Updated July 23, 2023
A not quite unbiased comparison
Both Hudson Labs and inFilings help you read, process and understand SEC filings. They are, however, very different tools.
This post will cover the basics of each platform, their unique features, take a look at the user interfaces, and more.
The Basics of Hudson Labs
Hudson Labs extracts qualitative red flags from securities filings and predicts fraud in real-time. We use large language models to find information with a learned association with downside outcomes instead of relying on keywords or document comparison.
The Basics of inFilings
inFilings primarily provides smart blacklining (document comparison) so that investors can narrow down exactly what’s changed year-over-year in a 10-K by category. inFilings also provides proxy and executive compensation processing/tracking.
Differences between Hudson Labs and inFilings
Naturally, there are differences between the two platforms. Features you can get with Hudson Labs but not with inFilings include:
Qualitative red flags that are predictive of downside risk: Our red flags are extracted based on learned associations with downside events e.g. SEC enforcement. This is in contrast to displaying all items that have changed year-over-year, many of which are not decision-relevant.
Machine learned Risk Scores: Hudson Labs' proprietary Risk Scores take advantage of ten years of historical training data including SEC enforcement actions, settled class action lawsuits related to fraud, as well as a terabyte of financial language data.
AI generated news feeds: Company-specific news before it hits the newspaper, sourced straight from the SEC source filings.
Short idea generation via screening: We help you find the worst companies trading today using our proprietary risk scoring and red flag categories.
Audit partner relationship mapping: Discover low and high risk auditors and audit partners.
Non-timely (NT) form explanation extraction and feeds: Understand why companies are delaying their SEC filings.
Features you can get with inFilings but not with Hudson Labs include:
Proxies & executive compensation information
Risk factor changes analysis
Detailed document comparison This is also known as blacklining or redlining. Smart blacklining is coming to Hudson Labs soon. Sign up for product updates below to get notified of this feature update.
Management and board information
Filing search
Features you can get on both inFilings & Hudson Labs include:
SEC correspondence processing
Filing alerts and notifications
Why doesn’t Hudson Labs provide changes in the 10-K Risk Factors section as a red flag type?
Short answer: It’s not a red flag.
Long answer: We’ve studied the predictive value of changes to the Risk Factors section. There is little to no predictive value in the quantum of changes made to this section of the 10-K. If your team is spending a lot of time looking at Risk Factor blacklines or inFilings risk factor feature, you’re probably wasting valuable time.
Why? Our in-house experts, Kris and Andre, have spent many, many years working in and around corporate disclosure preparation. The companies with the highest number of changes in their Risk Factors year-over-year are often the companies with the biggest legal and accounting teams. These teams are knowledgeable about evolving legal risks and therefore implement disclosure best practices before other companies, resulting in more frequent changes to the 10-K.
Hudson Labs and inFilings user interface comparison
inFilings
Hudson Labs
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