Unleashing the Power of Financial Data: Exploring Traditional and Alternative Data

Suciu Dan on Jul 26 2023

Understanding the significance of financial data in shaping business decisions is pivotal to the success of any organization. Essentially, financial data forms the backbone of every business decision, supplying the analytical fuel necessary for comprehending the fiscal health of an enterprise. However, not all financial data is created equal – some insights are gleaned from traditional internal documents, while others are procured from external, often unconventional, sources.

To ensure that your data collection efforts are exhaustive and holistic, it might be worthwhile to explore innovative techniques such as block-free scraping using artificial intelligence-powered proxy solutions. This enables businesses to tap into a broader spectrum of data sources, thereby increasing the richness and diversity of financial data at their disposal.

Traditional financial data is typically extracted from key financial statements such as the balance sheet, income statement, and cash flow statement of an organization. This information forms the bedrock of any financial analysis, encapsulating the company's profitability, liquidity, and overall financial health. But the story doesn't end here. An increasingly valuable treasure trove of insights, often labeled as "external data", emerges from resources outside the company’s immediate financial documents.

Various stakeholders within a business ecosystem - from investors and managers to regulators - leverage these data sets for a multitude of purposes. For instance, prospective investors critically assess this financial data to make informed investment decisions and to evaluate the company's performance after the investment has been made. In contrast, an organization's internal management teams meticulously analyze this data to gauge business performance and determine the effectiveness of their strategic initiatives.

In the forthcoming sections of this article, we will delve deeper into the different categories of financial data, exploring their specific applications and highlighting the tools available for managing and analyzing such information. Our objective is to provide you with a comprehensive guide to navigating the often complex world of financial data, its varying types, and the powerful tools that can transform this raw data into actionable business intelligence.

Understand financial data and use cases

Financial data stands as an umbrella term encompassing a wide array of numerical information that feeds into our understanding of a business's fiscal health. This information can be split into two primary categories: Traditional Financial Data and Alternative Data, each serving distinct functions and providing unique insights.

Traditional financial data

Traditional financial data is the lifeblood of any business. It includes financial statements, press releases, and SEC filings, and paints a holistic picture of a business's financial standing. This category is further broken down into specific financial parameters such as assets, liabilities, equity, income, expenses, and cash flow.

Assets represent a company's resources, tangible and intangible, that hold economic value. Conversely, liabilities are the financial debts or obligations that a company owes to others.

Income captures the wealth increment realized from sales and investments, whereas expenses pertain to the costs incurred in the business's operations.

Equity embodies the residual interest in the assets of an entity after deducting liabilities. In simpler terms, it's the money that would remain if all a company's assets were liquidated and debts were settled.

Lastly, cash flow is a depiction of the origin and application of a business's income and expenses, offering a glimpse into the business's financial health.

Alternative data

In the current data-saturated era, the lure of unconventional data sources, known as alternative data, is irresistible to investors and analysts. As per Forrester's research, 56% of decision-makers affirm their businesses' growing capabilities to harness external data. Furthermore, Grand View Research values the alternative data market at $1.72 billion in 2020, predicting its annual growth rate to be 58.5% between 2021 and 2028. These figures underline the burgeoning importance of alternative data in business decision-making.

Alternative data encompasses external, non-traditional data, covering areas such as financial transactions, web data, and geolocation data. This form of data typically offers more granular and real-time insights into a company's performance and financial aspects. It originates from diverse sources, including individual actions, business processes, and sensors, and encompasses web data, social media data, geolocation data, credit card transactions, email receipts, product reviews, and even satellite imagery.

There are three predominant methods of procuring alternative data: web scraping, raw data acquisition, and third-party licensing.

Web scraping involves leveraging software tools like web scraping APIs to extract relevant unstructured data from web pages, which is then processed into a structured, interpretable format.

Raw data acquisition involves gathering unprocessed data from sources like sensors. This raw data feed needs subsequent cleaning and processing before any analysis.

Finally, third-party licensing involves buying data sets, like credit card and POS transaction data, from licensed intermediaries. These data brokers process raw data into consumable formats and sell them to investors, offering a hassle-free alternative data source.

Managing financial data

Financial data management is an intricate process wherein organizations utilize specialized tools to measure, analyze, and manage their financial information. It involves a deep-dive into the company's financial analysis, entailing the collection, processing, and interpretation of financial data.

