The 10-K is one of the most important financial filings required by the SEC. All companies with publicly-traded securities must file one within 90 days of the close of their fiscal year.
The 10-K is one of the most important financial filings required by the SEC. All companies with publicly-traded securities must file one within 90 days of the close of their fiscal year. If you need to conduct in-depth research into a competitor, potential client or strategic partner, the 10-K is a great place to start. They are available for free via EDGAR, the SEC’s online, searchable index of filings. From EDGAR, you can download a 10-K in Word, Excel or PDF formats.
Key parts of a 10-K
10-K filings are generally divided into four sections:
- Section 1: General business overview
- Section 2: Management discussion and analysis, financial statements and notes
- Section 3: Directors and officers information
- Section 4: Exhibits
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Section 1: General Business Overview
This provides the framework for analyzing the company and its industry. It breaks out specific risks that the company faces. When reviewing the risks, it’s important to do so with a grain of salt. A 10-K is a legal and financial document. Lawyers and accounts like to err on the side of caution. Therefore many of the risks listed will seem quite obvious and don’t provide much value (“prices may fall”). But there can be valuable, company specific risks that do provide actionable intelligence.
Go to the article: How To Read And Interpret A 10-K
