. This transparency is one of the great advantages of investing in public markets.

The SEC EDGAR Database#

The most authoritative source for financial statements is the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) EDGAR database.

Website: sec.gov/edgar

Key SEC Filings#

Filing	What It Is	Frequency
10-K	Annual report with audited financials	Once per year
10-Q	Quarterly report with unaudited financials	Three times per year
8-K	Report of significant events	As needed
DEF 14A	Proxy statement (executive pay, board info)	Annually before shareholder meeting

The 10-K Annual Report#

The 10-K is the gold standard for financial information. It includes:

Complete audited financial statements
Management Discussion & Analysis (MD&A)
Business description and risk factors
Executive compensation details
Notes explaining accounting policies

Pro Tip

The MD&A section is where management explains the numbers in plain English. It's often more valuable than the raw financial data because it provides context.

The 10-Q Quarterly Report#

The 10-Q is a shorter, more frequent update. It includes:

Unaudited financial statements
Brief MD&A update
Any material changes since the 10-K

While less comprehensive than the 10-K, quarterly reports help you track performance throughout the year.

Company Investor Relations#

Every public company has an Investor Relations (IR) section on their website. This is often the easiest way to find financials.

How to find it:

Go to the company's website
Look for "Investor Relations" or "Investors" (usually in the footer)
Navigate to "SEC Filings" or "Financial Information"

What You'll Find#

Most IR pages include:

SEC filings (10-K, 10-Q, 8-K)
Earnings releases and presentations
Annual reports (often with better formatting than SEC filings)
Earnings call transcripts
Stock price information

Bonus Resource

Earnings call transcripts are goldmines of information. Management discusses results and answers analyst questions. You can learn a lot about a company's strategy and challenges.

Financial Websites#

Several websites make it easier to access and analyze financial data:

Website	Best For
Yahoo Finance	Quick overview, basic financials
Google Finance	Simple interface, basic data
Finviz	Screening stocks, visualizing data
Morningstar	Detailed analysis, historical data
Seeking Alpha	Analysis articles, transcripts
Macrotrends	Long-term historical data

Advantages of Financial Websites#

Formatted data - Numbers organized in clean tables
Comparisons - Easy to compare multiple companies
Charts - Visual representation of trends
Ratios - Pre-calculated financial ratios

Important Warning#

Verify the Source

Financial websites occasionally have errors. For important investment decisions, always verify numbers against the official SEC filings. Websites are great for screening and quick analysis, but the SEC filing is the authoritative source.

How to Use EDGAR#

Here's a step-by-step guide to finding a company's 10-K:

Go to sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar
Enter the company name or ticker symbol
Click "Search"
Look for "10-K" in the filing type
Click on the filing date
Click "10-K" (the actual document) to view

Navigating a 10-K#

10-K filings are long (often 100+ pages). Here's where to find key information:

Section	What It Contains
Item 1	Business description
Item 1A	Risk factors
Item 7	Management Discussion & Analysis
Item 8	Financial Statements and Notes

Shortcut

Use Ctrl+F (or Cmd+F on Mac) to search within the document. Search for terms like "revenue," "net income," or "risk" to jump to relevant sections.

Annual Reports vs. 10-K#

Companies often release a glossy "Annual Report" in addition to the 10-K. What's the difference?

Annual Report	10-K
Marketing document	Legal document
Highlights and photos	Complete disclosure
May omit details	Required information
Easy to read	Technical and detailed

Both are useful. The annual report gives a high-level overview, while the 10-K has all the details you need for thorough analysis.

Your Research Workflow#

Here's a practical workflow for researching a company:

Start with a financial website - Get a quick overview
Read the latest 10-Q - See recent performance
Study the 10-K - Deep dive into the full picture
Read MD&A - Understand management's perspective
Listen to earnings calls - Hear questions from analysts

Key Takeaways

SEC EDGAR is the authoritative source for all public company filings
The 10-K (annual) and 10-Q (quarterly) are the most important filings
Company Investor Relations pages provide easy access to filings
Financial websites are useful for quick analysis but verify important data
The MD&A section provides management's explanation of the numbers
Develop a consistent research workflow for analyzing companies