How do you all research equity? Sharing mine to kick off.

Here’s basically how I do investment analysis. Nothing fancy, just a process that I dive in with. 1) Start broad, then shrink the universe I don’t “pick stocks” from vibes. I screen first. I’ll use free stuff like Finviz to filter for things like: * revenue growth (not flatlining) * profitability (or at least improving) * not insanely levered Then I throw the shortlist into a watchlist (Bloomberg free watchlist works, or whatever you like). The goal here is just to build a tight queue of “worth 30 min” ideas, not make decisions. I’ll also pull a quick one-page overview from whatever data source I have access to (paid or free) just to sanity check: * past financials * consensus estimates * debt situation * basic “is this company melting down?” signals 2) Understand the business (from actual filings) If I’m still interested, I build a “ground truth” map from filings. I read the 10-K (annual report) and the most recent 10-Q on EDGAR, plus whatever the Investor Relations site has. I’m trying to answer: * what do they actually sell? * to who? (customers) * how do they get paid? (recurring / contracts / seasonal / usage-based) * what are the segments and geographies? * who controls their fate? (suppliers, regulators, platform risk) I keep notes in a simple SWOT-ish format so I don’t lose the thread: strengths / weaknesses / opportunities / risks And I keep a running checklist of questions because otherwise you forget the important stuff once you start looking at price charts. 3) Understand the finances (statement by statement) Then I go through the three statements like a robot: * Income statement * Balance sheet * Cash flow statement I’ll pull 5/10/15 year history if possible and look for: * growth consistency (or cyclicality) * margin structure + trend * cash conversion (earnings vs real cash) * balance sheet health (leverage + liquidity) * dilution / SBC / buybacks I do common-size statements a lot because it makes changes obvious. Also: I don’t trust “adjusted” metrics without reading the reconciliation. If they’re excluding “one-time” costs every quarter… that’s not one-time, bro. Tool-wise: I usually export from Tikr/Koyfin/whatever into Excel and compute ratios + time series there. If you have a template/add-in for automating the boring stuff, it saves so much time. 4) Strategy (forward-looking, not history) Once the business and numbers make sense, I shift from “what happened” to “what’s the plan.” I’ll look at: * strategic priorities (from filings and investor decks) * capex plans * capital allocation (buybacks/dividends/acquisitions) * conference presentations * earnings calls + transcripts (underrated) Then I sanity check whether management actually earns good returns over time: * ROIC / ROCE / ROE over 5–15 year averages Not one year. Long averages. I also keep a mental checklist for “moat signals” and red flags: * pricing power vs discounting * customer concentration * competitive intensity * weird accounting * financial engineering replacing real growth 5) Valuation (only after I get it) I don’t start with valuation. I end with it. First I do relative comps: * P/E * EV/FCF * FCF yield But I compare it to: * its own history (super useful) * peer set (obviously) Then I do a quick DCF, not because DCF is magic, but because it forces the question: “what growth + margins are already priced in?” I run it as scenarios: * base / conservative / optimistic * and I mess with 2–3 key drivers only If it’s high quality but expensive, I don’t force it. I just watchlist and wait. I’ll DCA into the names I’m highest conviction on, but I still care about the price I’m paying. 6) Write the thesis so future-me doesn’t forget At the end I write a short thesis in bullets: * what it is / why it wins * key risks * valuation view * what would change my mind * catalysts (optional) And I log open questions + what I need to monitor: * metrics * upcoming filings * events/earnings cadence The goal is being able to re-underwrite fast when headlines hit. **Example: subscription software** If I’m looking at a subscription software company, I’ll do something like: * screen for recurring revenue + profitability * read 10-K + latest 10-Q to confirm segments and churn / retention drivers * export to Excel for margin + ROIC + common-size analysis * compare EV/FCF + FCF yield vs SaaS peers and its own history * run a conservative DCF with churn, net expansion, and FCF margin scenarios * if it’s great but multiples are stretched, I’ll just sit on the watchlist until valuation is less insane Curious how ya'll do yours, any tools or process that is different from above?