How STKtracker analyzes, scores and classifies stocks and ETFs.
STKtracker does not issue buy or sell recommendations. What it does is turn fundamental data into four comparable scores and a set of objective labels, so you can filter thousands of securities in seconds and focus your own research where it matters.
Think of each index as an opinionated lens, not an absolute truth. Like Morningstar stars or the Piotroski F-Score, it is a reasoned way to organize information: we choose which factors to look at, how much each one matters and how to combine them. Someone with a different philosophy would arrive at different scores. That is normal and healthy: what matters is that the criteria are explicit, consistent and reproducible.
That is why we transparently explain which factors go into each index, what they measure and their relative importance (Primary, High, Medium or Complementary). The exact numeric weights and grade brackets are part of the tool's internal "how" and are not published, but the logic and the ingredients are in plain sight: the same inputs always produce the same result.
Each stock receives four independent scores (0–10 scale). Each answers a different investment question and weighs its own set of factors. A stock may shine in one and be mediocre in another: that is why they are shown separately and never merged into a single grade.
Identify financially solid businesses that generate real cash, with a healthy balance sheet and attractive shareholder returns.
| Factor | Importance | What it measures |
|---|---|---|
| Operating margin | Primary | Operating income / revenue. More stable than net margin: excludes taxes and one-off items. |
| P/FCF | High | Market cap / free cash flow. How much you pay for the real cash the business generates. |
| ROE | High | Return on shareholders' equity. |
| Net debt / EBITDA | High | Ability to repay debt out of operating profit. |
| Forward P/E | Medium | Price / estimated future earnings. |
| Dividend yield | Medium | The cash the investor receives each year. |
| Payout | Medium | Share of profit paid out: measures dividend sustainability. |
| Beta | Complementary | Volatility relative to the market (complementary factor). |
Detect companies with genuine accelerating growth (historical and estimated), solid unit economics and a reasonable valuation for their growth pace.
| Factor | Importance | What it measures |
|---|---|---|
| PEG | Primary | Price/earnings-to-growth: valuation normalized by growth rate. |
| Revenue growth (YoY) | High | The top line is the hardest figure to dress up accounting-wise. |
| 3-year EPS CAGR | Medium | Real annualized earnings-per-share growth: track record, not estimate. |
| Forward EPS growth (1Y) | Medium | Expected earnings-per-share growth over 12 months. |
| Quarterly EPS growth | Medium | Real quarter-over-quarter (YoY) acceleration. |
| Gross margin | Medium | Business unit economics, key for growth names. |
| Estimate revisions | Medium | Change in analysts' EPS forecasts over the last 90 days. |
| Forward P/E | Complementary | Tolerates high multiples in growth, but with a ceiling. |
| Beta | Complementary | Sweet spot 1.10–1.40 for growth with momentum. |
Find compounding "machines": high ROIC, abundant free cash flow, sustained ROE and organic growth.
| Factor | Importance | What it measures |
|---|---|---|
| ROIC | Primary | Return on invested capital: the best measure of capital efficiency. |
| FCF margin | Primary | Free cash flow / revenue: conversion of sales into free cash. |
| Gross margin | High | Proxy for pricing power and competitive moat. |
| ROE | Medium | Shareholder return, complements ROIC. |
| Debt / equity | Medium | Financial discipline. |
| Revenue growth (YoY) | Medium | A compounder that doesn't grow eventually becomes a value trap. |
Hunt for radical turnarounds: undervalued companies with real recovery signals (improving earnings, insider buying and enough liquidity to survive).
| Factor | Importance | What it measures |
|---|---|---|
| EV/EBITDA | Primary | Enterprise value / EBITDA: the valuation ratio favored in corporate deals. |
| Price / sales | High | Valuation backup for companies not yet profitable. |
| Quarterly EPS growth | High | Signal that the turnaround is working. |
| Current ratio | High | Current assets / current liabilities: can the company survive? |
| Insider buy signal | High | Composite signal (0–1) combining number of trades and dollar volume of insider purchases. |
| Quick ratio | Medium | Strict liquidity: excludes inventory, only cash and receivables. |
| 3-month momentum | Medium | Sweet spot: a recent turn, not an already mature rally. |
Beyond the scores, each security receives labels that summarize specific situations. Six are positive (opportunity or strength) and three are warnings (risk). They are assigned with combined rules: strict filters ("hard gates") plus point systems across several dimensions.
