A SWOT analysis examines a company's Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. Strengths and weaknesses are internal to the company; opportunities and threats are external.
Strengths
A firm’s strengths are its resources and capabilities that can be used for developing a competitive advantage, such as strong brand names, unique resources, patented products or services, good reputation, valuable assets, positive financials, access to resources, unique or innovative technologies, and so on.
Weaknesses
A firm's weaknesses may be obsolete technology or aging infrastructure, financial concerns, legal issues, lack of resources, how the company is perceived by its customers or the public, poor reputation or low brand recognition, leadership instability, labor conflicts, or ethical issues.
Opportunities
Marketplace opportunities might be consumer demand for new products or functionalities, regulatory changes, opening of new geographic markets, or new technologies.
Threats
External threats come from new competitors entering a specific market, shifts in consumer demand away from a company's offerings, restrictive regulatory and trade conditions, etc.
Source: Adapted from Quick MBA Strategic Management SWOT Analysis