What are your favorite sources for really trying to understand a business? (I’m referring to understanding the goods/services it provides and the process by which it does so.) Sometimes initiation reports are helpful, sometimes the Company Overview in the 10-K has some stuff. Where else do you look?
Management Conversation and Visits. You can’t really “understand” a business without talking to management.
negativefcf Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Management Conversation and Visits. You can’t > really “understand” a business without talking to > management. At what point in the analysis do you start talking to management? Towards the end? Do you ever call in the beginning to get their description of the business?
The S-1 is very helpful if the company is fairly new. If not, it would be from the latest 10-K, combined with the last few quarterly reports / earnings calls. Once you model it out, you should then speak with management to go over your assumptions/numbers.
The S-1 is very helpful; I have typically found the 10-K to be very vague and redundant. Most companies have presentation slides (or email IR to get them), that should be a good starting point. Talk to management once you have a tentative model and understand the basics of the industry/company
I’d add reading a basic report (the report done when the analyst initiated coverage) from a sell side analyst if you can get your hands on one. In the OP, you say “understanding the goods/services it provides and the process by which it does so”. If you are looking for really specific details, I’d say try to find operations type people within that industry or company to talk to.
If you have access to StreetEvents, reading past conference call transcripts is a great way to get on top of the current issues that analysts are focusing on… A lot of stuff gets fleshed out in the Q&As on calls that aren’t mentioned in the press releases…