Valuation evidence from SEC EDGAR

• Part 1 of 4 · Search

• Part 2 of 4 · Comparables

Keyword search across filings since 2001, filtered by form type, company and date.

10-K, 10-Q and 20-F reports, with structured XBRL data through free APIs.

• Part 3 of 4 · Intangibles

• Part 4 of 4 · Terms

PPAs and licences

Public, with fair access

Purchase price allocations in acquirers' notes and licence agreements filed as exhibits.

Filings are public; automated access must declare a user agent and stay within 10 requests per second.

■ SEC EDGAR · Getting started

How EDGAR is organised

Every filing has a form type, a filer identifier (CIK), a filing date and attachments. Knowing which form holds which information saves most of the search time.

Finding filings

The forms that matter

Company search: look up a filer by name or ticker on EDGAR company search and filter its filings by form type.

10-K and 20-F: annual reports of US and foreign issuers, with audited statements, segment data and risk factors.

Full-text search: EDGAR full-text search finds words and phrases in filings since 2001, for example 'royalty rate' or 'relief from royalty'.

10-Q and 6-K: interim reports, for financials closer to the valuation date.

Filters: narrow full-text results by form type, filer category, location and date range, and export the result list.

8-K: current reports, including completed acquisitions (Item 2.01) and material agreements (Item 1.01).

Exhibits: each filing lists its attachments; material contracts are usually Exhibit 10 and press releases Exhibit 99.

S-1, F-1 and DEF 14A: IPO prospectuses and proxy statements, with fairness-opinion summaries in merger proxies.

Example: to find guideline companies for a medical-device subject, the valuer filters 10-K filers by industry code and reads the business description of each candidate before selecting.

Practice tip: cite the company, form type, fiscal period, filing date and the EDGAR link to the document, and save a PDF copy in the working papers.

■ SEC EDGAR · Comparables

Financial data for guideline companies

The market approach needs comparable financial measures. EDGAR gives them as reported, and its XBRL data makes the same figures available in a structured form.

Reported financials

Structured data

Statements: revenue, EBITDA components, debt, leases and share counts come from the audited statements and notes of the 10-K or 20-F.

XBRL viewer: the inline XBRL view of a filing tags each figure, which makes it easy to trace a number back to the statement.

Non-GAAP measures: adjusted EBITDA in earnings releases is the company's own measure; reconcile it to the statements before using it in a multiple.

APIs: the free data.sec.gov APIs return a company's filing history and its reported XBRL facts in JSON.

Segments: segment notes give revenue and operating profit by business, needed for a sum-of-the-parts.

Financial statement data sets: quarterly bulk files of XBRL data support screening across many companies.

Share data: the cover page gives shares outstanding at a recent date, needed for market capitalisation at the valuation date.

Tagging quality: XBRL tags can differ between companies for the same item; check the figure against the statement before relying on it.

Example: the valuer computes EV/EBITDA for six guideline companies from their latest 10-K figures, adds leases to debt consistently, and compares the result with Damodaran's industry multiple in the Valuvix multiples calculator.

Practice tip: align fiscal years and the valuation date; for trailing measures, combine the last annual report with the latest interim reports.

■ SEC EDGAR · Intangibles

Purchase price allocations and licence agreements

Two kinds of EDGAR evidence matter for intangibles: how acquirers allocated purchase prices, and the royalty terms of licence agreements filed as material contracts.

Purchase price allocations

Licence agreements

Business combination notes: under ASC 805, acquirers disclose the fair values of acquired intangibles, their useful lives and goodwill in the 10-K notes.

Finding licences: in EDGAR full-text search, combine "license agreement" with "royalty", filter to 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K, and open exhibits numbered 10.x (material contracts).

Methods and inputs: some acquirers disclose the valuation methods and key inputs, such as royalty rates, attrition or discount rates.

Terms to read: royalty base, rate, exclusivity, territory, term, upfront payments and milestones all affect comparability.

Useful lives: disclosed lives for brands, technology and customer relationships support the economic-life assumption of a Valuvix brand or MPEEM analysis.

Redactions: since 2019 companies may omit immaterial, competitively harmful terms from filed exhibits without a confidential treatment request, so some rates are blanked out.

Goodwill share: the split between identified intangibles and goodwill in comparable deals is a reasonableness check on a PPA.

Comparability: a filed licence reflects the parties' bargaining position at signing; adjust for differences before using its rate (IVS 210 para 60.21).

Example: for a consumer-brand relief-from-royalty analysis, the valuer finds four trademark licences in the same industry with rates of 3% to 6% of net sales, and records why each is or is not comparable.

Practice tip: royalty databases are largely built from these filings; read the original agreement, and confirm the licensed right in the official register (see the IP registries guide).

■ SEC EDGAR · Quality control

Fair access, dating and common pitfalls

EDGAR is free but heavily used. The SEC asks automated users to identify themselves and limit their request rate, and valuers should be careful with dates and restatements.

Access rules

Pitfalls

Fair access: the SEC sets a maximum of 10 requests per second; scripts must declare a user agent with a contact email, as explained in Accessing EDGAR Data.

Knowable at the valuation date: use the filings available on the valuation date; later filings and restatements were not known then.

Bulk data: for large downloads use the bulk archives rather than repeated page requests.

Amendments: forms ending in /A amend earlier filings; check whether a figure was restated.

No endorsement: citing EDGAR documents does not imply that the SEC reviewed or approved the valuation.

Foreign issuers: 20-F filers may report under IFRS rather than US GAAP; adjust before comparing.

Archive: older filings before electronic filing became mandatory may be incomplete.

Currency: amounts are in the reporting currency of the filer, which may not be US dollars.

Example: for a valuation at 30 June 2026, a 10-K filed in July 2026 for the year to May 2026 is excluded; the latest report available at the valuation date is used instead.

Practice tip: record the accession number of each filing used; it identifies the document uniquely and lets a reviewer retrieve it.

✱ Source and attribution

Documents from SEC EDGAR

Filings on EDGAR are submitted by the issuers named on them and published by the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Cite the filer, form type, filing date and accession number. The SEC does not review or endorse valuations that use EDGAR documents. Valuvix is not affiliated with the SEC.

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