How to find information
You land your first job after graduation—excited, maybe a little nervous, and armed with a great salary. Then comes the assignment: research everything you can about the company you chose today. When I started, they asked me to do it on Unilever, one of their biggest rivals. But here’s the secret: you learn more by digging deep into your own company, not just the competition. Use every resource we talked about in class. Go beyond the surface. Then, share what you discover in your comment below.
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Business – How to find information – Nestle
Nestlé’s purpose is to “unlock the power of food to enhance quality of life for everyone, today and tomorrow,” with a strategy centered on nutrition, health, wellness, and strong brands like Nescafé, KitKat, Maggi, Purina, and Nespresso.
In its first half of 2025, Nestlé reported net income of 5,065 million CHF.
The company has announced a cost-efficiency plan: including layoffs (6,000 employees globally over the next two years) and cost-savings targets to maintain margins amid a challenging macroeconomic environment.
Despite macroeconomic headwinds, Nestlé aims to maintain organic sales growth and preserve a UTOP margin 16% in 2025.
Employees
260,000 – 270, 000 employees world wide
In 190 countries have either factories, offices, or both.
Financial Information
Indicator (H1 2025, Nestlé Group)
Approximate value
CHF 44.2 billion
Down about 1.8% reported vs H1 2024 due to FX
Organic sales growth
About 3–3.5%
Mix of modest volume growth and pricing
Gross profit
CHF 20.6 billion
Gross margin 46.6%, down 60 bps
Underlying trading operating profit
CHF 7.3 billion
UTOP margin 16.5%, down 90 bps
Trading operating profit
Around CHF 6.9–7.0 billion
Trading margin ~15.6%
Net profit (shareholders)
CHF 5.1 billion
Down about 10% year‑on‑year
Basic EPS
CHF 1.97
Down about 9% vs H1 2024
Free cash flow
CHF 2.3 billion
Down 42% vs H1 2024
Trailing 12‑month revenue (USD)
About 100–101 billion USD
Q1 2025 context figure
Group finance supports a very decentralised but globally coordinated business, with activities such as FP&A, controlling, factory/operations finance, commercial finance, tax, internal control, and treasury.
Nestlé is typically the largest global packaged‑food player, with revenue around or just above 100 billion USD, compared with lower but still very large sales at PepsiCo, Unilever, Mondelez, and Procter & Gamble.
Comparing Nestlé with Mondelez, P&G, and Unilever show Nestlé with a high gross margin (often mid‑40% range), above Mondelez and Unilever, pointing to strong pricing power and premium positioning.
Nestlé has deliberately shifted its portfolio toward higher‑growth, higher‑margin premium categories (for example, coffee systems, pet care, specialized nutrition), which can mean slightly slower headline growth.
Strategic Analysis: Nestlé S.A. (Insights from Annual Review 2024)
Core Purpose & Market Position: Nestlé is the clear market leader with a strategy focused on “Good food, Good life.” Unlike its competitors, it leverages a massive portfolio of over 2,000 brands to drive nutrition, health, and wellness across 188 countries.
Key Financial Highlights (FY 2024):
Total Sales: CHF 91.4 billion. While reported sales dipped (-1.8%) due to foreign exchange impacts, the organic growth remains positive at +2.2%.
Profitability: The company maintained a robust Underlying Trading Operating Profit (UTOP) margin of 17.2% and generated a Free Cash Flow of CHF 10.7 billion, demonstrating strong operational efficiency despite global inflation.
Shareholder Value: Earnings per share were CHF 4.19, and the dividend was increased to CHF 3.05, continuing a 65-year streak of increases.
Strategic “Big Bets” & Innovation: My research into the 2024 Annual Review reveals that Nestlé is not just relying on established brands but is aggressively pushing six “Big Bets” for future growth:
Advanced Nutrition: NAN with Sinergity technology.
Coffee Innovation: Nescafé Espresso Concentrate for cold coffee trends.
Culinary: Maggi Air Fryer seasonings targeting modern cooking habits.
Snacking: Nestlé Choco Trio and other “Chocobakery” products.
PetCare: Purina Gourmet Revelations.
Systems: Nescafé Dolce Gusto Neo.
