Guide · The earnings graph
SIC and GICS
GICS is the sector classification the run uses for its own companies. For companies outside the run, the page estimates a GICS sector from the SIC code the SEC assigns, which is rough at the edges.
Two classifications
- GICS, the Global Industry Classification Standard, sorts listed companies into 11 sectors, 25 industry groups, 74 industries and 163 sub-industries. It is what investors usually mean by a sector, and it is what the run uses for its own companies. See sectors and the ring.
- SIC, the Standard Industrial Classification, is an older US government system of four-digit industry codes. The SEC still assigns one to every company that files with it, so every listed company has one, including companies outside the run.
The estimate
For a company outside the run, the page maps its SIC code to the GICS sector most companies with that code fall in. Pharmaceutical preparations (2834) map to Health Care, semiconductors (3674) to Information Technology, and drug wholesalers (5122) to Health Care, for example.
The estimate is rough where the two systems cut industries differently:
- SIC 7370 holds both software makers (Information Technology) and internet media (Communication Services), and maps to Information Technology.
- Gas distribution (4924) maps to Utilities, which puts an LNG exporter filed under it in Utilities rather than Energy.
That is why the page marks these sectors as estimated, and why the industry roll-up in a sector's panel shows companies outside the run by their SIC code rather than a GICS industry.