Three companies met our criteria from the three 10-K annual reports filed with the SEC on 22 October 2026. To qualify, a company must have filed an annual 10-K report on the target date and have a prior-year 10-K available for a direct year-over-year comparison.
SEC What Changed Methodology
Each company is scored on how similar its current annual filing text is to the prior year. Scores run from 0 to 1 — a score of 1 means the language is essentially unchanged; a lower score means more has changed. We flag three sections that carry the most disclosure signal: Business, Risk Factors, and MD&A. Recent research suggests that lower scores indicate that a company has made significant changes to their filings, these changes are often buried in the filings. If a company was to report positive news, they would likely do so in the form of a press release or statement on their website. The large changers have often underperformed in the market, while the stable-language filers have earned positive abnormal returns.
Key Takeaways
- MAYS J W INC (Medium) — The filing points to steadier near-term lease visibility, but also a greater need for capital and sharper execution to protect property cash flows.
- MSC INDUSTRIAL DIRECT CO INC (Medium) — MSC is flagging more sensitivity to government funding disruptions and customer policy requirements, but the filing does not indicate a strategic shift in the business.
- LINDSAY CORP (Low) — This 10-K comparison looks routine, with no obvious new risk or strategy signal in the supplied text.
Ranking Table
| Rank | Company | CIK | Full Filing Similarity | Business Similarity | Risk Factors Similarity | MD&A Similarity | Most Changed Section | Assessment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | MAYS J W INC | 54187 | 0.996 | 0.304 | 0.926 | 0.967 | Business | medium |
| 2 | MSC INDUSTRIAL DIRECT CO INC | 1003078 | 0.998 | 0.983 | 0.994 | 0.994 | Business | medium |
| 3 | LINDSAY CORP | 836157 | 0.996 | 0.999 | 0.999 | 1 | Risk Factors | low |
MAYS J W INC
| Rank | 1 |
|---|---|
| Lowest similarity section | Business |
| Assessment | medium |
| SEC filings | 2026 10-K HTML/iXBRL (SEC page, raw text) | 2025 10-K HTML/iXBRL (SEC page, raw text) |
J.W. Mays added more current property-level detail in its Business section, including new lease extensions, occupancy figures, and rent data for key assets. The biggest operational update is the longer Jamaica lease term, which improves near-term visibility but still leaves the company dependent on renewals and tenant health. Risk disclosures were also widened to cover financing needs, strategic transactions, and a tougher competitive and cyber environment.
Main Changes
- The Business section added detailed property updates, including new lease activity at the Jamaica Property and Fishkill Property, such as a February 2026 extension for a 38,109-square-foot tenant through September 30, 2029 and a new warehouse lease in Fishkill from February to May 2026.
- The Jamaica Property lease term was extended again in August 2025, pushing expiration from May 31, 2035 to May 31, 2040, and the filing now says the Company remains entitled to tax depreciation and other tax deductions until the lease ends.
- The Business disclosure now includes more granular occupancy, rent, tax basis, and depreciation data for properties, replacing the prior higher-level description of the real estate portfolio.
- Risk Factors were broadened to say financing may be needed for capital expenditure projects and possible strategic transactions, and to add references to political unrest, protests, AI and advanced technologies among competitors, and cybersecurity and data privacy breach threats.
Watch Items
- The longer Jamaica lease term supports cash flow visibility, but the turnover of property rights at lease end keeps the long-term asset economics tied to tenant retention and renewal execution.
- The added financing and strategic-transaction language suggests management may need capital flexibility to fund property improvements or pursue portfolio actions.
- Expanded risk wording around competition, tenant cancellations, and data/privacy issues signals management sees a more challenging operating backdrop for commercial real estate.
Important Filing Changes
Added: The new filing adds a forward-looking statement caution tied to fiscal 2026 risk factors and commercial real estate leasing conditions.
[No corresponding passage in the 2025 filing’s Business section.]
Such forward-looking statements by their nature involve a degree of risk and uncertainty. We caution that a variety of factors, including but not limited to the factors described under Item 1A, “Risk Factors” in our Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended July 31, 2026 and the following, could cause business conditions and our results to differ materially from what is contained in forward-looking statements: • changes in the rate of economic growth in the commercial real estate leasing market, and interest rates both nationally and locally; • existing indebtedness, including the potential for accelerated maturities; • the ability to obtain additional financing to fund our necessary capital expenditure projects on reasonable terms or at all, including but not limited to the success of any proposed strategic transactions with respect to our properties; • changes in the financial condition of our customers and tenants; • changes in the regulatory environment and particularly burdens of increasing local, state, and federal requirements and taxes; • increasing trend of lease cancellations and loss of key tenants at our properties; • changes in our estimates of costs; • loss of key personnel; • war and/or terrorist attacks, global, national and local political unrest and protests could significantly impact buildings leased to tenants; and/or terrorist attacks could significantly impact buildings leased to tenants; • the continued availability of insurance for various policies at reasonable rates; • outcomes of pending and future litigation; • increasing competition by other landlords and building management companies, including the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and other advanced technologies among competitors; • compliance with our loan covenants; • impact of climate change on our properties and the geographic regions in which we operate; • recoverability of claims against our customers and others by us and claims by third parties against us; • changes in estimates used in our critical accounting policies; • cybersecurity and data privacy breach threats or incidents; and • pandemics and the related trends of office versus remote work practices. Other factors and assumptions not identified above were also involved in the formation of these forward-looking statements and the failure of such other assumptions to be realized, as well as other factors, may also cause actual results to differ materially from those projected.