Sustainability as a Business Driver: Nestlé has integrated sustainability directly into its P&L through its “Virtuous Circle” model. A key achievement is the 20.38% net reduction in GHG emissions versus the 2018 baseline, hitting their 2025 target a year early.
Future Outlook: The company is guiding for a medium-term organic sales growth of 4%+ and a UTOP margin of 17%+, signaling confidence in their portfolio transformation and digitalization strategy.
In my opinion, looking at the 2024 Annual Review, Nestlé is managing the difficult economic situation really well. Instead of just cutting costs, they seem to be finding a smart balance between efficiency and investing in their future growth.
Key Financials (FY 2024):
Sales: CHF 91.4 billion.
Growth: Organic growth was +2.2%. What’s important is that real internal growth (volume) is positive again (+0.8%).
Profitability: They maintained a solid Underlying Trading Operating Profit margin of 17.2%.
Net Profit: CHF 10.9 billion.
Cash: Free Cash Flow remains strong at CHF 10.7 billion.
What stands out: I noticed they are betting big on six strategic areas for 2025 (“Big Bets”), such as advanced baby nutrition and new coffee trends like cold espresso. They are also ahead of schedule on sustainability, having reduced GHG emissions by over 20% compared to the 2018 baseline.
Scale: It is a massive organization with about 277,000 employees worldwide.
Source: Nestlé Annual Review 2024.
Aldar Properties is one of the biggest real estate developers in Abu Dhabi and the UAE. The company builds and manages residential, commercial, and retail projects and also runs an investment arm that holds income-generating properties like malls, offices, and hotels. Recently, Aldar reported strong financial results with profit and revenue growing compared to last year. Its investment business now manages around AED 47 billion in assets, and development sales hit record highs with big backlogs that show future income. They’ve also made major investments both locally and internationally, including stakes in companies like Egypt’s SODIC and the UK’s London Square, and huge land and project pipelines in the UAE. Overall, Aldar keeps expanding and attracting both local and foreign investors.
This was a clear and practical presentation showing that lots of financial information is widely accessible for free, and demonstrates how to find it using websites like Edgar or the WSJ. The real world examples, especially Warren Buffett and shareholder meetings, make learning the content engaging and understandable.
This was very clear and helped me understand that researching a company means going deeper than just its products and competitors. I learned that looking at financial statements and different sources gives a clearer picture of how a company works. It also showed me why understanding your own company well can be more useful than only focusing on rivals.
This explanation made it clear that good research goes beyond basic information about products and competitors. I learned that checking financial statements and multiple sources helps you understand how a company really functions. It also helped me realize that focusing on your own company can sometimes be more useful than only analyzing rivals.
Nike was founded in 1964. The company’s brand identity is powerfully defined by the iconic logo and just Do It slogan. Nike has its own way of advertising a commitment to direct to consumer sales. Nike manages its vast operation through a combination of sponsorships and deals for example nike sponsoring Ronaldo has a huge impact, and the sales imdetily increase sinceronaldo is a global star, and ensuring ethical labor practices across its global supply chain through its industry
Apple’s financial results show steady growth over the last few years. In 2025, Apple made $416 billion in sales, which is higher than $391 billion in 2024 and $383 billion in 2023. This means Apple’s sales are increasing, even though there was a small drop in 2023. In 2025, the company spent about $221 billion to produce its products, which is more than in previous years. Even with these higher costs, Apple earned a gross income of $195 billion, showing strong profits. Apple kept a high profit margin of about 47%, meaning it keeps almost half of its revenue as profit before other expenses.
Emirates Airlines.
Emirates Airlines is a major award winning airline, based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It connects global passengers from its hub in Dubai to over 150 destinations.
Currently, in 2025, Emirates Airlines achieved record profits before taxes at 3.3 billion USD (12.2 billion AED).
Their group revenue reached 20.6 billion USD (75.4 billion AED) in the first half of 2025-25; a 4% increase.
When the group ended in September 2025, they had a record cash balance of 15.2 billion USD (56 billion AED).
Emirates Airlines’ key drivers of their success is the high demand, strategic growth, and resilience.
Emirates maintains as a global leader in a aviation, demonstration a great financial health, making it one of the most economically stable and successful airline in the world.
The company I chose was Apple.
I’d go with 5 different options.
