WikiData is a new feature, launched in April 2008, that allows investors to analyze companies using industry-specific metrics. So, rather than comparing a company to its competitors with the usual run of the mill financial data (like
revenue and
net income), with WikiData you can focus on underlying operational metrics that are unique to specific industries. Ever wondered why
Southwest Airlines Company (LUV) has been so much more profitable than its larger competitors? You can use WikiData to compare Southwest’s
fuel cost per gallon and
Cost per available seat mile to its competitors.
[edit] Where can I find WikiData?
There are four distinct places on Wikinvest where you can view WikiData:
- Metric Definition Pages: Want to see the comparable sales growth for every company on Wikinvest? Or the Number of Discount Stores for major retail chains? Click on the metric name on any company or industry page, and you'll go to a table that includes all companies with data for that metric. You'll also see a definition of the metric, if we have one (and if we don't, add it!)
- Industry Pages: To compare data across all the companies in an industry, click the industry name on any company WikiData table. You can see which home construction company has the highest cancellation rates or find out which utility company is the most dependent on fossil fuels, for example.
- Company Neutral Articles: The AutoWikiComps feature embeds a table in the competition section of a company’s neutral article. This table compares a company to 3-5 of its closest competitors using several key industry-specific metrics.
The WikiData table for Southwest Airlines, appearing in the "Competition" section of the neutral article
[edit] Where Does WikiData Come From?
For the most part, WikiData comes straight from companies' annual reports. Source information is required for each data point and URL’s are encouraged (where appropriate) to ensure that the community can easily verify each data point or better yet, to go back for more and fill in the data table further. WikiData currently has over 1,000 companies across dozens of industries with many more on the way. Click here to see a list of industries that already have data.
[edit] What Can I Do?
There many ways that the community can contribute to WikiData.
- Add Definitions for Metrics: Sometimes the simple things are the most important. Help your fellow investors making better use of the data by explaining what it is and why it is relevant to investing in a particular industry or company.
- Define Key Metrics for New and Existing Industries: Do you know a lot about a particular industry? Tell us what metrics you think are important. You can do this by clicking "Add a metric" on a company data page.
- Add New and Historical Data Each company is initially seeded with 3-5 years of data. No reason to stop there. All you need is access to the 10-K - publicly available at the SEC website - to help us seed data for the company of your choice.
- Suggest New Industries: Which industries would you like to see? Come on, don’t be bashful. Send us your feedback so we can make WikiData better.
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