Fundamentals Checklist

Hello all. This is my first post on this specific board, though I have Fool roots dating back to 2007. I’ve greatly enjoyed lurking here over the past few months and can honestly say my investing knowledge has increased merely from the exposure. I’m in the midst of a portfolio theory shift, looking away from the 800lb gorilla stocks that I’ve owned for many years, and in some cases over a decade, to smaller, high-growth companies that have been talked about here. My thesis, in a nutshell, is that Starbucks is less likely to double in the coming years than say Square or The Trade Desk. I believe through more active research I’d be able to identify better opportunities for investments, and I’m up for the challenge.

I figured to start this process by building a fundamental items grid, and then keep a Yes/No column for each company I evaluate, and update the answers each quarter. My list, in no particular order, is currently as follows:

  • Is the company still led by its founder?
  • Revenue Growth 4 Quarters in a row?
  • 3 years in a row?
  • 5 years in a row?
  • Quarterly Revenue Growth >20%?
  • Yearly Revenue Growth >20% over 3 years?
  • Over 5 Years?
  • SaaS revenue model?
  • More Cash Than Debt?
  • Insider Ownership 5% or greater? 10%?
  • Insider Purchases this quarter? This year?
  • Share Buybacks this quarter? This year?

I figure if a company received a “Yes” to the majority of these items then they would be fit for an initial investment, and likely much more.

All this said, I wanted to ask if there were some other key fundamental questions I could add to my screening list when evaluating a company? Some basic things like “net income” and “EPS” are clearly missing, but my initial thought was revenue was far more indicative of a company’s financial success during their high growth period (ie, Amazon).

Anxious to hear from you.

Brandon

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The other factor that you should add is Free Cash Flow (FCF) vs debt.
I always like to invest in companies with a positive FCF (or going to get there soon) vs companies with negative FCF who don’t have enough money in the bank if things go belly up for a quarter or two.
HTH.
Cheers, PB.

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