1. Go to their website. All publicly traded US companies are mandated to display/present their financial data. In the case of Apple, they have it on their website if you scroll down and click on “Investors”. This will then lead you to a page which displays their press release regarding their most recent quarter. Scroll down a bit more and you’ll find all previous quarters dating back to 2022 (As of December 15, 2025).
2. If a website like Facebook doesn’t have that information on their website, they have it elsewhere because as stated above, it is mandatory for all publicly traded US companies to display this data to the world. In this case, you use EDGAR, giving you filing data for ALL publicly traded US companies from 2001 onward.
3. Wall Street Journal – Search Up ” WSJ (insert company name) Financial Statements”. This will give you access to whichever company you researched for FREE, whether you have a WSJ paid subscription or not. This can get you information ranging from income statements, to cash flow, to even capital structure.
4. Brokerage Accounts – Anyone can open an account online, from whichever country you’re from and that will get you the information you want.
5. Become a shareholder yourself. This is at #5 for a reason, because it costs the most. It depends on which stock you’re talking about. As of December 15, 2025, Apple is being traded at $278.28USD. That is how much it would cost for you to become a shareholder, also known as a part owner. This will now give you the best information possible, directly from the source as you are now a part owner of said company, giving you access to financial records, etc..
If you go to the government website called WSJ where you can see all the financial state of company in America then you search Adidas. You can see that their number drop in practically each categories from 2022 to 2023 then increase in 2024.
For example,
we can see their revenue in 2022 being 22,511 then dropping to 21,427 in 2023 but increase to 23,683 in 2024.
Another example is
the Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) incl. D&A. From 12,818 in 2022 to 12,327 in 2023 to 13,037 in 2024.
It the same pattern, It drop at first then it increase. It showing that the performance in 2023 of Adidas was dropping, showing that they did less efforts but pulling themselves together in 2024, making them increase.
This is the type of information that you can find on this website. Not only economic but more.
In 2024, IBM had a very successful fiscal year. 93% of fortune 500 companies leverage IBM’s hybrid cloud products and solutions. Their total revenue for the fiscal year of 2024 was over USD 63 billion, while their 2024 free cash flow was USD 12.7 billion. IBM had met their revenue growth targets across all segments, exceeded profitability targets, and achieved highest free cash flow margin in history in 2024.
In 2024:
sales/revenue: Over USD 63 billion
sales growth: 1.44%
IBM aims to keep innovating and improving the quality of product, increasing its client base, keeping its products as affordable as possible in the market, while increasing revenue and market reach as much as possible.
70% of the worlds transactions by value run on IMB Z, which is a family of modern mainframe computers.
From the data and numbers present, it appears that IBM will continue to grow and expand based on the data available from 2024. Its technology is more affordable, more efficient, and more cost effective than the majority of its competitors.
Sources:
Wall Street Journal – International Business Machines Corp. Financial Statements
IBM Investor Day 2025
If you go to the government website called WSJ where you can see all the financial state of company in America then you search Adidas.
You can see that their number drop in practically each categories from 2022 to 2023 then increase in 2024.
An example,
we can see their revenue
in 2022 being 22,511 then dropping to 21,427 in 2023 but increase to 23,683 in 2024.
Another example is
the Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) incl. D&A.
From 12,818 in 2022 to 12,327 in 2023 to 13,037 in 2024.
It the same pattern, It drop at first then it increase.
It showing that the performance in 2023 of Adidas was dropping, showing that they did less efforts but pulling themselves together in 2024, making them increase.
This is the type of information that you can find on this website.
looking at Chipotle’s 2025 annual review, I can confidently state that Chipotle is managing its economic state very effectively with ease. Rather than being dependent only on price increases, Chipotle focuses on long-term growth through operational efficiency, digital innovation, and brand loyalty.
Key financials:
. Revenue: Chipotle continues to present a strong revenue growth, driven by higher sales per restaurant and steady expansion.
.Growth: Comparable restaurants sales increased, showing that customer demand remains stronger and more loyal even in a challenging economic climate.
.Profitability: Operating margins improved, indicating better cost control and efficient restaurant operations.
.Cash flow: Chipotle maintains a healthy cash position, allowing it to invest in new locations and technology without excessive debt.
