Title: A list of the top documents to look through and what information they contain
10-K: This is an annual report that provides a wide range of details on the company’s operation including annual financial statements, a discussion of risks the company is facing, as well as a discussion and analysis of the company’s performance over the last year. If you want to get a general understanding of a company’s profile and performance over an extended period this is a good place to start.
10-Q: This is a quarterly report that shares information on a company’s performance over the previous quarter and discussion on a company’s performance and risk factors. This form is good to look at to get recent news on what the last few months have looked like for a company and is a good way to track any trends in a given year.
8-K: This is a current report that contains more recent news than quarterly or yearly reports from companies. These reports contain major announcements that shareholders should know about and can be considered news announcements for any publicly traded company.
S-1: This is a registration statement for when a company is preparing to offer a new security or stock to the public. These forms often are filed before an Initial Public Offering or when a company’s stock is first put on a publicly traded stock market. The information in this form can include how much capital a company is seeking and what the company would do with the capital raised from a securities offering.
S-4: This is an acquisition or merger registration statement for when companies are registering stocks and other securities to be used when these companies are considering mergers or acquisitions. So when mergers or acquisitions are announced it's best to seek out S4 forms to find the basic details of the merger or acquisition.
Forms 3, 4 and 5: These forms contain information on corporate insiders — executives, directors and holders of more than 10% of a company’s securities — on their transaction of the company they are an insider of.
The 3 form discloses the holdings an insider has in the company.
The 4 form discloses transactions of an insider’s holdings and securities within a company.
The 5 form is an annual form a company insider must file disclosing their current holdings in a company.
Proxy statement: These are documents that inform shareholders when a shareholders meeting is taking place and what is on the agenda for the meeting. Votes at shareholders’ meetings can include votes on board seats and makeup, compensation and bonuses for executives as well as declarations made by a company’s management.
Forms for Foreign entities
F-1: Registration form for any companies that are formed outside the U.S. which discloses the stocks or securities these companies are holding or offering.
20-F: This is the annual report for foreign companies that includes audited financial statements and a discussion of a company’s financial results.
6K: This is a current report for foreign companies that contains more updated financial statements than a 20-F and any information that is required to be shared by the company’s home country. Information in these reports are often associated with press releases.
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