Fundamental Analysis: Rate Stocks by Their Metrics
Fundamental analysis rates a stock through the business behind it: revenue, profit, debt, return on capital and valuation relative to price. Instead of looking at price patterns, it asks: is the company profitable, soundly financed and fairly valued? This page explains the analysis process step by step and shows how it becomes a repeatable, rule-based system.
- Four metric categories
- Four-step process
- Not investment advice
4 of 7 met rules, ordered by points
P/E, P/B, ROE, equity ratio and dividend yield are publicly visible per stock. Further raw metrics are reserved for registered users. Public are also the scores, ranks and categories derived from them.
The evaluation comes from the last completed run of the default profile across the entire universe.
Fundamental analysis for the entire market, not just ten stocks.
The same standards applied to every stock in the universe, recalculated every night.
The analysis process in four steps
A reliable fundamental analysis always follows the same sequence, whether for a single stock or an entire market.
- Define the universe
Which stocks are even eligible? A defined universe keeps the selection from being driven by headlines.
- Collect metrics
The same fundamental metrics are collected for every stock. What matters is a consistent data basis across all stocks.
- Check against criteria
Every metric is checked against a fixed threshold, for example a minimum return on capital or a cap on debt.
- Compare and monitor
Scores make thousands of stocks directly comparable. Repeating the evaluation regularly catches changes early.
The four metric categories
Each category answers its own question about the company. Only together do they form a reliable picture. What the individual metrics mean exactly, and where their pitfalls lie, is explained in detail in the metric glossary.
Profitability
How efficiently does the company earn money? Consistently high returns on capital point to a strong business model.
Valuation
What does the business cost relative to profit, book value or cash flow? Metrics in this group put the price in relation to earning power.
Growth
Are revenue and profit growing sustainably, or is the business stagnating? Growth metrics show the direction over several years.
Financial stability
Can the company withstand difficult periods too? The balance sheet shows how resilient its financing is.
Turn the analysis into a repeatable system.
Define criteria once as rules, then apply them automatically to every stock.
How valuations are currently distributed across the market
The result of a systematic fundamental analysis across the entire market, shown here for the StockScorer default profile: the distribution shows how many stocks currently reach a high, medium or low match with the criteria. P/E, P/B, ROE, equity ratio and dividend yield are publicly visible per stock; further raw metrics are reserved for registered users, public are also the scores and categories derived from them.
Based on all 16,182 stocks with a score. Not rated are stocks that the profile does not classify because of a size limit or an exclusion rule.
| Score | Number of stocks | High match | Medium match | Low match | Not rated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 3,618 | 0 | 0 | 3,244 | 374 |
| +1 | 1,207 | 0 | 0 | 1,050 | 157 |
| +2 | 2,969 | 0 | 0 | 2,522 | 447 |
| +3 | 1,551 | 0 | 0 | 1,299 | 252 |
| +4 | 1,912 | 0 | 0 | 1,452 | 460 |
| +5 | 1,347 | 0 | 0 | 1,025 | 322 |
| +6 | 1,343 | 0 | 967 | 0 | 376 |
| +7 | 950 | 738 | 0 | 0 | 212 |
| +8 | 752 | 555 | 0 | 0 | 197 |
| +9 | 286 | 214 | 0 | 0 | 72 |
| +10 | 218 | 186 | 0 | 0 | 32 |
| +11 | 29 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
What is fundamental analysis?
Fundamental analysis derives a stock's value from the company's underlying economic fundamentals: balance sheet, income statement, cash flow and how they develop over time. It stands in contrast to technical analysis, which derives signals from price movements.
A classic distinction is made between a qualitative level (business model, competitive position, management) and a quantitative level (metrics). The quantitative level has a major advantage: it is measurable, comparable and automatable, and that is exactly where rule-based scoring comes in.
From reading metrics to a system: scoring as fundamental analysis at scale
The biggest weakness of manual fundamental analysis is not the method but the execution: someone analysing ten stocks by hand rarely applies exactly the same standards to all of them, and with a thousand stocks it is simply impossible by hand.
A scoring profile operationalises fundamental analysis: each criterion is defined once as a rule with a threshold, then applied automatically to every stock in the universe. The result is a ranking by fundamental quality, consistent, traceable down to the individual rule, and updated daily.
How the point system works in detail is shown on the stock scoring page; ready-made rule sets can be found among the strategies.
Limits of fundamental analysis
Metrics reflect the past. A company can show brilliant numbers today and still be facing a shift that no balance sheet reveals. Qualitative factors such as management decisions or industry upheaval are not reliably captured by any metric.
Systematic evaluation does not protect against price losses either: a high score means a high match with defined criteria, not a guarantee for price performance. Historical backtests show how a rule set would have performed in the past, and are explicitly not a forecast.
Keep reading
Four ways to read on: the point system, the glossary, the ready-made rule profiles and the daily puzzle.
- /stock-scoring
Stock scoring
The point system in detail: rules, thresholds and classification.
- /metrics
Metric glossary
Every fundamental metric explained, with definitions and pitfalls.
- /strategies
Scoring strategies
Ready-made rule profiles for different investing styles.
- /puzzle
Daily stock puzzle
Narrow down a stock every day by sector, region, size and valuation.
Metrics looked up most often
Frequently asked questions about fundamental analysis
The most common starting questions, answered directly. The answers stay in the page source even when a question is collapsed.
What is the difference between fundamental analysis and technical analysis?
Fundamental analysis rates the company behind the stock (profits, balance sheet, valuation), technical analysis rates the price chart itself (trends, patterns). StockScorer works exclusively on fundamentals and by rules.
Which metrics matter most when getting started?
A solid basic setup covers all four categories: a return metric (e.g. return on equity), a valuation metric (e.g. P/E ratio or EV/EBIT), a growth metric (e.g. revenue growth) and a stability metric (e.g. leverage). Details are explained in the metric glossary.
How do I start with fundamental analysis as a beginner?
With a few metrics rather than all of them: one each from profitability, valuation, growth and stability is enough to start. A low-barrier way to get a feel for these traits is the daily stock puzzle: it narrows down a stock by sector, region, size and valuation, free and without registration.
Do I need prior knowledge to compare stocks by their metrics?
No. The terms are explained in the metric glossary with definitions and typical pitfalls, and a ready-made rule profile already sets the threshold for each metric. More important than detailed knowledge is knowing the limits: metrics reflect the past, not the future.
Can fundamental analysis be automated?
The quantitative level, yes: rules and thresholds can be captured as a scoring profile that automatically rates every stock in the universe. The qualitative judgment (business model, management) remains manual work. For some large US stocks, a labeled AI summary condenses the annual report, but it rates nothing.
Does StockScorer also show the raw metrics per stock?
StockScorer publicly shows a fixed set of core metrics per stock (including P/E, P/B, ROE, equity ratio and dividend yield) plus the scores, ranks, categories and distributions derived from them. Further individual metrics become visible after a free sign-up.
Is a high score a recommendation to act?
No. A score expresses how strongly a stock matches a profile's rules. The presentation is purely informational and does not replace individual investment advice.
Not investment advice. StockScorer is an information and analysis tool. Scores reflect rule-based criteria and are not a recommendation to buy, hold or sell securities.