How it works
This random company generator draws from 300 companies that trade on the NYSE or Nasdaq and are run from a US address, taken in order from the ticker file the SEC publishes. Each card gives the ticker, the industry the company files under and the city on its SEC record. It is a list for classes, quizzes and research practice. It shows no prices and recommends nothing.
Read the full guide
How the 300 companies were chosen
One rule decides. On 2026-09-18 we read the SEC's company tickers file from the top, in the order the SEC publishes it, and counted each company once however many share classes it lists. We kept the first 300 that the SEC marks as operating companies, that give a business address in a US state or Washington DC, and that trade on the NYSE or Nasdaq. Companies run from abroad were passed over, which is why a few household names with New York listings are missing. No index provider's list was used. The same rule is rerun every quarter.
What a card tells you, and what it leaves out
Each card carries the ticker and exchange, the industry from the company's SIC code in plain words, and the business address on its EDGAR record. Some of those labels are older than the business. Netflix still files as video tape rental, Amazon.com as catalog and mail-order houses, and Nike as rubber and plastics footwear. The address is the one on file, so Marvell Technology shows Wilmington, Delaware. There are no prices, charts, ratings or forecasts, and a draw is never a suggestion to buy or sell. Treated as a random stock generator, it is a classroom tool: it hands you a name, and the research is yours.
Ways to use a random draw of companies
A business teacher can draw five and hand one to each group: what does it sell, who are its rivals, where does it file from? For a pretend-portfolio game in an economics class, draw ten so nobody starts from favorites. Quiz setters can read out the industry line and ask for the company. The All companies menu under the button narrows the draw to one of seven sectors, and More filters, under it, limits it to one letter.
- Five rows suit group work; Add another makes twenty for a quiz round. A new pick replaces every row you have not kept, so take the others away with × first.
- Open More filters under the All companies menu, then a letter. C has the most companies, 37, while J, Q, X and Y have one or two each.
- Compare the SEC industry line with what the company sells today. The gap between the two makes a good five-minute class discussion.
Questions and answers
Is a random draw investment advice?
No. A random draw knows nothing about value, risk or your circumstances. The page holds no prices, ratings, targets or forecasts, and nothing on it is a recommendation to buy, hold or sell any security. It is an educational list of company names with public filing details, and any decision about money needs far more than a name.
Can it give me a random company from one sector only?
Yes. Choose a sector in the All companies menu, such as Energy, mining and utilities, then press the button and take the first company. One card comes up with its ticker, industry and SEC address, and every new pick stays inside that sector.
Why is a company I know missing?
There are three usual reasons. It may be run from outside the United States, as several large New York listings are. It may trade somewhere other than the NYSE or Nasdaq. Or it may sit below the first 300 that passed the rule on the day we read the SEC file. Private companies never appear, because they have no ticker.
Where do the sectors come from?
From the four-digit SIC code on each company's EDGAR record. We sorted those codes into seven plain groups, from Computers, chips and software to Transport, media and other services. The grouping is our own. It is not the SEC's or any index provider's scheme, so expect surprises: Visa and Mastercard file as business services and sit in the last group.
How often is the list updated?
The list was read from the SEC files on 2026-09-18 and the next review is due by 2026-12-18. Tickers change, companies merge and head offices move, so each refresh reruns the same rule from scratch. For a renamed company, the SEC's EDGAR search has the current record.