EDGAR Online on Monday is launching a new over-the-counter market data set aimed at providing exposure and transparency on public companies not listed in registered stock exchanges, confirmed David Frankel, chief marketing officer.
EDGAR will provide three years of fundamental data on companies from quarterly and annual financial statements. The data will also be available on Yahoo! Finance and the OTC Markets Group website, which partnered with EDGAR. Data from more than 800 companies will be in the data set, and Mr. Frankel expects that number to double in the next few years.
“The fact is now there will be a greater transparency in these companies than ever before,” Mr. Frankel said in a telephone interview. “It was really some Wild West stuff on how to analyze these companies.”
Mr. Frankel said quantitative analysts will now be able to run OTC companies' financial data through their models. For institutional investors, it will help those looking for the “next big thing” and justify making investments with smaller companies, Mr. Frankel said. OTC companies generally have a market capitalization below $100 million, he added.
“Institutional investors can do the same financial analysis (on smaller companies that) they do on Nasdaq- and NYSE-traded companies,” Mr. Frankel said.
Mr. Frankel credited the push for corporate governance policies and more transparency, as well as the extra exposure provided on the companies, as the main drivers behind launching the data set.
