Standard Industrial Classification
A Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code is the numeric industry code, up to four digits long, that the SEC attaches to each company in EDGAR to describe its type of business — for example, 7372 for prepackaged software, 3674 for semiconductors, or 2834 for pharmaceutical preparations.
The code appears in the company information EDGAR publishes alongside every filing, and the SEC maintains the official list of codes and industry titles it uses on sec.gov.
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The SIC code does two jobs. For the public, it is an industry label: it tells a reader what line of business a registrant is in and lets companies be grouped with others in the same field. Inside the SEC, it is a routing key. According to the SEC's own code list, the Division of Corporation Finance uses a company's SIC code to decide which industry office reviews its filings — the list pairs each code with an office such as the Office of Technology, the Office of Life Sciences, the Office of Finance, the Office of Manufacturing, or the Office of Energy & Transportation. A metal mining company under SIC 1000, for instance, is reviewed by Energy & Transportation.
The list also includes codes that are not industries in the usual sense, such as 6770 for blank checks (reviewed by multiple offices), 8880 for American depositary receipts, and 8888 for foreign governments. Each company carries one code, so a diversified business is classified by a single line of work even if its revenue comes from several. That makes SIC a good first cut for building a peer group, but not a substitute for reading the company's segment disclosure in its 10-K.
GeminIQ uses the SIC code on the /comps page: it shows each peer's SIC code and description, and suggests same-industry peers by SIC code when you build a comparison set.
A: The SIC code is part of the company information EDGAR displays for every registrant, next to its name and CIK. The SEC also publishes the full list of codes, with each code's industry title and reviewing office, on sec.gov.
A: Beyond labeling the business, the code determines which industry office in the Division of Corporation Finance reviews the company's filings. A software company and a bank, for example, are reviewed by different offices — Technology and Finance, respectively.
A: As a starting point, yes — companies sharing a code are in the same broad line of business. But a single code cannot capture a multi-segment company, so check the business description and segment disclosure in each 10-K before treating two companies as true peers.
A: The code narrows from broad to specific. The first two digits identify the major group, the first three the industry group, and all four the specific industry. SIC 3674, semiconductors, sits in industry group 367 (electronic components) within major group 36 (electronic and other electrical equipment).
A: NAICS, the North American Industry Classification System, uses six-digit codes and replaced SIC for U.S. federal statistics in 1997. The SEC did not switch: EDGAR still assigns every registrant a four-digit SIC code, so SIC remains the industry label used in SEC filings.
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