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Answered By: Farha Hasan
Last Updated: May 08, 2024     Views: 1940

Q.
Finding Historical Financial Statements with Compustat

How do I find historical financial statements using Compustat in WRDS?

A.

You can search for historical financial statements through Compustat in WRDS. 

Choose Database

  • Select Compustat - Capital IQ
  • Under Tools in the lower right hand area select Complete Financial Statements (XLS)

Step One: Date Range

  • Select desired start and end years 

Step Two: Search

  • Click Code lookup; a new window will open
  • Type company name, e.g. Xerox, into search box; hit Lookup codes
  • Copy and paste ticker symbol back into the Company Code box on the main WRDS search page (Note: Highlight the ticker symbol and manually copy and paste it into the search box rather than using the Code List feature in the Code Lookup window)
  • Click Submit Query 
  • Data Request Summary window will open
  • Right mouse click on the highlighted file name
  • Choose Save Target As option
  • Save as a .xls file to your computer
  • Open file in Excel
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