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 Academic and Bloomberg Professional
Industry ratios reports can be run for up to 20 user-specified data categories by using the "RV" (relative value) function. For instruction on the various functions available type RV and then press the green HELP key. 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)
Under the "Companies/Markets" tab, conduct a "Company Snapshot" search, then select "Reports" to bring up a "Ratio Comparison Report" that includes financial ratios.
First Research
(Current HBS only)
Provides overviews numerous U.S. industries. The end of each profile includes a list of financial ratios for the aggregate of the companies reviewed as part of the survey, as well as just the "small companies" assessed as part of the survey.
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.
IRS Corporate Financial Ratios
Schonfeld & Associates, published annually
Ref. HG 4050 .I77
Financial and operating ratios based on the recently available income and balance sheet data compiled by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service.
OneSource
(Current HBS only)
Once in an industry summary page, select "Industries" from the top bar, then select "Industry browse" to select you industry. From the industry summary page you choose select RMA Industry Norms (based on approximately 900 SIC codes).
Tip: Search in the Companies section for ratio comparisons 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. (Content also available in Onesource.)
Tip: Includes an annotated bibliography of other sources for financial and operating ratios.
RMA Annual Statement Studies. Industry default probabilities and cash flow measures
Risk Management Association, published annually
Ref. HG 4028 .B2 R62
A complementary source to the "RMA Statement Studies" offers industry default risk and cash flow measures for 400 lines of business whose total assets are lest than $250 million.
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 in NetAdvantage
(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.
Tip: These are also available in Standard & Poor's NetAdvantage.
Thomson ONE Banker
(Current HBS only)
Includes full text SEC filings for U.S. and international companies, 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.