Fundamentals Tab

Fundamentals

Fundamentals provide valuable insights into the financial health and performance of a company. They offer a comprehensive analysis of the company’s operations, profitability, growth potential, and overall stability.

Fundamentals are comprised of Earnings, Dividends, Price Projections, Profitability, Growth, and Cash Flow.

Profitability, Growth, and Cash Flow offer even more detail.  Either click the button in that section:


OR click the appropriate category at the top of the window:


Earnings data provide insight into a company’s financial health and performance.

Past earnings reports offer insight into the company’s historical growth, profitability, and stability. Positive earnings trends may indicate a well-performing company. Negative or declining earnings could be cause for concern.

Earnings

Earnings projections provide forecasts of a company’s future earnings to gauge Market sentiment and investor expectations. Projections are compiled by financial analysts using factors such as industry trends, company guidance, and economic conditions.  Surpassing or falling short of projections can greatly impact stock price.


Some benefits to both the company and shareholders include:
Income Generation
Shareholder Loyalty
Return on Investment
Dividend Reinvestment
Signal of Financial Health
Possible Tax Advantages
Disciplined Capital Allocation

Dividends

The decision to pay dividends is up to the company’s management and board of directors, who weigh various factors, including the company’s financial position, growth prospects, and other capital allocation priorities. Dividend payouts are not guaranteed and may fluctuate or be suspended based on the company’s circumstances and strategic considerations.


Price Projection

Discount Rate

Determining the appropriate discount rate for a stock is a subjective process and depends on various factors.

Here is an example:

  1. Risk-Free Rate: Start by considering the risk-free rate, (the theoretical rate of return on a risk-free investment such as government bonds). This serves as a baseline for the discount rate.  An online search can locate this information for you.
  2. Risk Premium: Assess the risk associated with the specific stock you are evaluating. Stocks are inherently riskier than risk-free investments, so you need to add a risk premium to the risk-free rate. The risk premium accounts for the additional return expected by investors for taking on the extra risk. The risk premium can vary depending on factors such as industry, company-specific risks, economic conditions, and market volatility.
  3. Beta:  This measures its sensitivity to market movements.
    Beta of 1 =  the stock moves in line with the overall market
    Beta > 1 =  the stock has higher volatility and would warrant a higher discount rate to reflect the increased risk.
  4. Company-Specific Factors:  Are there unique company factors (financial health, competitive position, growth prospects, management quality, etc) that could positively or negatively influence the discount rate?
  5. Sensitivity Analysis:  Changing the discount allows you to assess the impact of the stock’s valuation.   Some sectors are subject to more volatility than others: the Energy and Material Sectors tend to be more volatile than Consumer Staples or Utility Sectors.

The discount rate is subjective. Different investors might have different views on what the appropriate discount rate is for a given stock, based on their own risk tolerance, the specific risks associated with the company, and their expectations for future market conditions.


Profitability

Revenue: Money generated from sales of goods or services. It is income earned prior to deducting expenses or costs

Cost of Revenue: Expenses directly related to production, manufacturing, or acquisition of products/services sold.  Typical examples include raw materials, labor, overhead, etc.

Operating Expenses: Day-to-day, necessary operating expenses not directly related to the production/acquisition of goods/services.  Examples: Wages, utilities, depreciation, advertising, etc.

Other Expenses: Depending on the nature of the business can include: Taxes, Interest, Non-operating losses, Restructuring, Non-recurring, etc.

Revenue Growth Rate: Percentage change (+/-) in a company’s sales/revenue over a period of time:
Revenue CurrentRevenue Previous/Revenue Previous x 100

Net Profit Growth Rate: Percentage change (+/-) in a company’s net profit over a specific period of time:
Net Profit CurrentNet Profit Previous/Net Profit Previous x 100

Profit Margin: Percentage of revenue a company retains after deducting all expenses.
A higher profit margin indicates a company is generating more profit relative to its revenue. A lower percentage suggests higher expenses in proportion to revenue.


Growth

Asset:  These can vary by industry/company.  Common examples that contribute to a company’s growth are Financial, Intellectual Property, Human Capital, Physical Assets, Technology/Info Systems, Customer Base, Brand Equity, Partnerships, and Networks.

Debt/Equity Ratio:  Total Debt divided by Total Equity.  Interpretation varies by industry and a company’s specific circumstances:  a high ratio can indicate higher financial risk OR effective management of debt through cash flow.  A low ratio can indicate a conservative financial position OR under-utilization of debt and missed opportunities for growth.

Non-Current Assets: Resources not intended to be converted into cash or used up within a year.

Assets: Anything of value that has the potential to generate future economic benefits.

Liabilities: Obligation or debt a company owes to external parties that must be fulfilled in the near future.

Long-term Liabilities: Obligation or debt a company owes but has more than a year to repay.

Equity: The portion of a company’s value belonging to its owners or shareholders after all debts and obligations have been settled


Operating Cash Flow:  Represents the cash inflow/outflow directly related to day-to-day activities including sales of goods and services, paying operating expenses, and collection of receivables.

Free Cash Flow:  Cash flow available for discretionary use after accounting for operating expenses, capital expenditures, and changes in working capital. Positive values offer opportunities, negative values may indicate financial challenges.

Cash Flow

Cash Margin %: Percentage of cash generated from a company’s sales revenue after deducting its cash operating expenses.  It measures the profitability and efficiency of a company’s operations to generate cash.

Cash Indicator: The industry percentile ranking of a company’s ability to generate cash from its operations.


The Power of "The Score"

Our Proprietary Scoring System: Technical Analysis, Inner Circle, Valuation, and Fundamentals.

Designed with your workflow in mind and to give you the level of information you want, while keeping it out of the way when you don’t.
The order of The Score is based on the speed at which the stock is affected: Technicals being the fastest, and Fundamentals the slowest.  For example, a very short term trader may not put as much weight on Fundamentals as with the Chart. However, as an actively managing investor, Fundamentals will be more influential on your trades.


Fundamentals

A complete perspective of performance in one place.

Fundamentals looks at 20 critical financial analysis ratios in 5 different categories:  Growth, Profit, Cash Flow, Key Ratios, and of course, Earnings.   

We also take into account Quarter over Quarter, Year over Year, and Trailing Twelve Months’ (TTM) performance with our proprietary weighting formula.  View historical data  by clicking on the upper right corner buttons in each window.

Fundamentals is the slowest of The Score components to affect stocks, due to the limited times throughout the year data is released.  Active investors would generally place more weight on Fundamentals than would a very short-term trader.