Understanding Financial Analysis

Financial analysis acts as a microscope through which the financial health of a company can be critically assessed. It requires meticulous scrutiny of a business's financial statements and is performed for various purposes and by diverse stakeholders.

Internally, a company's management may perform a Corporate Financial Analysis to review historical trends and steer future strategic decisions grounded in the company's financial data. Externally, Investment Financial Analysis is carried out by potential investors to ascertain the investment-worthiness of a business.

Two primary types of financial analysis are the Fundamental Analysis and Technical Analysis. Fundamental Analysis revolves around using financial ratios to evaluate the company's value, considering a gamut of factors that might influence the company's worth. On the other hand, Technical Analysis employs statistical trends derived from the company's stock trading activity. It concentrates on scrutinizing price movements, identifying patterns, and forecasting future activity based on these trends.

Additional financial analysis methodologies include vertical analysis, horizontal analysis, leverage ratios analysis, growth rates analysis, and profitability analysis. Financial analysts also examine liquidity, efficiency ratios, cash flow, rates of return, valuation, and variance.

Mastering Financial Data Management

Financial analysis often involves utilizing tools like Microsoft Excel or specialized financial data management software applications. The task calls for a keen eye for detail when dealing with large data sets and the ability to make sound, data-driven assumptions.

A plethora of financial analytics tools enables analysts to monitor an extensive range of metrics, including income, expenses, and profits. These systems also aid in streamlining the data collection and preparation process, and some even facilitate the generation of valuable insights, which can drive improvements in business operations.

Deriving actionable insights from alternative data can be daunting, given the size and complexity of these data sets. They necessitate the use of advanced software and the expertise of skilled data scientists for proper processing. Nevertheless, with a well-designed strategy, investors can minimize costs while simultaneously securing a competitive edge through the strategic use of alternative data.

Analysing financial statements data

Financial statements serve as the financial chronicles of a business, encapsulating its financial performance over a defined period. These documents undergo stringent auditing by accountants, firms, and government agencies, thereby providing reliable data for financial analysts and investors. The contained information forms the backbone of investment decisions, painting a clear picture of the business's financial health.

Consider financial statements as the comprehensive scorecard of a company. They meticulously document vital financial data across various facets of an organization’s operations, providing a lens to evaluate the company's current, past, or projected performance.

Financial statements primarily comprise the balance sheet, income statement, and cash flow statement.

• Balance Sheet: Acting as the financial snapshot of a business, a balance sheet details a company's assets, liabilities, and equity at a given point in time. This pivotal financial data empowers investors to rapidly assess the performance of potential investments.
• Income Statement: Also known as the profit and loss statement, an income statement outlines a company's sales, expenses, and net income over a particular period. The net income is computed by deducting the company’s expenses from its revenue, offering insights into the profitability of the business.
• Cash Flow Statement: As the name suggests, the cash flow statement tracks the cash generation and spending by a business, highlighting its ability to meet liabilities and cover operating expenses. This statement enhances the understanding provided by the balance sheet and income statement, giving investors a glimpse into the business's cash movements.

These financial statements are diligently maintained by businesses and leveraged by internal management teams for informed decision-making. Financial analysts often employ three key techniques to dissect a company’s financial statements:

• Horizontal Analysis: This method involves a year-over-year comparison of financial data to identify trends and growth patterns.
• Vertical Analysis: This technique focuses on the relationship between different items within a single financial statement, providing a proportional analysis of each line item to a total within the statement.
• Ratio Analysis: Ratio analysis facilitates comparisons between different data points from the financial statements, measuring various performance metrics. This method yields financial ratios such as liquidity ratios, solvency ratios, profitability ratios, efficiency ratios, and coverage ratios.

While financial statements offer a treasure trove of information on a company’s finances, their interpretation can vary between individual investors. Consequently, different investors may arrive at disparate conclusions regarding the financial health of the same business, underlining the importance of astute financial analysis.

Closing notes

Financial data stands as a cornerstone for analysts and investors seeking to evaluate a company's financial robustness and performance. It delivers the critical financial insights that drive informed decision-making and strategic planning. In the ever-evolving financial landscape, alternative data has emerged as a rich vein of information. For investors, hedge funds, and even the disruptors in the financial industry, it provides a unique avenue to gain a competitive edge and augment their investment strategies for superior returns, thus effectively enhancing alpha generation.