In my opinion, something I believe stands out the most in Chipotle is their focus on digital sales, loyalty programs, drive-thru locations, which makes sure the brand more accessible and efficient. Which shows how much they care about their customers. The company also shows a commitment to being sustainable and supporting local farmers which is also another key factor of its brand image and building customer trust.
Scale:
Chipotle operates thousands of restaurants globally and employs over 100,000 people, showing both its scale and strong market presence.
That’s all I conclude for my Chipotle report I hope this is useful to you.
Company I choose: Adidas
If you go to the government website called WSJ where you can see all the financial state of company in America then you search Adidas.
You can see that their number drop in practically each categories from 2022 to 2023 then increase in 2024.
An example,
we can see their revenue
in 2022 being 22,511 then dropping to 21,427 in 2023 but increase to 23,683 in 2024.
Another example is
the Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) incl. D&A.
From 12,818 in 2022 to 12,327 in 2023 to 13,037 in 2024.
It the same pattern, It drop at first then it increase.
It showing that the performance in 2023 of Adidas was dropping, showing that they did less efforts but pulling themselves together in 2024, making them increase.
This is the type of information that you can find on this website.
McDonalds is the restaurant that attracts a lot of consumers with its iconic phrase ‘I’m lovin it”. In its Wall Street Journal it is implied that McDonalds makes lots of its revenue from advertising new items on the menu such as the McRib. In addition McDonalds has benefiting from cutting combo meal costs, benefiting them massively. Lastly McDonalds benefited a lot from the grimace shake, as it took social media platforms by storm, after advertising their mascot.
Pietro Pellerey – Nestlé S.A.
Financial & Economic Profile
Recent Financial Performance
Full-Year 2024 Results
In full-year 2024, Nestlé reported sales of CHF 91.35 billion, representing a decline of 1.8% compared with 2023. Despite this contraction in reported sales, organic growth remained positive at 2.2%. Underlying Trading Operating Profit (UTOP) reached CHF 15.70 billion, down 2.2% year on year, while net profit decreased by 2.9% to CHF 10.88 billion. Basic earnings per share amounted to CHF 4.19, a 1.0% decline versus the previous year. Free cash flow increased to CHF 10.67 billion, up 2.5%, and the dividend per share was raised to CHF 3.05, an increase of 1.7%.
Overall, 2024 was characterised by declining reported sales largely due to adverse foreign exchange effects, continued positive organic growth, and a slight compression in profitability driven by higher costs and increased investment.
Source: Nestlé Global website – Full-Year Results 2024.
First Half 2025 Results
In the first half of 2025, Nestlé recorded sales of CHF 44.23 billion, down 1.8% compared with the same period in 2024. Organic growth improved to 2.9%, an increase of 0.8 percentage points year on year. The UTOP margin declined to 16.5%, a reduction of 90 basis points. Net profit fell more sharply, decreasing by 10.3% to CHF 5.06 billion, while basic EPS declined by 9.0% to CHF 1.97. Free cash flow dropped significantly to CHF 2.31 billion, down 42.0%, and net financial debt increased to CHF 60.0 billion relative to 2024.
The first half of 2025 showed modest improvement in organic growth, but weaker profitability and cash generation, alongside rising net debt, partly reflecting dividend payments and foreign exchange movements.
Source: Nestlé Global website – First Half 2025 Results.
Balance Sheet and Liquidity (June 2025)
As of June 2025, Nestlé reported total assets of approximately CHF 130.12 billion and total liabilities of CHF 101.08 billion, resulting in total equity of CHF 29.05 billion. Cash and short-term investments stood at around CHF 5.52 billion, indicating a solid but leveraged balance sheet structure typical of large consumer goods companies.
Source: Google Finance.
Market and Valuation Metrics
Based on financial market data, Nestlé’s market capitalisation is approximately CHF 203.2 billion. The company trades at a trailing price-to-earnings ratio of around 19.6 times earnings and a forward P/E of roughly 17.3 times. The price-to-book ratio is close to 7.0, while the enterprise value to EBITDA multiple is approximately 14.5. Nestlé’s profit margin is estimated at about 11.3%, with a return on assets of roughly 7.0% and a return on equity of around 33.8%.
Source: Google Finance.