I am referencing one data point from a company's recent 10-K in one of my application essays. Do I need to provide a link to where I found this information at all, like I would if I were writing a research paper?
Nope. The adcom will assume you're telling the truth. (They likely would never click on a link in any application asset anyway - many adcoms review everything from hardcopy so at least at this stage in the evolution of the admissions processes at most schools, URLs within your essays are sorta useless.)
You could say "According to..." or something, to help establish credibility, but a formal citation is not necessary.
Hope that helps, bradenm2!
EssaySnark
