Federal Exposure publishes data and analysis for information only. It is not investment, legal or tax advice, and nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Figures come from company filings and federal spending records, which can be revised; check the linked sources before relying on them. We may make errors; report them to contact@federalexposure.com.

The rest of this page explains what that means in practice.

Not advice

Nothing on Federal Exposure is investment, legal, tax or accounting advice. We do not act as your investment adviser, broker or fiduciary, and we do not know your finances, goals or tolerance for risk.

No recommendation

We do not recommend any security, and we do not predict stock prices. When we report that a company depends heavily on federal money, we are describing its revenue mix. We are not saying its shares will rise or fall, or that you should buy, sell or hold them. A high or low exposure figure is not a judgment about a company's quality or prospects.

Where our figures come from

Our figures come from two public sources:

Both sources can change. Companies sometimes restate or reclassify revenue in later filings. Agencies correct, modify and de-obligate contract records after they are first published, and Department of Defense contract data appears on USAspending.gov after a delay. Each page shows the date of the data it uses. Always check the linked source before relying on a figure.

Calculated figures are labeled

Some figures are not reported by anyone directly. For example, when a company gives its U.S. government share as a percentage but not in dollars, we calculate the dollars as share times total revenue. Every figure of this kind is labeled "calculated". The methodology explains each calculation.

Company-reported shares are not always comparable

Each company decides how to define "U.S. government" revenue in its own 10-K. Some count foreign military sales, which pass through the Department of Defense, as U.S. government revenue. Others count them as international. Some include work done as a subcontractor to another contractor, and some do not. Fiscal years also end in different months. We record each company's definition and show it beside the figure, but two shares that look alike may not measure the same thing.

Contract obligations are not revenue

A contract obligation is the government's binding commitment to pay. It is not the same as the revenue a company recognizes. An obligation recorded in one year can turn into revenue over several years, and later modifications can reduce it. Our obligation figures are a separate, independent measure. They are useful for checking and adding detail to what companies report, but they should not be read as a company's revenue. Our explainer on obligations, outlays and revenue covers the differences.

No affiliation

Federal Exposure is independent. It has no affiliation with any company we cover or with any government agency, including the SEC and the Department of the Treasury, which runs USAspending.gov. No company or agency reviews our work before publication. The appearance of a company's name or quoted filing text does not mean the company endorses the site.

Data licensing

Federal data, such as the contract records from USAspending.gov, is generally in the public domain in the United States. Our compilations, text and charts are © Federal Exposure. The CSV files on our data page are licensed under CC BY 4.0. You may reuse them with this attribution: "Federal Exposure, federalexposure.com". See the terms of use for details.

Errors and corrections

We check every figure against its source, but we can still make mistakes. If you find one, email contact@federalexposure.com with the page address and what you think is wrong. We correct confirmed errors openly, date each correction, and list it in the change log.

Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent the law allows, we are not responsible for any loss that results from relying on information on this site. Our terms of use set out the full terms.