I need financial information about a specific company. Where should I start?

Find financials of publicly traded companies in databases like Bloomberg, Capital IQ, and Mergent Online. These will provide downloadable financials as reported or in a standardized template. These resources also contain ratios and metrics such as beta, EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization), ROE (return on equity), and WACC (weighted average cost of capital) or at least the data needed to calculate them. In a case like Bloomberg, type in the data you want in the command line and select from the suggested functions. In Capital IQ and Mergent Online, sometimes the ratios and metrics are available in the Financials/Valuations section or on the company overview, and sometimes they are available via the Excel API. If the company is private, little or no specific financial information beyond sales figures may be available about the company. Try to find articles via Factiva or LexisNexis. Both contain thousands of full-text newspapers and business periodicals; you may be able to locate articles which quote company officials discussing the firm's finances.