Library Guides: Industry Information: Ratios

Using financial ratios

Financial ratios can be used to compare how a company is performing when compared with specific companies in the same industry, or compared to the industry as a whole.

Source: Strauss's Handbook of Business Information, third edition, by Rita W. Moss and David G. Ernsthausen

Sources for financial ratios

Bloomberg Academic
Current and historical financial information on individual equities, stock market indices, fixed-income securities, currencies, commodities, and futures for both international and domestic markets.

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Factiva This link opens in a new window
Industry ratios are found in the Companies/Markets section. Select the industry of choice and scroll to Industry Averages and Ratios.
IBISWorld This link opens in a new window
Under Key Statistics, find financial ratios for nearly all of IBISWorld's core industries. Includes data for the past three years and the current year disaggregated by size of business. Historical figures available back to 2007. IBISWorld’s Financial Ratios are sourced directly from the financial statements of the Risk Management Association’s (RMA) member institutions and are presented in common size format, with each item a percentage of total assets.
This subscription includes reports for the US and China, as well as global industry reports. Specialized industry reports are also included along with US business environment data profiles. Reports are typically 35-40 pages in length.
Nexis Uni This link opens in a new window
The Compare Companies section in Company Dossier includes ratios. Enter up to 5 company names or ticker symbols for companies within the same industry.
Refinitiv Workspace for Students This link opens in a new window
Please read the access instructions. You must first register for an account on this page: https://my.refinitiv.com/productregistration.html. You need to do that part only once. Once registered, select the title to access the resource.
Refinitiv Workspace is the resource that replaces Thomson One and Eikon. The information modules currently available on the platform include: aftermarket research (analyst/research reports), private equity, company financials, market data, and industry information. Expanded screening tools feature public and private company data, with customizable peer comparisons. Workspace also features geographic and industry analytical tools, as well as access to cross-asset data including bond pricing, commodities, economic indicators, and more.
Register for login credentials using your Tulane email address. You need to do this part only once. https://my.refinitiv.com/productregistration.html
Standard and Poor's NetAdvantage This link opens in a new window
S&P NetAdvantage includes a broad spectrum of industry, company and investment analysis including Industry Surveys, and Equity Research (formerly Stock Reports). Industry data sets include key ratios, benchmarks, constituents, financial metrics, etc. by sub-industry or geography (see Markets tab). Archived Industry Surveys included as far back as 1999 depending upon title continuity. Company data covers a global universe of over 3 million private and public companies.
Thomson One This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Thomson One is no longer supported and was replaced by Refinitiv Workspace for Students. RWS can be found on the Turchin Business Library's A-Z database page https://libguides.tulane.edu/busdatabases. You will need to create an account before using.

Alternatively, if you would like to access Thomson One, you can still do so using a Microsoft Edge browser. Here are instructions for allowing Edge to open pages as Internet Explorer:
Open Microsoft Edge on Windows 10.
1. Click the Settings and More (ellipsis) button on the top-right corner.
2. Select the Settings option.
3. Click on Default browser.
4. Under the "Internet Explorer compatibility" section, turn on the "Allow sites to be reloaded in Internet Explorer mode" toggle switch.

Must use with Internet Explorer. Disable pop-up blockers. Limit of 20 simultaneous users. Company information from a variety of sources provided by Thomson Reuters including: private equity, company financials and filings, mergers and acquisitions data and analyst reports. Data types include: company overviews, company news and price charts, corporate governance (takeover defense), corporate financial fundamentals, estimates (and earnings surprises), debt overview, company deals, share ownership information, company research, company financial filings, officers and directors.