Pull-Back
A solid company that has temporarily corrected: a possible entry opportunity. Multifactor scoring (0–100) with strict gates and several dimensions (drop zone, soundness, consensus and timing).
Growth
Proven growth. Composite score (0–10) over 3-year EPS CAGR, forward growth, revenue and consistency; requires scoring on at least two dimensions.
GARP
Growth At Reasonable Price. Requires the Growth label + contained PEG and P/E + minimum quality and profitability.
Insider
Meaningful insider buying. Hybrid score (0–1) combining global purchase coverage, official filing detail (US), net signal and ownership stake.
Consensus
Analyst consensus with conviction. Scoring (0–10) over buy ratio, strong-buy intensity, price target and breadth of coverage.
Earnings ↑
Upward EPS revision: a meaningful revision, more analysts raising than cutting estimates and a favorable consensus ratio.
Value Trap
Apparent bargain with deteriorating fundamentals. Point system (0–10) combining cheap appearance + worsening business + danger signals.
Dangerous debt
Risky leverage. Point system with sector normalization (debt/equity, net debt/EBITDA, liquidity and margins); utilities and REITs use adapted thresholds.
Sell Consensus
Bearish consensus. Multi-signal system (0–10): sell-recommendation ratio, falling price target and negative trend.
Each index is expressed on a 0-to-10 scale. As a rough guide, a high score means the stock meets the criteria of that specific index well, and a low one the opposite. What matters is not the isolated number, but comparing stocks with each other and weighing all four indices together.
The same stock may have, say, excellent financial health (ISF) and modest growth (ICF): both are true and describe different investment profiles. That is why STKtracker never collapses the four scores into a single overall grade.
Keep sector relativity in mind: the criteria are applied equally to every stock, but each sector has its own reality. A bank, a utility or a real-estate company have balance-sheet structures, margins and debt levels very different from a tech name, and do not always fit thresholds designed for the market as a whole. Scores are therefore most meaningful when comparing similar companies (same sector or business model) rather than very different ones.
Fundamental, price, analyst-consensus and insider-activity data come from professional market-data providers. Prices and metrics are refreshed periodically and automatically; some data (such as quarterly results or analyst revisions) updates at the pace the sources themselves publish it.
When data is missing for some factors, STKtracker does not fill the gap with a neutral grade (that distorted the result). Instead, each index is computed as a weighted average over only the factors that do have data, re-normalizing their weights. Each index also reports its data coverage —the share of informative weight actually available—: with sufficient coverage the normal grade is published; when coverage is limited (roughly 40%–60%) the grade is shown but flagged as "partial data"; and below that minimum no grade is published and the index shows "n/a". This way a stock with little data does not get a misleading score: it gets a warning that there is not enough information.
ETFs and funds are not scored (always "n/a" across the four indices): they have no financial statements comparable to a company's, so scoring them with these criteria would make no sense —just as rating agencies do not apply their stock rating to a fund. STKtracker still tracks them, shows their information and chart, but does not score them.
STKtracker is a tool for analyzing and organizing information, not a financial advisor. The scores and labels are a screening lens —automatic calculations over historical data and third-party estimates— and may contain errors, delays or gaps.
Nothing on this platform constitutes a buy or sell recommendation or personalized investment advice. Investment decisions are yours and at your own risk. Investing in financial markets carries a risk of loss, including the total loss of capital. Consult a regulated professional before making decisions.
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