MSC INDUSTRIAL DIRECT CO INC
| Rank | 2 |
|---|---|
| Lowest similarity section | Business |
| Assessment | medium |
| SEC filings | 2026 10-K HTML/iXBRL (SEC page, raw text) | 2025 10-K HTML/iXBRL (SEC page, raw text) |
MSC Industrial did not change its core business description, but it did sharpen several risk disclosures. The biggest addition is a new warning that a lapse in federal government funding could affect the company, and it also broadened its language around customer social and environmental responsibility requirements. Overall, the filing reads a bit more cautious about policy-driven disruptions and customer compliance demands.
Main Changes
- The risk factor tied to government business was expanded to say the company faces "the impact of any lapse in funding for the federal government," adding a new shutdown-related exposure.
- The social and environmental responsibility risk was softened and broadened, changing from a focus on "customers and suppliers outside the United States and in Europe" to a wider statement that these policies are "ever evolving" and may pose "significant negative business impacts."
- The company also removed the prior wording that these responsibility practices were "difficult and expensive" to comply with, replacing it with language emphasizing unpredictability and potential reputational or regulatory risk.
Watch Items
- The new federal funding lapse language signals MSC sees more direct exposure to government budget disruptions, which could affect demand or timing in public-sector channels.
- The broader ESG/customer-policy wording suggests compliance expectations from large customers may be becoming more variable and harder to manage across geographies.
- These additions point to a more cautious management tone around external policy and procurement risks, even without a fundamental business model change.
Important Filing Changes
Added: The company completed a sales force optimization initiative including workforce realignment, a refreshed sales management process, and a redesigned commission plan.
We have also implemented enhanced analytics to enable additional cross selling opportunities among MSC’s product portfolio. [No corresponding passage in the 2025 filing.] As of August 30, 2025, our field sales and service associate headcount was 2,636.
We have also implemented enhanced analytics to enable additional cross-selling opportunities across MSC’s product portfolio. Building upon the refreshed territory model, during fiscal year 2026 we completed our sales force optimization initiative, which included workforce realignment actions intended to streamline our sales organization, a refreshed sales management process, a redesigned sales commission plan and a structured onboarding and development program designed to accelerate readiness and support long-term success for our sales organization. These investments aim to maximize seller potential, drive seller effectiveness, increase face-to-face customer interactions and accelerate revenue realization.
Added: The company disclosed a Supreme Court ruling invalidating certain IEEPA tariffs.
These pressures have impacted, and may continue to impact in the future, the Company’s business, financial condition and results of operations. [No corresponding passage in the 2025 filing.] More recently, new and expanded tariffs have contributed to heightened macroeconomic uncertainty.
These pressures have impacted, and may continue to impact in the future, the Company’s business, financial condition and results of operations. International Emergency Economic Powers Act (“IEEPA”) Tariff Refunds On February 20, 2026, the United States Supreme Court issued a ruling invalidating certain tariffs originally mandated under IEEPA. As a result, the United States Court of International Trade ordered the United States Customs and Border Patrol to process refunds for tariffs collected under IEEPA.
Reworded: The company added that tariff impacts depend on changes, timing, duration, and its ability to implement countermeasures.
We expect to continue implementing countermeasures to mitigate the continued impact of tariffs in the first quarter of fiscal year 2026 and beyond. Further, we cannot predict the ultimate impact of tariffs and their effects on the global macroeconomic environment on our financial condition or results of operations. Opening or expanding our customer fulfillment centers exposes us to risks of delays and may affect our operating results.
Supply chain and sourcing efforts over time have diversified our product portfolio to reduce our exposure abroad and during 2026 we continued to implement pricing and inventory management countermeasures in response to tariffs. We cannot predict the ultimate impact of tariffs and their effects on the global macroeconomic environment on our financial condition or results of operations, and the degree to which tariffs may affect our financial condition and results of operations will depend on the specific details of any changes or challenges to certain tariffs, the timing and duration of current or new tariffs, and our ability to successfully implement countermeasures in response to tariffs. Opening or expanding our customer fulfillment centers exposes us to the risk of delays and may affect our operating results.
LINDSAY CORP
| Rank | 3 |
|---|---|
| Lowest similarity section | Risk Factors |
| Assessment | low |
| SEC filings | 2026 10-K HTML/iXBRL (SEC page, raw text) | 2025 10-K HTML/iXBRL (SEC page, raw text) |
This filing comparison shows mostly housekeeping edits: page numbers shifted and the table of contents was updated, but the core description of Lindsay’s business and segments looks the same. In the supplied Risk Factors excerpt, there is no clear evidence of a new material risk being added or an old one being removed. For investors, this reads as a routine annual update rather than a strategic reset.
No material section-level wording change was large enough to quote from the compared sections.
Why SEC Filing Changes Matter
Research by Cohen et al. (Lazy Prices, 2020) — using the complete history of SEC filings from 1995 to 2014 — shows that when firms make active changes to their annual disclosures, those changes convey an important signal about future operations and returns. A portfolio that shorted "changers" and bought "non-changers" earned over 22% per year in annual alpha historically. Changes to the Risk Factors section, Business description, and language referring to the executive team were especially informative. Critically, these returns accrued gradually as information was later revealed through news and earnings — not at the time of filing — suggesting many investors remain inattentive to these simple, public signals. This snapshot is a starting point for deeper investigation, not a buy or sell recommendation.
For more like this, see the full SEC What Changed archive, browse more equity research reports, or subscribe to Quantitative Research Notes for new filing-change alerts as soon as they publish.
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