There are plenty of free resources on the internet to help you get up to speed and research a company. Google finance is very good at aggregating basic financial information, as well as company specific news. The biggest resource, though, is usually the company’s website. On the website you can find previous conference calls, analyst presentations, and company specific financial statements. Between these two resources you  basically have everything you need to start your research. A very useful resource is the most recent “analyst day” presentation. Each company usually does a 1-5 hour presentation to the Wall Street analyst community, giving detailed information about the company strategy and plans for the coming year. This is a great resource for getting up to speed very quickly.

10K and 10Q:  Sec.gov or Google finance

Historical Financials:  Google Finance

Conference calls:  Company website

Analyst Day Presentation: Company website

Conference Presentation:  Company website

Company News:  Company website

Industry Association:  Check Around

Comps:  Google Finance under Related Companies