fundamental analysis
Educational articles in this subcategory.
Glossary: Fundamental Analysis Terms
This glossary defines the key terms you'll encounter throughout the Fundamental Analysis series. Bookmark it for quick reference when working through ...
Checklist for Reviewing a 10-K or 10-Q
The practical point: **a 10-K is 200-400 pages, and the sections that matter most take about 60 minutes to read**. Most investors read filings ineffic...
Documenting a Thesis and Update Triggers
**Difficulty:** Intermediate **Published:** 2025-12-30 You buy a stock because you believe revenue will grow 15% annually for five years. Two years l...
Red Flags in Revenue Recognition and Accruals
Revenue recognition manipulation is how companies inflate earnings before the cash shows up (or doesn't). The evidence is clear: firms with high accru...
Using Alternative Data and Channel Checks Responsibly
The practical point: **alternative data can give you a 2-6 week edge on quarterly results**, but only if you triangulate it with fundamentals, respect...
Spotting Quality of Earnings Issues and Adjustments
The practical point: **reported earnings are a negotiated number**, and the negotiation happens between GAAP constraints and management incentives. Yo...
Reading MD&A for Forward Guidance Clues
The Management Discussion and Analysis section of 10-K and 10-Q filings is where management **commits to language that lawyers have reviewed**—and tha...
Unit Economics and KPI Dashboards
The practical point: **you want to know whether each customer or unit sold generates enough profit to cover acquisition costs and fund growth**, and y...
Identifying Economic Moats and Competitive Advantage
The practical point: **a durable moat shows up as ROIC exceeding WACC for 10+ consecutive years**, and you can categorize it into **5 structural sourc...
Assessing Capital Allocation Track Records
**The practical point:** Capital allocation decisions drive **70-80%** of long-term shareholder value, yet most investors focus on earnings alone. Com...
Evaluating Management Incentives and Ownership
**The practical point:** Management teams with **5%+ insider ownership** outperform those with minimal stakes by **2-3% annually** over multi-year per...
Sum-of-the-Parts Modeling for Diversified Firms
**Intermediate** | Published: 2025-12-30 Sum-of-the-parts (SOTP) valuation breaks a diversified company into its individual business segments, values...
Comparable Company Analysis Step by Step
**Intermediate** | Published: 2025-12-30 ## Why Comp Analysis Matters Comparable company analysis (comps) values a target company by examining how t...
Building a Simple Earnings Forecast Model
An earnings forecast model translates observable business drivers into a projected income statement. The practical point: **you are not predicting the...
Working Capital Cycles and Liquidity Tests
Working capital management separates companies that **fund growth from operations** from those that **borrow to survive**. The cash conversion cycle (...
Balance Sheet Strength and Capital Structure Review
Capital structure decisions determine whether a company survives a downturn or becomes a distressed-debt case study. Companies with **debt-to-equity a...
ROE, ROIC, and Economic Profit Explained
Return metrics answer a single question: **how efficiently does this business convert capital into profits?** The difference between ROE, ROIC, and ec...
Cash Flow Statement Deep Dive for Equity Investors
The cash flow statement tells you what actually happened to the money—not what accounting rules say happened. Net income can be manipulated through ac...
Gross, Operating, and Net Margin Analysis
Profit margins tell you how efficiently a business converts revenue into profit at each stage of its operations. The progression from gross to operati...
Revenue Quality and Recognizing Sustainable Growth
**The practical point:** A company can report **18% revenue growth** while its core business shrinks. The distinction between organic and acquired gro...