Financial and Operating Ratios
This guide was prepared by Harvard Business School librarians for the HBS community. These resources have been selected as excellent starting points for academic research on financial and operating ratios and norms for companies and industries. For further research assistance, please contact Baker Library.
Almanac of Business and Industrial Financial Ratios
Prentice-Hall, published annually
Ref. HG 4028 .B2 T68
Financial and operating ratios are listed for both manufacturing and non-manufacturing industries.
Bloomberg
(Dedicated library workstation)
Industry ratios reports can be run for up to 20 user-specified data categories by using the "RV" (relative value) function. Provides quarterly and yearly ratios for virtually every public company traded on every stock exchange worldwide.
Compustat—Research Insight
(Dedicated library workstation)
Company financials, including monthly stock prices, beta, and S&P ratings of more than 9000 public companies and 10,000 companies that no longer file with the SEC. Contains 20 years of annual and quarterly company financial statements and ratios.
Cost of Capital
Ibbotson Associates, published annually
Ref. HG 4028 .B2 C687
Detailed statistics for sales, profitability, capitalization, beta, multiples, ratios, equity returns, and capital structure. Data on over 300 U.S.-based industries. Covers data through March of each year.
Factiva.com
(Current HBS only)
Use the Company Quick Search to get a company/industry comparison report that includes financial ratios.
Financial Studies of the Small Business
Financial Research Associates, published annually
Ref. HG 4028 .B2 F55
Arranged by asset size and establishment type; financial and operating ratios are provided for about 50 lines of small business and manufacturing.
Industry Norms and Key Business Ratios
Dun & Bradstreet Information Services, published annually
Ref. HG 4028 .B2 I54
Financial ratios are displayed for over 800 lines of business.
Industry Resources Reports
ValuationResources.com
Resources available from trade associations, industry publications, and research firms, which address industry overviews, issues and trends, industry outlook, industry forecast, financial benchmarking, compensation surveys, and valuation resources.
OneSource
(Current HBS only)
Choose an industry and select Industry Norms for financial norms for industries (based on approximately 900 SIC codes).
Tip: Search by Company for ratios on public U.S. and international companies.
RMA Annual Statement Studies
Robert Morris Associates, published annually
Ref. HG 4028 .B2 R6
Financial and operating ratios for more than 400 lines of business whose total assets are less than $250 million.
Tip: Includes an annotated bibliography of other sources for financial and operating ratios.
Standard & Poor's Analysts' Handbook
Standard & Poor's, updated quarterly
Ref. HG 4519 .S772
Selected income, accounting and balance sheet items, and ratios as applied to over 100 industrial, transportation, utilities, and financial group stock prices.
Standard & Poor's Industry Surveys
(Current HBS only)
Comprehensive overviews of 52 major U.S. industries. These reports cover industry trends, developments and forecasts, major players and market share data, key ratios and statistics, comparative company analysis, general industry operations, and other information.
Standard & Poor's Stock Reports
New York Stock Exchange, American Stock Exchange, Nasdaq Stock Exchange, and Regional Exchanges
Standard & Poor's, published monthly
Ref. HG 4571 .S72
Comprehensive two-page reports on over 4,600 companies. Includes P/E ratio and current ratios for 10 years.
Thomson Research
(Current HBS only)
Full text SEC filings, U.S. and international company annual reports, and downloadable financial statements.
Value Line Research Center
(HBS campus only)
Historical company and industry ratios. From the main page, select Lookup Company or Lookup Industry, then type company name or ticker or name of industry. Company and industry pages appear in a selection of formats. The industry page has ratios listed in the box at the lower left of the page. The company pages have a large table which includes ratios in the center of each page.
Tip: To look up historical ratios prior to what is covered online, use the microfilm version of the Value Line Investment Survey.