Here’s a complete, actionable blueprint to build a professional Company Research Report Template in Excel. This structure works for investment analysis, competitive intelligence, vendor evaluation, or M&A research.

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Step 1: Set Up Your Workbook Structure

Create 7 separate sheets with these exact names:

1. Dashboard (Executive Summary)
2. Profile (Basic Intel)
3. Financials (5-Year History)
4. CompMatrix (Competitive Landscape)
5. SWOT (Strategic Analysis)
6. Valuation (Investment Thesis)
7. Catalysts (Timeline/News)

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Step 2: Build Each Sheet (Copy these layouts)

Sheet 1: Dashboard (Your "At-a-Glance" View)

Format: Hide gridlines, add company logo placeholder, use a clean color palette (blue/gray).

Conditional Formatting: Make Rating cell turn green for "Buy", yellow for "Hold", red for "Sell".

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Sheet 2: Profile (The "Who They Are")

Column A: Label, Column B: Data, Column D: Sources

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Sheet 3: Financials (The Numbers Engine)

Columns: Metric | Year -4 | Year -3 | Year -2 | Year -1 | Current | CAGR

Formatting:

• Use conditional formatting on margin rows: Green if >30%, Red if <10%
• Use Ctrl+Shift+% for percentage formatting
• Freeze panes at Row 1, Column A

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Sheet 4: CompMatrix (Competitive Landscape)

Rows: Companies, Columns: Key Comparison Metrics

Pro Tip: Use Conditional Formatting > Color Scales on the valuation columns (C, D) to instantly see if your target is expensive (red) or cheap (green) vs peers.

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Sheet 5: SWOT (Visual Grid)

Merge cells to create 4 quadrants. Use for text + scoring.

Add: =AVERAGE(B3:B7) at bottom of Score columns to quantify overall position.

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Sheet 6: Valuation (Scenario Analysis)

Build a simple football field or DCF.

Football Field Approach:

Visualization: Select A1:D5, Insert > Charts > Bar Chart (horizontal) to create a valuation "football field" showing the range.

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Sheet 7: Catalysts (Timeline)

Track upcoming events that move the stock/company.

Format: Use Data Validation in Column F for: "Pending / Active / Passed / Risk-Realized"

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Step 3: Add Interactivity (Power Features)

1. Dynamic Dropdowns (Data Validation)

• Select cells where you want dropdowns (e.g., Sector, Rating, Status)
• Go to Data > Data Validation > List
• Source: Technology,Healthcare,Financials,Consumer,Industrial (or reference a hidden "Lists" sheet)

2. Auto-Highlighting (Conditional Formatting)

• Financials Sheet: Select margin cells → Home > Conditional Formatting > Color Scales (Green-Yellow-Red)
• Catalysts Sheet: If Status = "Risk-Realized", turn row red; if "Beat", turn green

3. Hyperlink Source Documents

• In Source columns, insert hyperlinks: Ctrl+K → link to 10-K PDF, earnings transcript, or news article

4. Protect Your Formulas

• Select all input cells (where you type data) → Format Cells > Unlock
• Select formula cells → Format Cells > Lock
• Review > Protect Sheet (this prevents accidental deletion of CAGR formulas)

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Step 4: Final Polish

1. Create a "Print Area" on the Dashboard sheet (Page Layout > Print Area) for clean PDF export
2. Add a logo placeholder (Insert > Pictures) in the Dashboard header
3. Freeze Panes on Financials sheet (View > Freeze Panes > Freeze Top Row) so headers stay visible when scrolling

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Quick Start Checklist

• Create new workbook, rename 7 sheets as listed above
• Set up Financials sheet formulas first (they feed the Dashboard)
• Add Data Validation lists for consistency
• Apply conditional formatting to margin/catalyst cells
• Test with one real company to check formula flow

Ready to customize this further? Tell me:

1. What’s your primary use case? (Stock picking, sales prospecting, due diligence for M&A, or competitive intel?)
2. What industry focus? (SaaS metrics differ wildly from manufacturing—SaaS needs CAC/LTV/NDR rows; retail needs same-store-sales and inventory turns)
3. Do you need automated data import? (I can show you how to link Excel to Bloomberg/Yahoo Finance APIs or web queries to auto-populate the Financials sheet)

Which section would you like me to expand first—the valuation modeling formulas, the automated data connections, or industry-specific metrics?

