At a Glance: FactSet Fundamentals DataFeed

The Basics

FactSet Fundamentals DataFeed provides users with a firm foundation for financial analysis in a comprehensive global database of financial statement information. Focused on timeliness, accuracy, and coverage, FactSet Fundamentals enables company and comparative analysis of annual and interim data including reported and derived data items. Fundamental data is available beginning in 1980 and covers worldwide developed and emerging markets. 

The product information and content statistics contained in this document are as of August 2019.

The Coverage

FactSet Fundamentals covers 86,000+ global companies, including inactive companies from over 115 countries. Annual data is available beginning in 1980, semi-annual data from 1994, and quarterly data from 1995. There are 750+ data items available in the DataFeed.                                                 

The Differentiators

FactSet’s Fundamentals collection methodology uses multiple methods to acquire filings for companies under coverage. Sourcing 8-Ks, Business Wire, PRNewswire, Stock Exchanges, company websites, and other news sources for preliminary documents enables FactSet to capture information as soon as its available. The time to acquire a document can vary, but documents are generally available in seconds or hours from publication and make it to collection teams in minutes or hours. Only rarely is collection not same-day.

FactSet strives to cover all newly listed companies with a minimum of $25 million gross proceeds, with most recent annual and interim periods available on the listing day. Earlier annual and interim periods are collected and made available within five business days of listing. 

In order to improve comparability across industries and countries, FactSet provides financial data in a standardized format. Based on data obtained from primary source documents, FactSet Fundamentals take into consideration the variety of accounting conventions, including evolving IASC standards. Fundamental data is adjusted to conform to FactSet’s standardized methods giving clients the ability to more easily perform cross-company analysis.

Example Use Case

Fundamental data is the linchpin of security analysis and is foundational to the investment process regardless of style. FactSet Fundamentals is a world-class database containing 750+ data items, including detailed financial statement content, per share data, calculated ratios, business and regional segment data, and pension detail with deep history and broad global coverage. 

Performing a deep-dive financial statement analysis on a company is one of the primary uses of FactSet Fundamentals data. FactSet classifies each company into one of four industry profiles, Commercial, Bank, Insurance, and Other Financial, which are based on the company’s operating and principal business activities. These categories each have an industry-specific financial statement template, including relevant financial data items for companies in that industry, allowing for greater comparability between companies in the same line of business.

The FactSet Fundamentals Balance Model tables provide users with information on the relevant fields to each industry template and map companies to their appropriate classification. The basic package includes top-level financial statement information while the advanced package allows for further disambiguation of data items down to their core components. The screenshot below shows Caterpillar Inc.’s Basic Income Statement.

In addition to doing deep-dive analysis on a single company, the FactSet Fundamental DataFeed allows for comparative analysis across different companies. The example shows the individual companies in FactSet RBICS L3 Industrial Sector, highlighting Caterpillar’s relative position in the sector.

FactSet Fundamentals is a world-class database of fundamental financial statement information with deep history and broad global coverage providing investors, regardless of investment style, with the foundational information required to research securities and build investment strategies.

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