Creating a company research report in Excel is a powerful way to organize data, track financial trends, and make informed decisions. Excel’s ability to handle both qualitative data (text) and quantitative data (numbers) makes it the ideal tool for this task.

Below is a step-by-step guide to building a professional-grade Company Research Report Template.

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1. Set Up Your Workbook Structure

Organize your Excel workbook into four distinct tabs to keep the data clean and navigable.

• Tab 1: Executive Summary – The "At-a-Glance" view.
• Tab 2: Financial Analysis – Historical data and key ratios.
• Tab 3: SWOT & Qualitative Analysis – Strengths, Weaknesses, and Market Position.
• Tab 4: Competitor Benchmarking – How the company stacks up against rivals.

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2. Tab 1: Executive Summary (The Dashboard)

This sheet should contain the most critical information. Use a clean layout with borders and bold headers.

Actionable Step: Create a table with the following fields:

• Company Name & Ticker: (e.g., Apple Inc. | AAPL)
• Sector/Industry: (e.g., Technology | Consumer Electronics)
• Current Stock Price: (Use Excel’s Data Types feature—see step 5)
• Market Cap: (Total value of the company)
• Investment Thesis: A 3-sentence summary of why this company is a "Buy," "Hold," or "Sell."

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3. Tab 2: Financial Performance

Focus on the last 3–5 years of data. You can pull this from sites like Yahoo Finance, Morningstar, or the company’s "Investor Relations" page.

Create a table with these columns:

• Metric: Revenue, Gross Profit, Net Income, EBITDA, Free Cash Flow.
• Years: 2021, 2022, 2023, TTM (Trailing Twelve Months).
• % Growth (YoY): Use the formula =(Current Year - Previous Year) / Previous Year.

Add a "Key Ratios" section below it:

• P/E Ratio: Price to Earnings.
• Debt-to-Equity: Measures financial leverage.
• ROE (Return on Equity): How efficiently they use shareholder money.

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4. Tab 3: SWOT & Qualitative Analysis

Excel isn't just for numbers. Use cells to organize strategic insights.

Create a 2x2 Grid for SWOT:

• Strengths: (Internal positive factors, e.g., "Strong brand loyalty").
• Weaknesses: (Internal negative factors, e.g., "High debt load").
• Opportunities: (External growth factors, e.g., "Expansion into Asian markets").
• Threats: (External risks, e.g., "New government regulations").

Add a "Recent News" section: List the last 3 major headlines regarding the company (mergers, product launches, or lawsuits).

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5. Tab 4: Competitor Benchmarking

Compare your target company against its two biggest rivals.

Create a Benchmarking Table:

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6. Pro Tip: Use Excel's "Stocks" Data Type

You can automate your data gathering so you don't have to look up prices manually.

1. Type the ticker symbol (e.g., "MSFT") into a cell.
2. Go to the Data tab in the top ribbon.
3. Click Stocks.
4. Excel will convert the text into a "Stock" entity. Click the "Insert Data" icon that appears next to the cell to automatically pull in:
   • Price
   • 52-week high/low
   • P/E Ratio
   • Number of employees

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7. Final Polish: Formatting for Readability

• Freeze Panes: Go to View > Freeze Panes > Freeze Top Row so headers stay visible as you scroll.
• Conditional Formatting: Highlight negative numbers in red (e.g., if growth is < 0%).
• Sparklines: Use Insert > Sparklines to create tiny trend graphs next to your 5-year revenue data.

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How can I help you customize this further?

To give you the most relevant advice, I’d love to know:

1. What is the purpose of this report? (e.g., Personal investing, a job interview, or a business acquisition analysis?)
2. Which industry are you focusing on? (I can suggest specific metrics like "Same-Store Sales" for retail or "Churn Rate" for software.)
3. Do you need help writing the formulas for specific financial ratios like the Quick Ratio or Inventory Turnover?